The Braves: Watching the scoreboard, then winning a big one
The man of the evening. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
A strange race got downright bizarre this week. The Braves lost three times in Colorado and wasted a nine-run lead in the finale. The Phillies, with all their big names back from the disabled list, got swept at home by sub-.500 Houston, and the presumably bolstered Phils managed a total of seven runs in the four games.
As of Friday morning, the Braves were in the odd position of having not won since Sunday … and still padding their division lead by a half-game. Things changed Friday night.
The Braves trailed the Marlins 2-0 after two batters and lost 7-1. Tommy Hanson yielded four solo homers on the night before his 24th birthday. The Phillies managed their new allotment of two-runs-in-regulation and were one strike from victory in San Diego, whereupon Brad Lidge balked home the tying run. (”A bizarre thing,” Lidge told reporters afterward, fully in the schizo swing of this chase.)
To their credit, the Phillies won in 12 innings, Jimmy Rollins sliding around Yorvit Torrealba to score the finally decisive run. And thus did the Braves, for the first time in two weeks, watch their lead shrink.
It stood at two games when they reported for work Saturday. The Phillies were again playing in San Diego, their game starting at 4 p.m. EDT. The Braves would face the Fish three hours later. This seemed a propitious moment to ask the staple question of every pennant race: Do you guys watch the scoreboard?
Jason Heyward said he doesn’t, and indeed, the ambiance in the Braves’ clubhouse suggested that the local nine wasn’t overly concerned with the Phillies. Of the four big-screen TVs mounted in the center of the team’s dressing quarters, three were tuned to an ESPN show involved the New Orleans Saints. The fourth carried a Babe Ruth game — meaning the league for teenagers, not the Bambino himself — being aired on MLB.TV.
“You know what’s going on,” said Brian McCann, speaking of the Phillies. “At the same time, you’ve still got to take care of your business.”
Asked how it felt to lose three straight and gain a half-game, McCann smiled. “It’s been weird for a while. We’d win and they’d win. We’d lose and they’d lose.”
But Saturday was another day at the races, and it had begun in peculiar fashion. The Phillies didn’t manage a hit against the Padres’ Jon Garland over four innings. Then they mustered a hit batsman, a ground out and an actual single to take a 1-0 lead in the fifth.
This correspondent, speaking as he was to McCann about doings involving the Phils, felt duty-bound to pass along this update. “They’re up 1-0 today,” I said.
McCann brightened. “It’s 1-1 now. Garland got a hit.”
Which tells us that, somewhere beyond the areas of a clubhouse where we media types can go, there was a TV tuned to the Fox broadcast of the Phillies-Padres game. Which tells us also that some Braves were lingering around it.
By the time the Braves got started, the Phillies were done. They won 3-1, reducing their deficit by another half-game. And with Josh Johnson set to face Derek Lowe here Sunday, Saturday night’s game seemed of some significance. Luckily enough, the Braves dispatched Tim Hudson. Being Tim Hudson, he hooked the Marlins.
Thirteen strikeouts in seven innings for Hudson, of whom Bobby Cox said: “He’s the guy who reminded us of [Tom] Glavine and [Greg] Maddux and Smoltzie [John Smoltz].”
The Braves won laughing. Martin Prado drove in five runs. McCann cleared the bases with a double. Matt Diaz hit an actual home run off an actual righthander. After a week in which not much worked, everything worked. Baseball is a funny game.
“This was a big win for us,” Hudson said. “We’d hit a little skid there.”
And then, answering the question of the night, Hudson offered this: “We knew Philly had won today.”
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553 comments Add your comment
Wulfsgirl
August 28th, 2010
10:07 pm
Goodnight Everyone… enjoyed the game!
Wulfsgirl
August 28th, 2010
10:09 pm
Okay, thats is like 3 comments that haven’t shown up! Urggg
robdawg08
August 28th, 2010
10:09 pm
Yeah Mark, we appreciate you talking with us unlike most of the blogmeisters.
MitchC
August 28th, 2010
10:15 pm
Mark, this was a much needed win. The Braves played up to their capabilities tonight.
I still think, psychologically, that we need to win tomorrow, and then take three of four from the Mets. Hopefully, if we can do that, and Philly can lose a few games on their road trip, we can beef up our lead again.
I know, one day at a time. However, I hope that tonight was a prelude to a successful remainder of the homestand.
BravesWin
August 28th, 2010
10:18 pm
Last.
Mark Bradley
August 28th, 2010
10:20 pm
Apparently Farnsworth got dizzy from looking in the lights on the ball over Ankiel. I’m serious.
Oh, and Cox said Lee might not play tomorrow.
Mark Bradley
August 28th, 2010
10:21 pm
Thanks to one and all for hanging with me tonight. And I’m going to the spam queue right now to rescue your comments, Wulfsgirl.
Skeezix
August 28th, 2010
10:22 pm
Looks like Hinske been eating too many cheeseburgers & fries.
THE CURSE OF DAVID JUSTICE LIVES IN ATL
August 28th, 2010
10:24 pm
BOUT TIME
Amos McCoy
August 28th, 2010
10:25 pm
Glad you saw fit not to delete my innocent comment about the blog Mark.
THE CURSE OF DAVID JUSTICE LIVES IN ATL
August 28th, 2010
10:29 pm
WE STILL SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN MANNY!
P.S LET TERRY PENDLETON OR JOE TORRE COACH NEXT YEAR!
THE CURSE OF DAVID JUSTICE LIVES IN ATL
August 28th, 2010
10:31 pm
AND MARK BRADLEY WHATS UP WITH THE RED PANTIES AND DUI’S ALSO THE HIT AND RUN BY EALEY?
Bravesfansince66
August 28th, 2010
10:31 pm
What is up with the bull pen? first O’Flarety walks the first batter and gives up a run and then Farnsworth gives up a run and some awfully hard hit balls. I know, I know pitch to contact with a big lead but this is ridiculous. Farnsworth’s has stunk the place up ever since he got hear. Why not leave Tim in and let him finish?
Bravesfan54
August 28th, 2010
10:37 pm
Earl – did you forget Rico, or was that his (only) off year, or his non-season with TB (or something like that). If not, huge oversight my man – Rico Carty being to this day the “forgotten Brave”.
Mark Bradley
August 28th, 2010
10:41 pm
The post above has been updated to include postgame reaction, if you’re so inclined. If not, thanks again. It was another fun night at the yard.
Little Brave
August 28th, 2010
10:41 pm
Tell Hanson to shave the darn beard . . . Huddy got the message and look how he pitched without the hairy face he had for the two no decisions prior to tonight. Lowe may need to shave also if he loses another winnable game. The extra hair saps their energy LOL.
robdawg08
August 28th, 2010
10:59 pm
Lowe would need an entire body shave…
Mr. Melancholy
August 28th, 2010
11:02 pm
Bradley, you’re a second rate sportswriter, but a first class smart ass. You’re so desperate for replies or comments, you come off like a 12 year old jerk. It’s pretty common in talk radio. You migrated it to your newspaper.
Katherine
August 28th, 2010
11:18 pm
Thanks Mark….too bad they gave up the f word and he sucked it up again as usual lol
Keith
August 29th, 2010
12:01 am
Bradley, could you do a blog on how many times Huddy is the “stopper” for us? It always seems like after rough losses (either ones we lose via walk-off or ones we just lose badly) that Huddy bounces us back almost every time.
Should I get your coffee, too?
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
6:52 am
Two things still concern me with this Braves team: Defense and base running. On both of those pop ups that were dropped by Ramirez in the outfield in tonight’s game….both runners who tried to score were out by a wide margin. While Prado got nailed at the plate, Diaz got lucky when the Marlins’ catcher somehow missed tagging him.
Because of how BAD our defense, base running AND inconsistent our clutch hitting is………..we have no choice but to rely on our pitching to win games. It is unrealistic to assume that our pitching is going to be on every single night.
Sure, against bad teams, our margin of error is greater. The Marlins arent nearly a good enough team for one error to seal your fate against them. However, the Phillies, Padres, and Reds are the kind of teams who will pounce on errors to beat you.
As good as our pitching is……..why cant Bobby Cox have our team take at least a little time to work on the fundamentals of running the bases and playing some solid defense? Even with Chipper and Glaus out of the lineup (thankfully)….our defense still needs some tightening up. At some point the manager of the team has to be held accountable for mental errors that his team makes. Mental errors are a result of lack of concentration and focus.
If Bobby is the manager everyone makes him out to be….and players love playing for him……..why cant they love playing some freaking defense for him and love not getting thrown out by making boneheaded base running plays?
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
6:54 am
?
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
6:57 am
There are two things still concern me with this Braves team: Defense and base running.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
6:58 am
Both runners who tried to score on those two dropped pops by Ramirez were out by a wide margin. While Prado got nailed at the plate, Diaz got lucky when the Marlins’ catcher somehow missed tagging him.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
6:59 am
Because of how BAD our defense, base running AND inconsistent our clutch hitting is………..we have no choice but to rely on our pitching to win games. It is unrealistic to assume that our pitching is going to be on every single night.
Sure, against bad teams, our margin of error is greater. The Marlins arent nearly a good enough team for one error to seal your fate against them. However, the Phillies, Padres, and Reds are the kind of teams who will pounce on errors to beat you.
As good as our pitching is……..why cant Bobby Cox have our team take at least a little time to work on the fundamentals of running the bases and playing some solid defense? Even with Chipper and Glaus out of the lineup (thankfully)….our defense still needs some tightening up. At some point the manager of the team has to be held accountable for mental errors that his team makes. Mental errors are a result of lack of concentration and focus.
If Bobby is the manager everyone makes him out to be….and players love playing for him……..why cant they love playing some freaking defense for him and love not getting thrown out by making boneheaded base running plays?
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
6:59 am
,,,Because of how BAD our defense, base running AND inconsistent our clutch hitting is………..we have no choice but to rely on our pitching to win games. It is unrealistic to assume that our pitching is going to be on every single night.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:01 am
Sure, against bad teams, our margin of error is greater. The Marlins arent nearly a good enough team for one error to seal your fate against them. However, the Phillies, Padres, and Reds are the kind of teams who will pounce on errors to beat you.
As good as our pitching is……..why cant Bobby Cox have our team take at least a little time to work on the fundamentals of running the bases and playing some solid defense? Even with Chipper and Glaus out of the lineup (thankfully)….our defense still needs some tightening up. At some point the manager of the team has to be held accountable for mental errors that his team makes. Mental errors are a result of lack of concentration and focus.
If Bobby is the manager everyone makes him out to be….and players love playing for him……..why cant they love playing some freaking defense for him and love not getting thrown out by making boneheaded base running plays?
Jesse Stone
August 29th, 2010
7:02 am
Chance- We WON BIG. Save your petty criticisms for another time.
Jesse Stone
August 29th, 2010
7:04 am
STUPID ME!! Why do I bother addressing someone that has FIVE POSTS IN A ROW???
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:17 am
We are 2 games up on the Phillies and 3 1/2 up on the Giants for the Wild Card (we have to pay attention to the W.C. because the Phillies could very well pass us). It’s going to be tough to hold them off unless we buckle down and play some fundamental baseball.
It’s getting close to crunch time. The Phillies have shown over the past 4 years that they play their best baseball at the end of the season. What have we shown over the past 4 years? What did we show last year at the end of 2009?
My point is that we have to PROVE that we can get the job done. To be honest, the Braves played better (especially record wise) in July and August of 2009….than we are playing here in 2010 in the months of July and August. So you guys cant say that you cant compare this year’s team to last year’s.
So given the fact that last year’s team played better in July and August than we are this year………….is it unrealistic to think that this year’s team could very well end up folding under pressure in September in a similar fashion as last year’s team? I’m not saying that we are going to fold. I’m saying that we have to PROVE that we wont. And that is a BIG FREAKING IF.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:23 am
Jesse Stone……..I criticize because I see the big picture. We have the pitching to contend for a World Series. We have a bullpen with a good combination of lefty/righty combos….guys who can throw hard and nasty stuff. It would be a shame to waste our pitching by making critical base running blunders and untimely fielding and throwing errors.
The fact that we won big tonight against a very average Marlins team does not mean that we should overlook and dismiss the blunders we made tonight. It’s an unfortunate trend of, at times, a comedy of errors that seems to be as contagious as gonorrhea is in a house of pleasure.
Also, big Josh Johnson is on the mound tomorrow. Dude is always tough against us. And with Derek “light up the scoreboard” Lowe pitching tomorrow…….we have to play solid, tough, fundamental baseball tomorrow if we’re going to have a realistic chance to win.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:24 am
…Jesse Stone……..I criticize because I see the big picture. We have the pitching to contend for a World Series. We have a bullpen with a good combination of lefty/righty combos….guys who can throw hard and nasty stuff. It would be a shame to waste our pitching by making critical base running blunders and untimely fielding and throwing errors.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:26 am
…The fact that we won big tonight against a very average Marlins team does not mean that we should overlook and dismiss the blunders we made tonight.
Also, big Josh Johnson is on the mound tomorrow. Dude is always tough against us. And with Derek “light up the scoreboard” Lowe pitching tomorrow…….we have to play solid, tough, fundamental baseball tomorrow if we’re going to have a realistic chance to win.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:27 am
Josh Johnson is on the mound tomorrow. Dude is always tough against us. And with Derek “light up the scoreboard” Lowe pitching tomorrow…….we have to play solid, tough, fundamental baseball tomorrow if we’re going to have a realistic chance to win.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:30 am
Oops, I mean to say “today” instead of “tomorrow” in my last post about “today’s” pitching match-up.
rekingball
August 29th, 2010
8:50 am
No comment.
JLEW
August 29th, 2010
10:11 am
Why does Bobby not seem to want to play Diaz? Why not put him in left field and leave hime for the rest of the season? He played him last night against a righty on a “hunch” and he did pretty well, I would say, but he is back on the bench today. I guess I don’t understand.
Keith Strawn
August 29th, 2010
11:15 am
“the local nine WASN’T overly concerned” or “the local nine WEREN’T overly concerned?”
Jimmy Jam
August 29th, 2010
12:19 pm
I hate to say this but the Braves are on life support, it’s just a matter of time before the Phillies run away with this division. The Braves will have to hope for a wild card spot and beat out the Giants and that other team from the central.
MitchC
August 29th, 2010
3:42 pm
Mark, I know this blog is from yesterday, but do you still think the Braves are making the playoffs, buddy, after going 1-5 this week, and losing two of three to Florida at home, barring a huge rally?
The Braves won’t make the playoffs. Philly will have passed us by next week, and a team like St Louis or the Giants will go ahead of us for the wild card. I’m sorry, but I just can’t believe anymore, with as poorly as this team is playing. The two losses at home this weekend aren’t even competetive. We just got our A$$es kicked!
Bravissimo
August 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
2 losses at home??…lol
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
4:55 pm
Where is Skip Carey when you need him! Flashback to 1991 when David Justice hit that home run.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
4:57 pm
I’m watching the Phillies broadcast version of their game with the Padres right now. They werent too happy with Leo Nunez. They were kind of lamenting the fact that they cant depend on other teams to help them out.
How soon that they forget the meltdown that the Dodgers bullpen had against them 2 weeks ago in the 8th and 9th innings of that game.
Milt Famey
August 29th, 2010
4:59 pm
That stupid bobby cox, taking out Infante and putting Diaz in the game….Oh wait, there’s a drive…uh,uh, I don’t know what to say.
Navigator
August 29th, 2010
5:51 pm
What started the run to first place was the exuberance of the young players, but since that time they’ve restocked with veteran players. They seem to be offended at getting excited, kind of out of place. Once again, the moves are about bad trades starting with last year with Glaus, then
Ankiel, and now Smith. It’s obvious Ankiel and Smith would rather be somewhere else, and after the season, they probably will be. Glaus and Cabrera will be gone, and so will Lowe, so the question is: Who has Wren brought in that truly helped this team, Answer: look at our shortstop, he’s the only one. Oh yeah, Cox will be gone too!
Jack this
August 29th, 2010
6:27 pm
haha, GEORGIA TECH’S MATT KUCHAR JUST WON THE BARCLAYS IN A PLAYOFF, too bad dog goobers
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:07 pm
The Braves are getting a LOT OF LOVE on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight. John Kruk has a lot of good things to say about the Braves.
Christopher Chance
August 29th, 2010
7:10 pm
Both John Kruk and Nomar said that they like the Braves over the Phillies on Baseball Tonight.
atlantaphils
August 29th, 2010
7:42 pm
THREEPEAT, THREEPEAT, THREEPEAT
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August 31st, 2010
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