Killer loss for the Bravos, wasn’t it? Er, not exactly
JJ pitched great, as per usual. That man Prado had another RBI. Chipper hit a homer. Esky made a heads-up play afield. Glidin’ Garret looked to have won it. Then Soriano entered and it all fell to pieces, and now the Braves are not just way behind the Phillies but also a game in arrears of the Fish.
Killer loss. Wasn’t it?
Nah. It’s baseball. This stuff happens. Even Mariano Rivera blows the occasional save. (He blew one in Game 7 of a World Series on a weird night when it rained in the desert.) The Braves are playing well. More to the point, they’re pitching beautifully. Keep doing that and they’ll have a realistic chance to win the wild card, which is all they can ask at this late date.
Back to Rivera and that blown save. It came in a World Series the Arizona Diamondbacks looked to have blown. Two nights in a row they’d carried a lead into the ninth inning in Yankee Stadium, and both times Byung-Hyun Kim yielded two-out tying home runs. (The first to Tino, the second to Brosius.) Headed back to Phoenix that team was down 3-2 and all but dead.
But this is baseball, and in baseball — I believe the saying originated with Earl Weaver, though it might have come from Eddie Haas — momentum is tomorrow’s starting pitcher. That’s why the work Frank Wren did over the winter was so important. On Wednesday the Braves will start Kenshin Kawakami, who’s pretty good. And then on Thursday they’ll have Javier Vazquez, who’s really good. And then Tommy Hanson and Derek Lowe and Jurrjens against L.A., and on and on the rotation spins.
A bad loss? Sure. But nothing that figures to leave a scar. So long as you can pitch, you have life. The Braves can pitch. They don’t need to panic. They don’t even need to make a trade. They just need to keep pitching.
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127 comments Add your comment
Bravo
July 29th, 2009
12:33 pm
Marc from Fl, you said “The umpire’s inconsistent strike zone cost us the game last night, he made Soriano throw a pitch he didn’t want to throw in order to keep the winning run off base, simple as that.” Can you explain to me why the tying run was on base? Can you say, Walk? Why would walk someone at that critical point. It’s happened time and time again with this bullpen. They don’t throw strikes! As soon as he issued that walk he should have been pulled. The relievers need to understand they must throw strikes. You take away all the walks they’ve given up in critical spots and the braves have at least 10 more wins this year but they do not execute. Why? Cause they aren’t the answer. Lets move them for prospect and reload with guys that have a desire and passion to compete.
The_Superhoo
July 29th, 2009
12:35 pm
Plenty of time. But Braves need to win division series, and the Marlins are now ahead of us in WC too.
I think we lost our shot at this series. I went into it thinking we had to win games 1 and 3. KK is “ok.”. He can only go 5 innings, and his ERA isn’t fantastic. He faces their ace. In addition, who’s going to pitch the final 4 innings?
I’ll watch of course, and I want to be surprised tonight. But I expect a loss.
Bravo
July 29th, 2009
1:03 pm
Any comments?
WJ
July 29th, 2009
1:22 pm
It can be a big deal to lose one game in July. Especially if that one game is to those who you are trying to jump over in standings for wild card. Yep, agree, wild card is the only hope for Atlanta. They must come out of each series with series wins if they hope to overcome all the teams in front of them.
nique
July 29th, 2009
1:35 pm
Mark, could you please explain why Norton would pinch hit in front of David Ross or even Kelly Johnson? Doesn’t make sense to me, but then again, a lot of Bobby’s moves don’t IMO. If Bobby believes that Norton needs more ABs to come out of his slump (understatement), why do so in a close game against a team that you need to beat (re: Wild Card). David Ross has been great this year, get him more ABs!
Ball Hound
July 29th, 2009
1:39 pm
Bet if we had a team of players with Escobar, Prado, Conrad, and Infante’s desire to win, and this pitching, we’d be @ .600. Curtis Jones has it spot on.
Smoltzy
July 29th, 2009
2:14 pm
I do not know if this is the right blog for this however, I know the Braves are interested in a reliever. Mr . Bradley, i would love for you to comment on the Braves chances/ interest in acquiring struggling starting pitcher John Smoltz from the Red Sox. As crazy as this sounds I think it would be a great deal if the Red Sox were willing to part with him. We can use Smoltz in the pen and his 5 million contract would not be so bad at this pro-rated amount.
Sam I Am
July 29th, 2009
2:17 pm
The Braves haven’t won a game all year when they only scored 3 runs.
ChiTownBravesFan
July 29th, 2009
2:58 pm
If you ask me, this team has already exceeded expectations. The team is built for the next two years when the next great hitting star in baseball, Mr. Heyward joins the current young stud Mr. Hanson to carry the team for many years to come. Lowe has been exactly what he’s supposed to be, Javy seems to have gotten better with Bobby Cox, and Jurrjens has turned out to be one of the most lop-sided trades ever. (Smoltz from Detroit comes to mind) If we can sneak into the playoffs it would be a huge achievement, and if we aren’t competing for a World Series every year for the next five it will be a dissapointment. Frank Wren has done a great job, and the best is yet to come.
Phil
July 29th, 2009
3:02 pm
Ralph,
Your comments confirm why Cox is referred to as “Moron Cox”….
SRF
July 29th, 2009
3:07 pm
I cannot see any way that the Braves make the playoffs – there are just too many other scrappy teams between
them and the wildcard or division. I have tickets Friday night for the game versus LA – I hope they are still playing well and that homer does not send them into a funk….
Marc from FL
July 29th, 2009
3:29 pm
Bravo,
He walked him because of the umpire’s inconsistent strike zone. Did you watch the game? He threw two strikes to the first hitter that were called balls. It should have been 2-2 instead of 4-0. And then he had to throw Gload a strike or risk walking another with this ump’s idea of a strike zone. This why you see pitchers get so upset with the umpires from time to time, an inconsistent strike zone makes it impossible for them to pitch effectively. Nolasco and JJJ were both lucky to only give up what they did, cause both had to lodge a few over the fat part of the plate during the game a few times to prevent a walk.
I’ll let you Cox bashers go at him, now and then I might even agree with you, but Soriano bashing at this point is just flat-out irresponsible. He’s been our most consistent player all year, and was more a victim of the umpire than the hitter last night. I was watching the Marlin’s feed and even their announcers though the ump’s strike zone was nothing short of random given this level of play.
There have been several other games where our bullpen as a whole (mostly middle relief guys) have walked us to death. But you’re acting like a handful of meltdowns has drug us into a hole. Every team’s relievers have a meltdown now and then, many of which have resulted in a win for us. Yes, gasp, we’ve benefited from bullpen meltdowns as much or almost as much as we have suffered from them. That’s baseball. The one meltdown I know we didn’t take advantage of was against the Mets, after Santana left the game and their bullpen could not throw a strike to save their life, but somehow kept chasing horrible pitches out the zone and made poor base running decisions to lose the game.
We could benefit from another arm (though with Huddy and Carlyle coming back I don’t see a need to trade from one), but our cancer this year has been a stagnate offense. Our bullpen hasn’t cost us a third of the games that our offense has.
That’s my argument anyways.
Tim
July 29th, 2009
4:13 pm
Trade KJ for the reliever.
Tim
July 29th, 2009
4:14 pm
or plug huddy into the bullpen when he’s all healed up.
paradoxcapt
July 29th, 2009
4:20 pm
Shoddy defense raised its ugly head again last night. Not sure if the players were tired or what, but less than crisp defense is contagious and affects hitting as well. Watching Anderson and McClouth stare at a fly ball that should have been and out, followed by Kotchman not being able to cleanly catch a ground ball was distressing. I enjoy watching these guys, but there are times they seem to zone out on the defensive side, which results in a loss.
Skeezix
July 29th, 2009
4:22 pm
Re: Norton. I am in no way a Bobby Cox basher, but it is hard to understand why Norton continues to be our #1 pinch hitter. We have played 100 games and his performance has been dismal the entire season. He is paid to pinch ‘hit’, not pinch ’strike out’ or pinch ‘ground out’. It is past time the Braves got a replacement. Get him out of there!
Average Joe
July 29th, 2009
4:46 pm
I have to agree with those who are questioning Greg Norton’s place on this team. His continued presence scares me for many reasons: 1. Bobby Cox likes him…that means that whether or not he can play is beside the point. 2. Cox has a long history of sticking with players long after they’ve proven they’re out of gas (I mean, Jeff Bennett had to take matters into his own hands, no pun intended). 3. Norton’s spot could be occupied by someone who can actually hit, like a Brooks Conrad, for example. 4. See #1 and add STUBBORN to it!
Bobby has been around this game long enough to know that one player CAN make a huge difference to a team. So why would he continue to fill a roster spot with a guy who has done everything he can to prove he’s finished? I’m sure he’s a great guy, but he ain’t got it no more! It’s the biggest load of nonsense since the aforementioned Jeff “Little-League” Bennett. Please, please, please forget loyalty just once, Bobby, and do what’s best for your team!
Braves Forever
July 29th, 2009
4:50 pm
To: Bobby Cox. I know Greg Norton had a good year last year but this year he’s lost his ability to pinch hit. Please don’t use him in any more meaningful pinch hitting situations. We can’t afford his stikeouts!
Braves Forever
July 29th, 2009
4:56 pm
Yeah, I know – - – strikeouts. Greg Norton needs to go down to the farm and find his ability to get hits…
PHILLY PHANATIC
July 29th, 2009
5:52 pm
Nope, no need to panic bravos!! Just wave the white flag in surrender while we stomp your silly team into the dust.
Brad
July 29th, 2009
6:13 pm
Bravo, you need to get a grip. Answer me this where was ball 4 to Cody Ross last night? It sure wasn’t low. You want to move Lowe, Soriano, and Moylan. Okay, Lowe is 10-7. Yes his ERA is high for an ace but he’s 10-7. Moylan and Gonzo had impressive nights last night and Soriano’s ERA is in the 1’s and he only has two blown saves ALL year. His last was against the Mets at Citi when he gave up a homer to Sheffield in the 8th inning.
They’ve done good work and Gonzo has been strong since he was hit in the forearm.
I’m sorry, but I think you’re taking this loss a little too hard. It’s one game and games like this happen to every team.
Brad
July 29th, 2009
6:20 pm
Kotchman not being able to cleanly catch a ground ball was distressing.
Uh, okay, but Kotchmnan still got the out so what’s the big deal?
beachbrave
July 29th, 2009
8:32 pm
Anyone still watching? Anyone still think we are aok with the current crew? Bark, 59 games and counting. Where are you?
Greg+
July 30th, 2009
7:53 am
I suppose last night’s loss is no big deal either? I’m telling you, the Braves are blowing the wild card –right here, right now at the end of July. It’s one thing to be four games out of the wild card slot –it’s quite another to have four teams in front of you.
Joebrave
July 31st, 2009
8:48 am
Bradley, why don’t you get some original stuff, dude You are not D.O.B. so stop riding his coattails! stupid Jackass!
wreckmaniac
July 31st, 2009
9:32 am
I’ll take this team as is. There are no “nonperformers” since Frenchy left and I can’t see any available and needed aquisitions. That said, this team is not at the level of LA and the Phils but with Huddy coming back I see a chance at the wild card which would be a big upgrade.
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