Swept in Philly and nearly no-hit, the beaten Braves move on
Tommy Hanson's night: Six innings, two hits, no runs, one fine outing. (AP photo)
PHILADELPHIA — They got the start they needed. Alas, they got nothing else. Heck, they nearly got no-hit.
They came here thinking one win — one crummy win — would leave them in good stead for the wild card. Instead they got swept. They weren’t overwhelmed in any of the games, which made it even worse. Three nights running, the Braves got to see firsthand how vast the expanse is between them and the Phillies.
“We got beat all three games,” Brian McCann said. “We were in every ballgame. We just got beat.”
Wednesday’s loss was sweet excruciation. Tommy Hanson matched Roy Oswalt for six innings, and Roy Oswalt was all but untouchable over his seven. (The Braves’ one hit was Martin Prado’s two-out double in the fourth.) In the eighth Jonny Venters opened by plunking Chase Utley, but induced Ryan Howard to hit into a double play.
Then Venters pitched around the right-handed hitting Jayson Werth, which made sense. Then he fell behind Raul Ibanez 2-0 and tried to throw a sinker. The ball didn’t sink. Ibanez, a pro’s pro, poked it into the left-field corner, and Nate McLouth overthrew the cutoff man and the Phillies had the run they needed. And the Braves had an 0-for-Philly.
McCann: “It ain’t easy for a left-handed hitter [meaning Ibanez] to hit a 95-mph sinker into the left-field corner. You tip your hat. And we move on.”
The Braves needed this game to prove to themselves that they could beat the Phillies when it mattered, and all it proved was that they couldn’t. Hanson did what neither of the rookie starters deployed in Games 1 and 2 could manage: He gave his team a chance to win. His team, sorry to say, wasn’t good enough to avail itself. His team is running on fumes.
The Braves had more errors (five) in the series than runs (four). Yes, they ran face-first into the Phillies’ Big Three, but if you plan on playing postseason baseball, you’d better be ready to face top-shelf pitching. All the Braves could think to try was another oddball lineup — McLouth in left and Rick Ankiel in center — against the Roys (Halladay and Oswalt), and here were the two-night totals for the twosome:
Thirteen at-bats, one single, four strikeouts.
“We couldn’t have done much better,” manager Bobby Cox said after Wednesday’s loss, and that assessment sounded at once pitiful and pithy. The Braves have tried everything this season and have gotten further than they probably should have, and now it’s down to this: Nine games to go, the wild card blowing in the wind.
McCann: “This is our season. We’ve got nine games left. We have to be able to get up for these.”
Motivation wasn’t the issue here. The Braves tried their best. The Phillies’ best was just better. Cox even broke with custom before Wednesday’s game. “I talked to the team today,” he said afterward. Then this: “We’re trying to win a game.”
They couldn’t win even once here, but late Wednesday they boarded a chartered Amtrak car for the trek down to D.C., where they’ll meet the last-place Washington Nationals. Then they return home for the season’s final week — six games against the Marlins and the Phillies, and the latter will surely have clinched the National League East by the time they arrive at Turner Field.
Meaning: For all that went wrong here, the Braves should still be able to draw the wild card. (With San Francisco losing in Chicago on Wednesday, the Braves were assured of staying atop the runner-up race at least another day.) They spent three days proving they’re no longer a match for the Phillies, but that’s no longer the issue. The Braves simply have to win as many games as they can and hope it’s enough.
Before the game, Cox had said: “I wouldn’t mind seeing a ‘WC’ [for wild card] up on the wall of our ballpark.” In previous seasons the Braves were always the team winning division titles and letting lesser lights claim the ‘WC’, but in 2010 it’s their only real hope. A big series was lost in egregious fashion, and now they move on.
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321 comments Add your comment
extremus
September 22nd, 2010
11:34 pm
Think the Braves should get in on the Jason Werth sweepstakes during the offseason and move him or Heyward to another outfield position? At least he wouldn’t be hitting AGAINST us then.
philee fan
September 22nd, 2010
11:35 pm
kev,,, scroll up and you will see that I have already been corrected on that one,,, but as I said before ,, there is plenty of time left for the Braves to blow it.
philee fan
September 22nd, 2010
11:38 pm
Braves fans,,, why keep harping on three rookie pitchers that performed very well,, they kept you in all of the games, especially today,, ONE MORE TIME WITH FEELING,, Your defense failed you,, that and your lack of clutch hitting (or great pitching by the Phils)
Ghost of Jeff Treadway
September 22nd, 2010
11:41 pm
They took the train? What is this 1930?
Peter
September 22nd, 2010
11:44 pm
Hey Swamp Fox…….you can’t escape with a win with 116 errors ……and that almost leads the league !
Peter
September 22nd, 2010
11:46 pm
Hey extremus….Great thought ………if you can give Lowe 15 Million…… Werth deserves that……plus he could play right and Hayward left……
extremus
September 22nd, 2010
11:51 pm
Of course courting Jason Werth does come with a big caveat; he’s represented by Scott Boras, who always manages to squeeze every last penny out of winning bidders for his clients. Some would argue that he’s done a lot for players and is a shrewd negotiator, but there’s no denying the negative impact his dealings have had on how many teams can afford to keep a winning product on the field anymore.
Case in point: the Phillies most likely can’t afford Werth for next season now. That should tell you something about how few teams even have a chance of landing him.
SG10
September 22nd, 2010
11:53 pm
I think the last Philly game of the Nationals series had the biggest psychological impact for both teams…when Phillies came from 3 runs down in the 9th to win it..overall, the series was much closer than what most had expected..Braves could have taken it if they had few hits fall their way..For Braves to beat Phillies, they have to figure out how to get to Phillies bullpen quickly and how to hit Lidge..Lidge has dominated Braves since his Astros days and even in past few years when he has struggled against other teams.
philee fan
September 22nd, 2010
11:54 pm
werth to Yankees,, bet the house on it… sorry to say.
We should have signed him long term 1-2 years ago when we had the chance.
Peter
September 22nd, 2010
11:55 pm
Hey Mark……didn’t Diaz have a big homer recently against a righty ?
philee fan
September 22nd, 2010
11:55 pm
sg10,,, getting past BIG THREE to bullpen is easier said than done.
TTTT-Thumbody Thed Thats Thupid!
September 22nd, 2010
11:56 pm
Looks like Cox has brain-washed MB and DOB into ignoring Kimbrel the same way he usually does. There ’s not one mention in Mark’s article or Dave’s about the outstanding job he did in the 7th inning. That still gave the Braves a shot. BC brings him in, which surprised me, but then this time jerked him one inning too soon. Venters has obviously been over-used so why not leave Kimbrel in after what he did in the 7th? Makes one wonder what would have happened in that inning had he been in there instead of JV. No score maybe? I will never, ever understand BC’s managing process. Then again, after this year I won’t have to. Hopefully my sanity will be restored. MB and DOB I think you two did “the kid” a major injustice by not even mentioning his outstanding effort.
extremus
September 22nd, 2010
11:56 pm
I’m sure the Nationals especially feel poorly toward Boras after he laughed all the way to the bank and they lost a $100 million rookie (Strasbourg) to season-ending Tommy John surgery. But those big potential rewards come with big risks if you’re willing to guarantee that kind of money to anyone. Translation: I think the era of guaranteed contracts in pro sports should come to an abrupt end and players should once again be paid for services rendered according to production. Keep the free agency and let teams pay what they feel a player is worth; I’m certain they won’t exactly go hungry.
SG10
September 22nd, 2010
11:58 pm
I agree Philee fan..that’s why it wasn’t done.
However, I think if Braves had few hits fall their way, it could have happened…For instance if Braves had scored few runs against Hammels in that second inning, he wouldn’t have lasted 8…If Prado actually hits that game-tying HR instead of fouling it, Halladay might have gone early..just few lucky breaks here and there might have changed things..
MitchC
September 23rd, 2010
12:00 am
Mark, I wrote a long post, that didnt go up, so I’ll try to make it shorter.
The Braves played badly in the series in Philly. I saw all of Mondays and tonight’s game, and most of last night’s.
Bottom line, the Phillies are a better team than we are.
We can still win the wild card, the question is.. will we?
I see that we need two of three in DC, and at least four of six against the Phillies and Marlins at home to do it. If we go six and three, we may well pull it off.
If we dont start playing well, and winning games in DC, we can say goodbye to our chances for 2010.
BooBoo
September 23rd, 2010
12:01 am
Better they get swept in Philly in September than in San Diego-San Francisco-Cincinnatti in October. They died when they presented Derrick Lee instead of Oswalt, and brought up a rookie (Minor) to act as pitching help, when the kid had never pitched past August before. They have nothing left. Only a collapse on the level of the 1960 Phillies can save the Braves, but even that would be a momentary reprieve from the inevitable.
MitchC
September 23rd, 2010
12:01 am
My posts dont seem to be going up, and I have no idea why.,
MitchC
September 23rd, 2010
12:02 am
Okay, so I’ll try again. Short. If we go six and three the rest of the season, I still think we can make the WC, even with as poorly as we played in Philly.
Yankee Fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:03 am
The P-hillies won’t even make it out of the NLCS, i expect us to sweep the Reds.
jim
September 23rd, 2010
12:03 am
Let’s not forget the brilliant move made by our brilliant GM, when he sent Gregor Blanco to KC in return for Rick Ankiel. Now that Blanco is an every day player like he should have been while he was in Atlanta(32 at bats in 2010) Blanco’s average has climbed 12 points up to 277, whereas Ankiel’s average has dropped 32 points down to 231. Blanco also has Ankiel beat in the RBI dept. since moving to KC.
Blanco is younger and has a future. Can the same be said about Ankiel? This is just one glaring example of the incompetence we Braves fans have endured at the feet of our esteemed GM Frank Wren. Please John Schuerholtz, come back to the GM position where you belong.
SG10
September 23rd, 2010
12:04 am
and before today’s game, Oswalt had terrible ERA against Braves..so it has happened and could have happened against him too..it is just that Braves faced Phillies at bad time for them..Phillies could have said the same thing when they faced Braves in philadelphia before the all-star game .. As Chipper said some time back, the winning teams quite often catch other teams when they are not playing well and take advantage of that situation..
Jimmy Cokes
September 23rd, 2010
12:04 am
@ SG, and if the blasts the Phillies were hitting in the first off Beachy had fallen they would have scored more runs too. If the Ump hadn’t called a double play ball when the throw clearly pulled Lee off the base, then two runs would have scored for the Phils in the 9th, not 1. Crying over inches is a waste of time. The game can change at any number of points, but it was what it was. And what it was was a sweep. The cream always finds a way to rise to the top.
Ackshun
September 23rd, 2010
12:06 am
As long as ownership ignores this team and is unwilling to pay for top talent we will be mired in mediocrity. MR BLANK CAN YOU OPEN YOUR WALLET AND BUY THESE GUYS!!
McPants
September 23rd, 2010
12:06 am
“philee fan”, time to go to bed, your 8th grade science test is tomorrow. Hope you weren’t watching too much baseball and had time to study!
col foot
September 23rd, 2010
12:06 am
sweet, any time those premadonnas lose is great.
SG10
September 23rd, 2010
12:07 am
Jimmy Cokes, I am not defending that as the reason why Braves lost…I am just explaining how Braves could have gone to Philly bullpen sooner despite facing their Big three..scoring early runs against them and increasing their pitch count..
Randal Patrick McMurphy
September 23rd, 2010
12:10 am
If, if, if…
Well, if “wishes” and “buts” were soup and nuts, we’d all have a helluva Happy Holidays, now wouldn’t we… sheez…
TeamRedNeck
September 23rd, 2010
12:13 am
I think Braves still make it in. Phillies will now rest all their starters in the last series. . .getting t the post-season would be a big step for this young team.
Mitchell
September 23rd, 2010
12:14 am
They weren’t overwhelmed in any of the games, which made it even worse.
Tell that to ESPN and MLB Network.
H20! H20! H20!
Yay yay ya!!! We love the Phillies!
washerguy
September 23rd, 2010
12:16 am
i think vick will have the same outcome against the falcons this year just a philly thing
icedawg
September 23rd, 2010
12:19 am
It doesn’t look pretty for the Braves. They’ve lost momentum. You want to peak at this time of the year not be going down the slope. Don’t know if they will turn it around. This has happened before.
Oswalt and Phillies Relievers Hold Braves to One Hit – New York Times | SportsZrr.com
September 23rd, 2010
12:20 am
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philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:21 am
sg,,and if pigs could fly they would be eagles,,, please apply that logic to turning a 7 game lead into a 6 game hole,, a few breaks there to ?? explain that one to me.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:23 am
MCpants,,, your braves are the ones that have been “put to sleep”.
Goodnight Braves.
TTTT-Thumbody Thed Thats Thupid!
September 23rd, 2010
12:24 am
For the record, since neither writer thought it worthy to mention it, Kimbrel entered in the 7th inning with one out after Moylan gave up a hit. Kimbrel struck one out and walked one, then Infante made his great sliding catch of a foul ball down the first base line. Kimbrel stranded a runner on base which was huge at the time. Have no idea why BC pulled him, he was looking “untouchable” as usual. Just another one of those BC mysteries. He brought Venters in and his control was bad again. That’s when the run was scored.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:25 am
mcpants,, Braves are the ones that have been “put to sleep’
Goodnight Chipper,, goodnight Bobby,
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:26 am
Pants,,, you mean like braves were put to sleep,, goodnight division,, goodnight wildcard, see ya next year.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:28 am
Go Phillies,, East Division Champs 4 years running. Nuff said
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:29 am
pants,,, remember to tuck your Braves in,, goodnight Braves, see ya next year
Leanda
September 23rd, 2010
12:34 am
I’m sad to admit it but THE BRAVES SUCK, they cant hit their way out of a wet paper sack at this point. Pathetic!
Ted Striker
September 23rd, 2010
12:36 am
I don’t see/hear the team or manager panicking.
p.s. That’s also what I like — and others dislike — about a certain head football coach in Athens
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:40 am
Leanda,,, keep hope alive,,, Braves ran into very good pitching,, if they find the team that won all of those games late they could be a factor.
athdog
September 23rd, 2010
12:40 am
we almost lead the league in errors. KK was a bust, Lowe had weeks of lackluster performances, Hansen is a typical second year player, inconsistent, Medlen’s gone so the defense is no good, the pitching is wasted and other than two or three players, we can’t hit. And so the wildcard blows toward San Diego…
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
12:42 am
Phillies= Sweep. Braves= Weep.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:46 am
dog,,, since you put it that way,,, you may have point,, but,,, keep hope alive
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:46 am
chrissy,,, be nice
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
12:50 am
I’m nice…they can still take the wild card…and after being at the game tonight…I must say that the Phils fans gave Cox a standing ovation when he presented the line up card…not that sportscenter would admit that we can do anything nice:)
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
12:56 am
different atmosphere her than Sunday night,,, what happened ??
MitchC
September 23rd, 2010
12:57 am
Chrissy, Phillies will be the ones “weeping”, if your team runs into the Yankees or Tampa in the WS. If that happens, Phillies will LOOOOSEEE!
Mike
September 23rd, 2010
12:57 am
I just have no faith that this team will pull itself together and turn it on and handle the Nationals and the Marlins. They havent handled them all year. They seem just completely flat. The magic and excitement and energy is just gone.
Sorry guys, I just don’t believe.