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
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:01 am
chrissy,, please be nice,, feel their pain
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:02 am
Mitch,,, keep dreamin,,,, we do know that the braves are done,, ” that’s a fact jack”.
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:02 am
At least we will get to the World Series Mitch! Sorry, that was my inner bad ass coming out. I am just riding a Phillies high and happy about the way they are playing…as for the Yankees or TB…not worried.
JASon
September 23rd, 2010
1:02 am
Regardless of what happened out there today, there is no excuse for a manager saying “well, gee, golly whiz, we couldn’t have done any better.”
This is why bobby sucks, this is why he is a horrible motivator and leader, and this is why so many people want him gone. Just go, bobby. Just go!
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:03 am
not just wishful (sour grape, loser) thinking
Tiny Tim
September 23rd, 2010
1:04 am
TIPTOE, THROUGH THE TULIPS…LA LA LA LA LA
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:04 am
Chrissy,,, on the other hand,, get em girl,,,, GO PHILLIES
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:07 am
And, as a Phillies fan who takes crap for all of the other stuff that Philadelphia fans do…at the game tonight we all gave Cox a standing ovation when he presented the line up card tonight…not a single boo that I heard:)
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:07 am
But who saw a 17-3 coming out of the soiled bandages and discarded MRIs of what was looking more and more like a “Just not our year?” Who saw a team that appeared headed for about 86-88 victories streaking for 98-100? Who foresaw a possible homefield advantage – and that powerful edge now that the rally towels are being distributed – the entire postseason.
LOOK OUT YANKEES,, HERE WE COME,,, GO PHILLIES
oregon phillie
September 23rd, 2010
1:07 am
I remember the old days when braves pitching beat the phillies year after year after year. Kinda sweet to turn it around.
This phillie team, with the addition of halladay and oswald may be the best of the last three.
As for the braves, they have a lot of talent but also a lot of empty seats at home. Might be a good thing the BC era is ending down there.
I would wish the braves good luck the rest of the season but remember 1964. Hope then phils have it clinched when they go to atlanta for the last series.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:09 am
Oregon,,, piece of cake,,,
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:10 am
The Braves are the greatest team in the history of baseball…..they will win all their remaining games while the Phillies lose all theirs. The braves will take the division by three games and then win every post season game on the way to the world championship.
JB HAS SPOKEN
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:11 am
Haven’t counted my chickens before they have hatched, but I may have had a stray scrambled egg or two.
ward
September 23rd, 2010
1:15 am
I HOPE DIAZ AND MCLOUTH ARN;T THERE NEXT YEAR, IT;LL BE A LONG SEASON. IS THE REDMAN AROUND? MAYBE DIAZ AND MCLOUTH CAN TAKE HITTINNG LESSONS? ONCE AGAIN CONGRADGULATINS TO THE PHILLIES AND FANS. ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW! EVEN I STILL AM AMAZED BY HOW AWSOME THE PHILLES ARE PLAYING! WE STILL HAVE THE WILD CARD, AND I CAN BE HAPPY WITH THAT. GREAT JOB PHILLIES!!! GO!! BRAVES!!!
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:16 am
JB,,, can we buy some of that stuff,,, is it legal,,probably not.
Better yet , did you take your medicine,, or maybe too much of it?
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:17 am
Ward,,, class as usual. Not much left in this world
Vast right wing conspiracy
September 23rd, 2010
1:18 am
Braves stink
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:21 am
I am starting to think that they filter this message board, as twice I have tried to say something about Co (x) and I haven’t seen it on here. And both times complimentary!
Keith
September 23rd, 2010
1:23 am
Tough loss tonight. We needed at least one.
I know i’m the eternal optimist. They gave us their best in Halladay and Hamels…we gave them our worst in Beachy and Minor, and we were in both of those games. One of our best pitchers tonight shuts them out but we still don’t win.
Sigh*
But I think I’d like to see a rematch in a 7-game series…when they see Huddy and hanson twice maybe with Lowe and JJ mixed in…
GO BRAVES!!!!
Do or die, boys.
Keith
September 23rd, 2010
1:24 am
Again, my last post did NOT show up. And only on YOUR blog, Bradley….
Never shultz, never DOB’s, etc.
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:24 am
In fact, I predict the Braves will score no less the ten runs in each of their remaining games. We have been waiting for this moment all year…setting up everyone to believe we are no good and the Phillies believing they’re all good and stuff and then WACKO….we come up like a nuclear sub blasting out of the ocean scaring the crap out of everybody and then scoring all the runs we’ve been holding back on…like I said, 10+ runs per game…the division is ours and then the world series.
JB HAS SPOKEN
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:25 am
Chrissy,, I agree as I find that I am allowed certain comments and others don’t make it through,,, oh well,, lets see if they have a problem with “broom” comments in lanta,,lol
Coach (2011 or Bust)
September 23rd, 2010
1:25 am
Whether or not this team holds on to the wild card is irrelevant.
They do not deserve to see the post season simply because it would be an embarrassment. The Phillies are a post season team and our Braves cannot compete with them now or in the post season.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:27 am
is an asylum missing this guy,, could you guys check,,, off of the ranch he is
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:28 am
Coach,,, JB would disagree. of course JB seems to be delusional.,,,, just a thought.
ward
September 23rd, 2010
1:29 am
WREN MADE THE TEAM. HE;LL GO DOWN WITH BRAVES! I;M STLL HOPEFUL FOR THE WILD CARD. IF THE BRAVES DON;T MAKE IT.THEY HAD A GOOD YEAR.WREN WILL HAVES TO ASK HIMSELF. WHY DID HE LET ONE SLIP AWAY? GO!!! BRAVES!!!
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:30 am
I was going to comment on the great standing o we gave bobby upon presenting his line up card tonight. (is that secret enough?)
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:30 am
Coach…the Braves are the greatest team ever. They’ve been holding back hundreds of runs; it’s all a disguise, like that big buggie-eyed camouflaged lizard or a stick insect…you know….they sit around all googly-eyed and then WAM, they fling their toungue and gobble their prey when they least expect it. That is the Braves…one of them lizards….just waiting to score hundreds of runs on the way to the World Series….
JB HAS SPOKEN
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:33 am
Yeah, tried another comment…nothing! note to self…do not have %^& in what you want to say.
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:36 am
Ward, Wren is a genious…he has set this up perfectly…see my post above about the lizard and the stick insect…WAM…WACKO….WORLD SERIES.
JB HAS SPOKEN
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:37 am
Coach…I feel for you!
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:39 am
Chrissy and Philly guy…I have never had a comment blocked. Are you sure you are hitting the “Submit Comment” button….it is right down there below and it says ‘Submit Comment’
JB HAS SPOKEN.
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:39 am
night all
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:40 am
yea JB,, im sure that they are just hanging on your every word in atlanta,,
ward
September 23rd, 2010
1:42 am
THE WILD CARD IS GOING DOWN TI THE LAST WIRE. GO!!! BRAVES!!! SEE YOU LATER!
philee fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:42 am
you should have your head checked dude,, not your comments blocked.. have fun in our world,,goodnight.
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:44 am
Philee fan..I have been standing outside the stadium for weeks with a sign that says all this…even has a picture of one of those lizards on it with its tongue yanking in a Phillies hat…most people seem to believe it will happen. We’ll see.
JB HAS SPOKEN
Sad lifelong Braves fan :-
September 23rd, 2010
1:47 am
JB you are insane…the Braves are a mediocre team that played above its capabilities for most of the season….they were fun to watch for three months or more, but the sad truth is that teams like the Phillies, Yankees, Rays, etc are WS material…the Braves are not, and frankly, with their paltry 80 million payroll each year, I don’t know when they’ll be contenders again. It breaks my heart, but the Phillies are truly a great team and we are not…and that’s that.
ward
September 23rd, 2010
1:50 am
ALMOST FOR GOT, WAS WREN A GENIOUS TO TRADE MARK TEXERIA, AND JEFF FRANCOUR, AND PICKING UP MCLOUTH? SEE YOU LATER! GO BRAVES!!!!!
Oswalt and Phillies Relievers Hold Braves to One Hit – New York Times - News - Interactive Portals Directory
September 23rd, 2010
1:50 am
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JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
1:53 am
Ward…of course….McLouth is hundreds of times better then those guys.
JB HAS SPOKEN
Sad lifelong Braves fan
September 23rd, 2010
1:54 am
Wow…lots of drugs late at night….
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:56 am
I think I have fallen in love with sad lifelong Braves fan…Do you know how long we were there before this?
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
1:59 am
And I will try once more…The Phils honored Bobby Cox as he presented his last line up card in Philly. Everyone in the stadium stood up…and that means twice we have cheered for your Braves this series (the other being Diaz’ hip check).
Sad lifelong Braves fan
September 23rd, 2010
2:01 am
Not really, but it is tough looking up at a jaugernaut that shows no inkling of letting go its top spot while we mire along in the muck of mediocrity.
However, on the plus side, I’ve gained the love of a Philly chick…I’ll take that!!
Sad lifelong Braves fan
September 23rd, 2010
2:04 am
And that was a class act Crissy….the Marlins organization (not their fans) didn’t do a thing for Bobby in the last series there…I saw the Phillies and their fans recognizing him tonight and that shows a knowledge of the game that transends team….good job.
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
2:04 am
We lived in mediocrity for ever! Like 15 0r so years!
Sad lifelong Braves fan
September 23rd, 2010
2:06 am
And that was a class act Chrissy. I saw the Phillies and their fans clapping for Bobby, and that shows a knowledge of the game that transcends team…good job.
Chrissy
September 23rd, 2010
2:07 am
Yeah! Finally! (We never get noticed for stuff like this!)
JB has spoken
September 23rd, 2010
2:07 am
You’all are weird….
JB HAS SPOKEN