Live from the ballyard: The Lowe-down on a big-game pitcher
Derek Lowe started Game 7 of the 2004 ALCS in the old Yankee Stadium. No pressure there. Only 85 years of Red Sox angst bottled into one night in the Bronx.
He won the game. Went on two days’ rest. Pitched six innings, yielded one hit and one earned run.
One week later, Derek Lowe started Game 4 of the World Series in the old Busch Stadium. No pressure there. Only the Curse of the Bambino and all that other sad New England history to put to rest.
He won the game. Pitched seven innings, yielded three hits and no runs.
Yeah, 2004 was a while ago — but not so long as 1918 was to Red Sox Nation — and we in Atlanta haven’t seen much of that D-Lowe in his two seasons here. But the Braves signed him for $15 million per annum for two reasons: First, Lowe never misses a start, and second, he’s a big-game pitcher.
Lowe missed one start this season. It came early this month after he received a cortisone shot for the bone chip in his elbow. He’s 4-0 since. He has yielded three earned runs in 25 September innings. He’s the reason the Braves lead the wild card chase by 1 1/2 games with four to play. He has done what even Tim Hudson couldn’t do — won big games by the bunch.
A lot of people wanted rid of Lowe after last season, Frank Wren chief among them. But the GM couldn’t find anybody willing to take that salary, and you know what? Sometimes the best trades (all together now) …
Are the ones you don’t make. The Braves would have been long gone without D-Lowe, and today they dispatch him to the hill again. He’s pitching on three days’ rest. Doesn’t matter. He’s Derek Lowe. He’s a gamer.
And with that, the floor is open for questions, comments and postseason projections. (I think the Braves will play the Giants in Round 1.) I’ll be here until the end of this strangely timed — game time is 4:35 p.m. — tilt, and I’d be obliged if you’d ride along. And I offer my thanks in advance.
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673 comments Add your comment
Josh
September 29th, 2010
4:45 pm
I think I’d rather play a team that has already secured a post-season spot than one that is already out of the picture. There’s something about these teams that are out. They always trip up the good teams down the stretch. Did you see the Marlins reaction last night to Hinske’s homerun. Geez. So much for the belief that these type of teams don’t care. Sanchez looked like he had just blown his team’s World Series hopes.
Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:45 pm
WOW!
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:45 pm
huge early break!!!! what a heads up recovery by gonzo
Lowe Rider
September 29th, 2010
4:46 pm
Crazy doubleplay. McCann woulda dropped that throw.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
4:46 pm
Actually, it’s not a double play. But it is two outs on one batted ball.
Ghost of Jeff Treadway
September 29th, 2010
4:46 pm
Sea Bass got his a$$!
Murphmyfavorite
September 29th, 2010
4:46 pm
WOW!
WTF
September 29th, 2010
4:46 pm
We have to have a decent lead over the Padres heading into our series with the Phils. I don’t think they’ll pitch their big guns but you just never know.
Andy
September 29th, 2010
4:47 pm
I’m at work. Someone please explain the weird DP.
heymmered
September 29th, 2010
4:47 pm
what happened on the play
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
4:47 pm
Morrison grounded to Lowe. Who threw to second. Gonzalez dropped the ball trying to get it out of his glove — Bonifacio was ruled out at second — but threw home to get Cousins at the plate.
clay
September 29th, 2010
4:47 pm
dang two times already in the first inning and he screws both of them up
Ghost of Jeff Treadway
September 29th, 2010
4:47 pm
That’s twice in two nights for Brooksy.
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:47 pm
come on conrad. prado injury hurts us so bad.
bobbycoxcountdown: 4
September 29th, 2010
4:48 pm
I’m sure Jesse Stone would call that a hit. LMAO!
Andy
September 29th, 2010
4:49 pm
Thanks Mark. I’ll take any break we can get.
Josh
September 29th, 2010
4:49 pm
It’s a legitimate question. Why is Glaus not an option at 3rd base? He played the position for 12 years. He’s been resting his knees for a month. Sure, he’s slower than Conrad, but he probably makes up for that with overall experience at the position.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
4:49 pm
An eventful inning. But scoreless.
raph71
September 29th, 2010
4:50 pm
ouch way to many balls in that inning. 22 pitches 11 stikes, and 11 balls
5150 P.O.A.D
September 29th, 2010
4:50 pm
1 inning and 1 error. I hate the sound of that. Errors are killers.
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:50 pm
we overcame our mistakes to get out of the inning scoreless. Lowe throwing groundballs. Thats a good sign
Andy
September 29th, 2010
4:50 pm
Brooksy a little nervous over at third today?
anderson jones
September 29th, 2010
4:50 pm
Can Bobby not even pinch hit Glaus?
BC
September 29th, 2010
4:51 pm
Brooks scares the hell out of me over at 3rd…
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:51 pm
i wouldn’t mind seeing glaus at 3b either
Headley Lamar
September 29th, 2010
4:52 pm
Thanks for the pointer.
I say Braves win today they are in. Especially posting the score early. Padres are falling apart.
Andy
September 29th, 2010
4:52 pm
I have heard many of the players say that Brooks is the best fielding 3B on the team. I think that is why he is getting the starts over Glaus. Glaus is an unknown quantity at third now.
anderson jones
September 29th, 2010
4:52 pm
Miller’s ERA will probably drop down to about 5 today
Lowe Rider
September 29th, 2010
4:53 pm
Braves need early runs.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
4:53 pm
Andrew Miller pitching for the Fish. My middle name is Andrew.
Christopher Chance
September 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
Mark Bradley…..I watched “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” when it came out last Friday. While not nearly as good as the original, it was ok. It was amusing that they brought back a few of the non-main role players from the original and gave them bit parts in the sequel.
There should have been more Gordon Gekko scenes.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
Jason Heyward walks.
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
boy this miller kid works fast
Chanticleer
September 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
Miller with an 8+ ERA…so I suppose he will throw a 2 hit gem today.
Lowe Rider
September 29th, 2010
4:54 pm
Heyward missed a strike right doen middle. At least he walked.
Josh
September 29th, 2010
4:55 pm
At a point like this in the season, early-season mistakes loom so big. That 9-game losing streak? If we even go 3-6 in that stretch instead of 0-9, we’re in the playoffs already, 2 games behind Philly and the best overall record in baseball.
Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:55 pm
Playoff schedule for the Braves regardless of who they play per MLB.com:
Game 1 – Thursday, October 7 on the road
Game 2 – Friday, October 8 on the road
Game 3 – Sunday, October 10 at Turner Field
Game 4 – Monday, October 11 at Turner Field
Game 5 – Wednesday, October 13 on the road
Lowe Rider
September 29th, 2010
4:55 pm
Pitcher struggling and Diaz swings at 1st pitch…
BC
September 29th, 2010
4:55 pm
I like how patient Diaz is. He really takes his time up there..Jesus
Francisco Cabrera
September 29th, 2010
4:57 pm
Hey wow a David Ross sighting. Even the Braves 3b coach is dumb enough to think McCann can run the bases. Defense suffers again with Conrad at 3RD. Hope whatever team Glaus goes to next year he comes back and haunts the Braves like Thome did the White Sox.
Lowe Rider
September 29th, 2010
4:57 pm
If I were a playoff team I’d trade for Livan Hernandez. He can have a 9.00 era and no hit the Braves…
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
4:57 pm
braves to make any noise in the postseason have to start getting clutch hits. no power, no speed. we better start knocking in runs with 2 outs
bobbycoxcountdown: 4
September 29th, 2010
4:58 pm
it sure seems like if the Braves are patient at the plate today… they should get a good pitch to hit or get walked.
Anyone hacking at the first pitch is just stupid today.
anderson jones
September 29th, 2010
4:58 pm
Rafael Belliard clone is behind home plate again in the orange shirt.
Lobosolo
September 29th, 2010
4:58 pm
Why don’t you run on down there and show him how to do it, BC…
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
4:59 pm
D-Lee, not to be confused with D-Lowe, walks.
Christopher Chance
September 29th, 2010
5:00 pm
If we can win this game, then we’d have to collapse against the Phillies this weekend for us to not win the Wild Card.
For instance, if we win today, the “worst” that our lead would be would be 1 game over either the Padres OR Padres/Giants. If the Padres won both today and tomorrow against the Cubs…we’d be 1 game up on them. If the Giants won both days as well against the D-backs….then they’d be up 2 on the Padres.
The ideal thing would be to see the Giants either lose one or both of the next two games OR the Padres lose the next two games.
Regardless, after tomorrow’s games, we’ll have a pretty clear idea of what needs to happen this weekend. The main thing is that the Padres-Giants are playing each other.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2010
5:00 pm
Sea Bass. Goes fishing.
ER Steve
September 29th, 2010
5:00 pm
gonzalez battles in that atbat and comes up short.
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