McCann’s homer helps Braves overcome Florida and Lowe
Brian McCann capped a rally with a ninth-inning homer ...
To a Braves’ season long-since devoid of any logic or certainly a blueprint, we add this from Sunday:
♦ Starting pitcher Derek Lowe getting mangled for five runs in the three innings but somehow escaping a loss, even if possibly confirming his postseason fate as a $60 million long reliever.
♦ A team, down 6-1 and held to three hits in the first seven innings, rallying for three runs in the eighth (two coming when Florida’s first baseman dropped a throw for the would-be third out of
... but Derek Lowe struggled and could be in bullpen in playoffs.
the inning) and three in the ninth (an opposite field, game-tying, two-run homer by pinch hitter Matt Diaz, and a walk-off winner by Brian McCann that few were certain of when seen live).
♦ McCann’s homer? It originally was called a double but changed to a homer after umpires consulted video replay and saw the ball bounce off the right-field wall, just above the yellow line. It’s the first time in major league history a game ended on a replay. Of course.
McCann waited at second base for over a minute, an atypical rest stop for a home run. After the ruling, he rounded the bases, spiked his helmet about six feet from home plate and finished his trot home.
“I didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I got lost in the moment.”
The Braves aren’t so much on a road to the postseason as they are floating in a lifeboat in swirling winds, but seemingly drifting in that direction. The 7-6 win over Florida – and there is improbable video evidence to confirm it – was their 23rd win of the season in their final at-bat.
“It wasn’t looking good for a long time, [given] the spot I put the team in,” Lowe said. “I dug quite a hole.”
As it turns out, he probably only buried only himself.
If the Braves make the playoffs for the first time since 2005, manager Bobby Cox has a decision to make. It’s now an easy decision. His three starting pitchers in a five-game divisional series seemingly are obvious: Tim Hudson and two other guys not named Derek Lowe (Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson).
Lowe needed to make a statement Sunday about his postseason worthiness. He did. It was just the wrong statement.
It took him 23 pitches to record an out. That came after a walk, a single, a three-run homer by Hanley Ramirez that left vapor trails and a double by Dan Uggla that left a dent in the left field wall.
Lowe allowed five runs in three innings before being pulled. It was his shortest outing of the season. His 78 pitches played out like an afternoon of root canal.
His ERA in his last eight starts: 4.91. After a stretch in which he had eight “quality starts” — three runs or fewer in six or more innings – in 11 outings, Lowe has only three quality starts in his last 10. Recent problems by Jurrjens and Hanson notwithstanding, it’s really not close who’s No. 4 in the pecking order.
Lowe said he had problems “gripping” the ball. Throwing wasn’t so great either.
Cox: “He just couldn’t locate.”
Lowe denied he was injured but he was seen shaking his right hand as he left the mound in the third.
Quote: “Nothing [wrong]. I didn’t have very good command. … No pain. Just bad pitching.”
Then he cracked: “Go with cramps” [as an excuse].
As for the future, Lowe didn’t concede his potential bullpen role in the postseason but he hardly debated the possibility.
“Time will tell as far as the guys we use and where they pitch,” he said. “In a perfect world, you pitch Hudson as many times as you can.”
And then this: “I don’t feel like I need to prove anything. I didn’t feel like I was here to audition. When you have a good rotation, somebody is going to be left out. But I’m pretty proud of my postseason history, even though it’s been a couple of years. But we’ll see.”
Nothing seemingly can disrupt the Braves’ mojo. But if the Braves make it to the playoffs, Lowe’s view may be from the bullpen.
♦
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♦ College football special: Richt says Georgia is poised for bounce-back season
♦ Contest announcement: Here’s your chance to pick winners and ‘Sack Schultz’
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101 comments Add your comment
ScottBravesfan
August 29th, 2010
9:18 pm
Seriously please stop saying that Hanson has not looked great in a few weeks. Quit being lazy and look up his numbers. He has been awesome except for Friday night in his last several outings. He had three straight starts were Wagner blew a save for him, including a dominating performance on Tom Glavine’s jersey retirement night against the Giants.
Idot
August 29th, 2010
9:19 pm
Lowe is getting overheated, he will improve as the temperatures drop, and Cox needs to stop pitching him in day games.
Idot
August 29th, 2010
9:21 pm
NRBQ @8;06……Cox said in the post-game interview that Diaz can hit righties or lefties, it makes no difference.
Idot
August 29th, 2010
9:24 pm
I was wondering why Cox doesn’t play Diaz in every inning, of every game against the Marlins, he seems to have their number.
Ted Striker
August 29th, 2010
9:30 pm
Rumor has it that McCann still made it to home plate quicker than Cleveland’s Jhonny Peralta did on his inside the park homer earlier this year after Detroit’s CF crashed through an outfield door.
Peralta couldn’t outrun Sid Bream and my grandmother in a 3-legged sack race — and McCann still appeared to make it home quicker.
Brian SC
August 29th, 2010
9:45 pm
PLAY DIAZ EVERYDAY FOR GOODNESS SAKE!!! Plenty of players on this team have been given opportunity after opportunity to play in spite of not contributing. For all of the success that this year’s Braves have experienced, there has been plenty of dead weight. McClouth, Glaus, KK, Lowe, Lee, and others have been in the lineup day after day and have been allowed to be mediocre at best at times this year. This is almost September, the Braves only have a two-game lead. Play the hot players. It’s time to step up or shut up. Diaz should be the everyday right fielder. If he struggles a little against RHP, let him work through it. This team is best with Diaz in the lineup.
Eric C.
August 29th, 2010
9:47 pm
Milt…it is feast or famine with Hanson. Those ugly starts listed below signaled the beginning of a major crack in Hanson’s psyche…it’s been doom and gloom since then with the losses piling up. Spin your numbers any way you want…but the guy is not winning and when he loses it…he REALLY loses it.
6/22 9 ER in 3.2 IP
6/27 5 ER (6 R) in 3.2 IP
Joe Esposito
August 29th, 2010
9:59 pm
One more thing regarding Minor: he might not have experience, but a lot of batter don’t have experience facing him. How many times have we seen a no-name pitcher come out of nowhere and stifle the Braves?
“You’re the best around…nothin’s gonna ever keep ya down.
You’re the best around…nothin’s gonna ever keep ya doooowwwwwn.”
Herschel Talker
August 29th, 2010
10:01 pm
Schultzie:
You can’t compare the two situations. The Marlins bullpen is horrendous, and Wes Helms threw that ball away. Rest assured that such a comeback will not be happening against the teams we are going to play in the playoffs; it will happen only against crappy teams or teams with horrible bullpens.
HT
Boss
August 29th, 2010
10:15 pm
Better to be Lucky that good!
Zerevon
August 29th, 2010
10:17 pm
Braves are a BiPolar team on crutches..it ain’t gonna work in the play-offs. You can’t label yourself a “Destiny” team and be a rambling wreck along the way. No one knows what to excpect from this bunch of BiPolars…no one not even Bobby Cox. Philties are going nowhere they are right on the Braves’ a$$..At this point you gotto do what you gotto do with what you got. By the way Lee was a big mistake…let Hinske be at first, he is more productive..just give him time.. Go BI-POLAR BRAVOS. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THE PADRES?
clay
August 29th, 2010
10:21 pm
guys you have got to be joking when you say pitch minor in the 3rd spot in the playoffs if we make it. He has no experience plus lowe is getting 15 mil. to pitch for us. I would love to see it happen but im sorry you should know bobby well enough to know that its not going to happen.
Eric C.
August 29th, 2010
10:29 pm
And Steve Avery had a lot of experience when he started in the 1991 NLCS? His MLB debut was June 1990. You guys sound as if Minor has zero nerve.
Innocent Bystander
August 29th, 2010
10:36 pm
As much as I’d love to see Lowe and his rich contract hit the road (and KK with his poor-man’s Lowe contract too), who do we have for next year’s rotation? Before Medlen fell victim to the “Strasburg-John” injury, I’d say we were set with a rotation of Huddy, JJ, Hanson, Meds, Minor. Now? I couldn’t tell you who’s in the rotation at Gwinnett (besides Todd Redmond).
MitchC
August 29th, 2010
10:39 pm
Jeff, maybe I’m negative, but I’m still not impressed. Bottom line, this team is playing very poorly. They got swept by Colorado, and needed a miracle to take two of three from the Fish at home. We CANNOT keep playing this way, if we want to make the playoffs.
A statement now would be to take three of four from the Mets, and to play well. That killer Washington/ Philly/ NY road trip next month concerns me greatly.
Bottom line, the Phillies aren’t going anywhere. This thing is going down to the end. If the Braves want to make the playoffs, they need to play better than they did this week.
Hopefully, this will happen. I have an uneasy feeling about this team right now.
GhostMatheson
August 29th, 2010
10:40 pm
Its true! The Braves are a BIPOLAR team on crutches. You really dont know which Braves team is going to show up on a given night. I think that the Braves have actually three different teams that show up at different times. Team#1: the team that goes out and just smokes people like when the Braves beat up the Rockies 16–5. Then there is Team#2: The gutsy, scrappy bunch that never says die like the team that got up off the mat against Florida last night that was down 6-1 and comes back to win 7-6 in walk off fashion. That is probably the most exciting of the three teams. Then there is Team #3: this is the team that is completely clueless and doesnt put up much of a fight. This is the team that got swept recently and made baserunning mistakes, failed to drive in runners stuck at 2nd and 3rd, and made a ton of fundamental mistakes. This team #3 is the worst of the three teams and it is also the team that gets their butts kicked on the road. I have observed there are three bipolar teams during this run that the Braves are on and I can live with the first two, but the third team is completely unacceptable and it is the one that will get beat in the playoffs.
retired
August 29th, 2010
10:44 pm
your right about Lowe, probably bullpen ….. doesn’t matter EVERYONE on this team takes their roll and runs with it …… it’s a TEAM in every sense of the word. Wild season…. need to get to the ted ain’t been to a game this year and usually get there ’bout 5 times a year
retired
August 29th, 2010
10:47 pm
GhostMatheson
August 29th, 2010
10:40 pm
Its true! The Braves are a BIPOLAR team on crutches.
GOOD Analysis hopefully after making the playoff we can lock team #3 in a room somewhere.
JEB
August 29th, 2010
10:53 pm
Bobby WILL put the ball in Lowe’s hand in the playoffs
BECAUSE of his postseason success …..
bank on it!
Selleck Waterfall Sandwich
August 29th, 2010
10:55 pm
Braves #1!
Selleck #1!
Waterfalls #1!
Sandwich #1!
Am I right? Am I right?
Supes
August 29th, 2010
10:57 pm
Jeff, good piece.
if this keeps up Lowe is our 5th starter. Even Minor has been better (now a much smaller sample 3 starts) but it is what it is.
15 million number 5 starter in 2011.
Steve
August 29th, 2010
11:42 pm
Lowe’s contract another great move by Fumbling Frank.
Joshua
August 29th, 2010
11:55 pm
Herschel Talker: Still an idiot.
Everyone else: We are leading the NL east with Lowe and Hanson as part of the rotation. Both are having solid years, and although Lowe admittedly isn’t pitching the way you would expect from a $15 million pitcher, as a #4 starter he is among the best in the MLB – if not the best #4 starter outright. Hanson, while inconsistent at times, has been dominating in a majority of his starts and continues to post impressive numbers. It would be foolish to change a line-up that has posted one of baseball’s best records this season. That’s all that needs to be said about that.
Selleck Waterfall Sandwich
August 30th, 2010
12:50 am
Joshua,
Have you ever watched a Braves team?
How many World Series have we won?
Only one.
Bobby Cox is a regular season manager and admittedly loyal to a fault. The goal is to win the World Series every year, not the division.
I hope for the best, as we all do, but he gets spanked every postseason…the numbers speak for themselves no matter how well-intended everyone’s arguments are.
braveshoo
August 30th, 2010
1:12 am
Lowe is a good 5th stsrter, but thats all. 10 wins is good for a 5th starter-he’s just paid too much, but the worst contracts are KK and McClouth. Lowe is in the bullpen for the playoffs, but he is in the starting 5 next year because Medlin wont be back until Sept. If we make the playoffs, I like our pitching, especially the Bullpen which has been the strongest part of our team all year, and our hitting is OK. I think Freeman may give us a real boost, and Diaz should play every day. We do have great pinch hitting which is underated part of the team.
braveshoo
August 30th, 2010
1:41 am
Anyone care to speculate on the team for next year. We lose Wagner and Saito which helps the payroll but hurts the team. We also hopefully unload the contracts of Glaus, KK , McClouth, Farnsworth, Ankiel, and Lee. My team looks like this: Infante, Prado, Heyward, McCann, Diaz, Freeman, Gonzo, and probably McClouth or Ankiel( whichever one we are stuck with ). Bench is Henske, Rawdog, Ross, Canisarus(SP)-leading the IL in hitting, and D. Hernandez. If Chipper makes it back, then Infante goes to LF and Diaz goes to the bench unless he or Heyward can play CF. Starting Pitching: Hudson, JJ, Hanson, Minor, Lowe ( until Medlin Returns). Bullpen is the same with Dunn and Kimbrel replacing Wagner and Saito. Venters is the closer unless we could get our closer back from Tampa Bay- he only signed a 1 year contract.
The Grinch
August 30th, 2010
2:50 am
Chino was the team’s MVP today. I can’t believe nobody else has mentioned this. Does ANYONE here honestly believe Cox would have hit Diaz against a righty in the 9th? I don’t give a crap what he said after the game; if everyone believed his post game comments there would only have been four bad pitches thrown all year. His “book” would have had him call a lefty up from Gwinnett and postpone the game ’till he got here to pinch hit before using Diaz.
Kudos to Chino for lighting that da*n book on fire.
Zerevon
August 30th, 2010
6:05 am
BASEBALL IS AS A WEIRD GAME AS A WEIRD GAME COMES. THIS RECENT BRAVES AND PHILTIES GAMES PROVED THAT.The Braves are still the bipolarest team on crutches in the history of MLB. WE ARE LACKING LEADERSHIP AS WELL IF THIS TEAM MAKES IT FURTHER WE ARE GOING TO MISS CHIPPER. Did I mention Lee was a big mistake….
Navigator
August 30th, 2010
6:17 am
Shultz: If you haven’t learned anything else you should know BCox will put all of his trust in his aging veterans. Lowe will be a starter, because he has experience and these younger guys don’t. At the end of the season and the playoffs on the line, we will learn something that should have been learned a decade ago. Cox can’t help who he is and is why he continually gets out managed by other managers. Do you remember the first few world series when he was so predictable, the other manager knew what moves he would make much in advance.
Jesse Stone
August 30th, 2010
6:45 am
The Grinch- You don’t think Bobby was in the hallway making the calls?
john d
August 30th, 2010
6:52 am
Agree with you Navigator. Anyone that has followed Bobby’s whole career as I have knows this. One world series championship in fifteen tries is not a resounding success. The reason he has been so unsuccessful in the post season is he has no idea how to play small ball. When you get to the postseason runs are hard to come by and Bobby has no idea how to manufacture them(bunts, hitting behind the runner etc.).
papadawg
August 30th, 2010
7:17 am
john d, Cox has always been a Big Ining manager and won’t or can’t change nomatter how hard he tries. The team now wins big with the one big ining or score 1 run
Joshua
August 30th, 2010
7:21 am
I apologize everyone. I am a moron. I should have never posted on this. I am going to go to my mom’s basement and go eat some cheetos while thinking about if a girl will ever kiss me.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
August 30th, 2010
7:55 am
great game yesterday. my concerns still are with Lowe/Hanson. both looked horrible over this series. plus throw in ankiel/dlee/farnsworth. still a lot of ??? for the post season.
Donny Corleone
August 30th, 2010
8:17 am
Joshua, not with that cheetos stuff all over your face.
tj
August 30th, 2010
8:21 am
Trash the man Shultz!!!
Tami
August 30th, 2010
8:25 am
I think Lowe’s hurt. Having never been on the DL, though, is problematic in the sense that he doesn’t know when to tell the coaches that maybe he needs to skip his next start to rest or he needs an MRI, etc. I was at the game yesterday–yes, very painful to watch. Jeff’s characterization that it was like an afternoon having a root canal is pretty much on the mark. I was so relieved to see Martinez come out to pitch.
Whether or not the Braves are considered the “comeback kids”, you cannot underestimate ANY win against a divisional opponent this time of the season. Let’s hope the Braves take at least 3 of 4 against the Mets now. I guess I’m also a Dodgers’ fan for the next couple of days, and hope they take care of the Phillies. Tall order, though, considering how the Dodgers seem to be going downhill while the Phillies are pretty hot right now. Anything can happen in this game, though.
hammerhead
August 30th, 2010
8:25 am
Hey, hey, ho, ho… Derrick Lowe has go to go… (to the bullpen)
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Tami
August 30th, 2010
8:28 am
P.S. How about a post-season rotation of Hudson, JJ & Mike Minor?? Yeah. I know Mike’s only a rookie, and has very little big-league experience. But I think he’s capable of pitching better than Hanson right now. Maybe Tommy needs to skip his next start or two? With Mike back up again, Tommy could rest and give Mike some innings.
dean
August 30th, 2010
8:29 am
I was so pizzed off after the 3rd inning I turned the tube off and actually did some Honey-Do’s. After finishing those, I turned the tube back on to see the post-mortem show. Hmmm, bottom of the 9th and Braves down by 2. I’m thinking this is going to end up like Paradise By the Dashboard Lights. I’ll be dammed. I swear to God, Rod Serling MUST be sitting on the Braves’ bench with a huge smile on his face.
robdawg08
August 30th, 2010
8:34 am
Lowe’s delusional. Remember Lowe saying a month ago “sometimes when I get a big lead in games I lose focus and make bad pitches” ? You can bet Hudson wouldn’t lose focus. There’s your difference in Lowe and Hudson. Hudson is 100% mentally and physically ready to go 6,7,8,or 9 innings. Lowe is 60 % ready. You can’t give less than 100% and expect to pitch well. Jeff, I’d even consider Miner 3rd in the rotation over Hanson if Hanson can’t get that gopher ball under control real soon.
robdawg08
August 30th, 2010
8:36 am
I didn’t read your post Tami, but we are thinking alike no doubt. Recent results justify pitching Minor over Hanson too.
dap01
August 30th, 2010
9:25 am
Great and timely article, Jeff.
Hudson, JJ, Hanson and Minor if necessary for a forth starter (my rotation for playoffs)
Kentavo
August 30th, 2010
9:41 am
I’m with JEB; you haven’t been paying attention if you think that Bobby won’t put Lowe in the post season rotation. There’s no way that he’s skipping a veteran with post-season success in favor of, well, anybody. That’s not his M.O. Only way Lowe isn’t in the rotation is he’s on the DL.
It will be Huddy, Lowe and J.J.
mark bradley's 70's fro and mustache
August 30th, 2010
9:53 am
I was at the game friday night. Batting practice mixed with keystone cops! Pathetic, to say the laest. Tommy never “re-grouped” during the game. The Henkie debacle was disgusting live. I sat in the left field stands. I hope the team can get better.
mark bradley's 70's fro and mustache
August 30th, 2010
9:54 am
Not too sure i would even want KK and Lowe coming out of the bullpen!
Johnny DangerDawg
August 30th, 2010
10:32 am
If Medlen were still healthy, Derek Lowe would be the Braves’ 6th best starter.
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