LIVE: Braves can clinch tonight (and it starts with Lowe)
The Braves will do more scoreboard watching tonight, and hope to have another banner to raise.
Amid all of the angst of the Braves’ collapse (10-18), the injured starters (Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson), the slumping hitters (Martin Prado, Jason Heyward, Brian McCann) and the overused bullpen, guess what? The Braves can actually clinch the wild card tonight.
OK, for that to happen, the Braves need to hit a long-odds parlay: 1) The maligned starter, Derek Lowe, needs a strong outing to defeat the Phillies at Turner Field; 2) The St. Louis Cardinals need to lose for a second straight game in Houston. Those two developments would give the Braves the National League wild card spot for the second straight year, and render Wednesday’s regular-season finale against Philadelphia meaningless.
Few expected the Cards to lose to the Astros Monday night. It happened (5-4 in 10 innings). But the Braves’ postseason chances mostly hinge on Lowe. If he and the Braves win tonight, at worst the magic number is down to one, with Tim Hudson on the mound Wednesday against Joe Blanton (advantage: Braves).
What the Braves need is the Lowe of Sept. 2010, not 2011. Last season, he went 5-0 with a 1.17 ERA (29 strikeouts, three walks) in his final five regular season starts. But this has been the worst season of his career. He’s 9-16 with a 4.92 ERA. He’s 0-4 in his last four starts with an 8.24 ERA (though his last start at Florida was solid).
The other obvious issue for the Braves is a lack of offense. They lost 4-2 on Monday, have scored two or fewer runs in four of their last five games and three or fewer in six of their last 10. They’re also hitting only .239 in the month of September and .181 (32-for-177) with with runners in scoring position this month.
They’ll need to break out of that against the Phillies’ Roy Oswalt, who has been strong in two starts against the Braves this season (1-0, 2.08 in two starts) but in his career is only 1-3 with a 5.15 ERA.
As you prepare to scoreboard watch, your second favorite team, the Astros, will start Henry Sosa (3-5, 4.68) against the Cardinals’ Jake Westbrook (12-9, 4.48).
And with that, I turn it over to you. We wait to see what Lowe gives us.
Can this be an omen? There was a rainbow over Turner Field two hours before the Braves' game.
By Jeff Schultz
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1,258 comments Add your comment
OuttaGas
September 27th, 2011
8:10 pm
Go Cards? why do the braves deserve to get into the playoffs? they just gonna lay down like they have all month and be done in 3 games
Omaha is Braves Country
September 27th, 2011
8:10 pm
This has nothing to do with Liberty Mutual…..This has everything to do with leadership and heart…Only one guy out there has that and he is 39 years old playing on one knee….Freddi G has lost this team
George Washington
September 27th, 2011
8:10 pm
All the people screaming for Freddie’s head: Chill. Not his fault this team is in a MindFunk. Were you calling for his head August 31?
5 Time National Champs Nebraska
September 27th, 2011
8:10 pm
It’s football season. Time to be done with baseball…….Just sayin.
Hater
September 27th, 2011
8:10 pm
Losing now probably just saves everyone the embarrassment of losing in the playoffs…and gets the Braves players an extra week of vacation…cause man, they have really worked hard this season…
Vain Jangling
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.
kerryb
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
The Braves are in that swing for the fence mode that gets them into trouble every time.
Chief
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
I find it insulting when I watch the Ryan Howard powerade commercial for a Braves telecast
NagoyaBrave
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
Uggla is one of the worst hitters I’ve ever seen. And I even saw Rick Camp hit a homer.
BRAVESFAN
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
If the Braves started to take out the Phillies would the suspension start next season or be forgotten?
B
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
Uggla you idiot you are swinging at anything. Just like at the beginning of the year. Do you know what a strike is? Man I will never go to a braves game again as long as chipper choke fugla mcfann and fredi are there. Screw em
Jeff Schultz
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
Nagoya — Just rescued a bunch of your comments from spam. Not sure why they’re going in there. Will check periodically.
Aggrevated Brave
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
Fredi Gonzalez…..you have now put the team in a 4-0 hole because you had to start Lowe. This game is over as this team will likely not even come close to scoring 4 runs. This L is on your, sir!
Ridonkulous
September 27th, 2011
8:11 pm
The first Brave to hit a line drive or a hard ground ball gets tomorrow off. How many pop ups can one team produce?
ted
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
This has got to be one of the all time worse collapses. With top notch relievers turning the game into a six or seven inning game and you still can’t win. I wonder if they could beat a top AAA team rite now.
Chief
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Braves go quietly in the fourth
LOB Braves
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
I thought Pendleton was a problem last year, but this team is much worse about hitting. Parrish needs to be gone.
Sonny Clusters
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
This is a different feeling than all those years with Bobby Cox. Fredi did some good things. He batted Chipper somewhere other than 3rd (Bobby would never do that). Fredi put Constanza in and let Heyward sit and the team ran and scored for a short while. We was wondering if Fredi is really the manager of this team or if he is being told who to play and when and where. If not, then surely he is stupid. Every Atlanta baseball fan knew how another Lowe start would go.
Chad
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Chipper = what’s wrong with the Braves- too laid back, way back. David Justice played with fire and spoke his mind and they ran him out of town = no more championships.
later gator
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Hey Jo, Lowe will be back next year maybe they can have him and Kawakami in the rotation.
john
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
wow, 4 runs and he is still pitching.
IlliniBrave
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
@Coach: we do, we do. And believe it or not, Zook is only 2-4 against the north shore nerds.
George Washington
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Jain: LOL. I just picked the wrong week to stop taking amphetimines.
man and dog
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
JS, you should have said Braves can choke tonight and Lowe does it again….
Bud Light
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
The Braves hitters must just think they need to play defense ? Somebody explain it to them that the object of the game is to score.
kerryb
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Did anyone really think that Derrick Lowe was not going to give up at least 4 runs? Apparently Freddie did because he was fool enough to start him. I would have started Teheran instead of him
CJ
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Time for a meaningless 2 out no one on base double from mcfann
Chief
September 27th, 2011
8:12 pm
Nice swing bmac
Kimbrel rocks
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
losing now saves me about $500- $1000 bucks for post season tickets. so thanks braves! i will now go buy some tires! my jeep thanks you too
Hater
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
Thanks broadcast crew…”crowd’s quiet”… I wonder why?
Lifeless in Atlanta
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
Chipper is ready to stand up to Cancer……as to standing up and leading the Braves, not so much.
CJ
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
LMAO!! There it is
Jeff Schultz
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
Two hits for McCann. (Hey, it’s a positive.)
Old Dawg Fan
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
If a Brave actually scored a run would anyone care?
Robbie
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
Well, you bunch of masochists you’re getting your moneys worth this season!
This is better than a long nail in the ear.
Kissinger
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
Look at McCann stretching a single into a double!!!!
later gator
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
Has this guy got a hit since coming.
Philly Phanatic
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
I truly feel sorry for you true fans. I don’t know if this means we truly were just sleep walking during the slump last week or if Florida, NY, and Washington are better than the Braves. We need this game like a bee sting but it sure looks like we’re just a game up in the WC. You know the Cards aren’t gonna lose tonight. you should feel lucky if you saw the Cards put on Braves uniforms in the 8th with 2nd and 3rd andd 1 out. This is a cakewalk. I don’t know how you can stand Homer Simpson. He’s trying to make honey out of dogshit telling us how nice of a pitch turns out to be a single. uh oh man on 2nd 2 outs. any bets?
LOB Braves
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
OK. So McPopup got a hit. No chance for Wilson to do the same.
George Washington
September 27th, 2011
8:13 pm
The “Tool” line is/was fantastic………..and perfect.
Hater
September 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
Yes…for a minute I though we would only strand McCann at 1st…glad he got to second so we can strand him in scoring position
Old Dawg Fan
September 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
Who is Jack Wilson? He fits right in. Can’t hit.
KC
September 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
At least we still have Georgia Tech – the only team in Atlanta doing well!!
Chief
September 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
Can’t wait for tosh tonight
Bud Light
September 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
When you got a 4.86 era like Lowe, yeah you EXPECT him to give up 4 runs. My question is why do you pitch Lowe with Tejeran available ?
5 Time National Champs Nebraska
September 27th, 2011
8:14 pm
And how bad is it when you hope another team loses to make post season play?
Roy Oswalt
September 27th, 2011
8:15 pm
I appreciate the Braves only getting hits when no one is on base. Such a polite group.
gem
September 27th, 2011
8:15 pm
Everyone should expect more than a “quality” start from a 15M man. Looks like a couple bad locations tonight. 4 in 4. Maybe we can get another couple innings out of him.
Chad
September 27th, 2011
8:15 pm
Put in Hinske and Conrad. At least they’re pissed when they make an out.
NagoyaBrave
September 27th, 2011
8:15 pm
These chumps already have post-season tickets on sale. Give me a break. At least there will be lots of children in St Louis happy their guys made it. Cause unless these chumps get a pulse, it’s over.