Why the Braves’ 13-inning loss to the Nats gives me pause
The happy Nationals after unleashing their winning fusillade of infield singles. (AP photo)
I’m on record as believing the Braves are a very good team, and I’ve been around long enough not to overreact — or at least to try not to overreact — to any single regular-season baseball game. (They play 162 of them, after all.) That said, a couple of things about last night’s loss in Washington bothered me.
They bothered me because they fly in the face of what I’ve come to believe — and, truth to tell, what some in the Braves’ organization have come to believe — about this team vis-a-vis the Nationals. I (and certain Braves folks) believe the local nine is better than Washington everywhere but in the starting rotation, and here let’s concede that starting pitching has an outsize importance. And that’s the root of my unease.
The Braves and Nationals were tied at 4 by the top of the fifth inning. Jordan Zimmermann, the Nats’ starter, was gone after five. Tim Hudson was pulled after six. The Braves worked eight innings — almost a full game — against a Washington bullpen that has begun to fray, and they couldn’t score a run. They mustered only four hits in those eight innings, but when you add six walks you get 10 baserunners. They had runners aboard in six of the eight innings, and four times their leadoff man reached. Still couldn’t score.
The game ended in the 13th, when Washington plied three infield hits into the walk-off winner. The game-ending single — it was originally scored a error, which seemed the sensible call — was a grounder hit to a drawn-in Dan Uggla. He should have been able to throw out Danny Espinosa at the plate, but Uggla bobbled the ball.
If we return to GM Frank Wren’s words of Saturday, we’ll note that he emphasized how well the Braves “catch the ball” — and it’s true; they lead the National League in fielding percentage — and also that “we’re also really good in situational hitting.” Alas, they didn’t catch the ball, at least not cleanly, when it mattered, and they couldn’t get the knock that would have given them a precious late-inning lead. And their strength (situational hitting) was trumped by what has become a perceived Washington weakness (relief pitching).
Again, it’s one game. The Braves could well win tonight and tomorrow and leave D.C. closer to first place than when they arrived. But this one game, I’m forced to confess, troubled me. It was a game of some magnitude that the Braves coulda/shoulda won.
(Oh, and here’s a video chat with Brian Clark of CineSport regarding the Braves, Dan Uggla and the Nationals.)
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
285 comments Add your comment
Baloo
August 21st, 2012
12:08 pm
I like Prado but he has not been executing lately in key situations.
Rodrick
August 21st, 2012
12:08 pm
6-4-3 is the only DB to consider in that situation.
Where Uggla caught it, he had to come home as soon as the runner broke, or stare down the runner and maybe consider a quick flip to first base only for 1 out. Anything else was gonna end badly.
How wierd was that too watch on TV? The announcers were excited at the stop, and then …. Uggla dropped it and the game ended. I had NO idea that guy was even running toward home!
eastbound and down
August 21st, 2012
12:09 pm
how many times have we seen this repeated, except on one season (1995) the braves are who we thought they were. a team, that when they depend on a win, cannot deliver
REAGAN2012
August 21st, 2012
12:10 pm
I THANK WE SHOULD MAKE BASTORNICKY PLAY SECOND SEND UGGLA TO THE MOON
Muphrid
August 21st, 2012
12:10 pm
@Baloo: Really, the option that should’ve been on the table was to bring in one of the starters. With a short-handed bullpen, one has to be prepared for that possibility. I think the Pirates just did that in their latest 19-inning game.
It’s one thing not to use a guy because he’s been used too much. When you’re in a situation where you know the next run that scores loses the game and that run is on third base with one out, leaving your best weapon to get out of it in the bullpen is nothing short of a sin. You don’t even get to worry about pitching the bottom of the 14th if you don’t get through that jam, and once again, the Nats had already subbed for their last relief pitcher, too.
BenchUggla
August 21st, 2012
12:11 pm
See Ted, there in lies our problem I believe. Everyone speaks of the culture of the Braves and how business the organization is and all of the other things they say, but as long as we continue to “stick’ with this culture we are going to be in trouble! If memory serves me correct, when the Braves won it all we had young guys who played with hearts on their sleeves! Now its the business approach. The “Braves Way”. Sick of that crap! Show some frigging fire in your belly. Have some intestinal fortitude! Stop with this crap about doing it the “Braves Way” and let some of these guys play with passion! Its a kids game and it should be played with passion. Stop allowing these players like Uggla to come in and not be held accountable for what he is doing or should I say the lack of what he is doing. We benched Heyward last year……….right? No one should be higher than the team. Its about the team and if you cant help the team win Uggla sit your Donkey on the bench and be a high paid cheerleader! Same for you McCann. I dont want to hear your gripes about not playing, I want you to play to the level we expect. Dont make me wish for Ross behind the plate if you are the MAN! We got Johnson for a reason! Not to play every 5 days! Show us that your thinking was correct Frank Wren and that you saw the righting on the wall and knew Uggla would not break out of this year long slump! Show us you have the GUTS to put him on the bench and play to win. Regardless of what salary he is making! Show us that you want the best players on the field at all times! SHOW US the FANS that you will not settle for nothing less. Who care how much he gets paid?! Show us that you want to win………….SIMPLE!
dtanner
August 21st, 2012
12:12 pm
nick esasky,bruce sutter,dan uggla, which is the worst free agent signing in braves history? tough choice aint it
Dirty Dawg
August 21st, 2012
12:14 pm
Tried to post this last night…this game reminded me…and it may be what’s got Mr. Bradley concerned…recalled a comment by, the great, Tom Hughes, following yet another display of 80’s-era Braves’ ineptitude the evening before, ‘They never missed a chance to miss an opportunity.’ So many chances to make plays and/or get hits…failed.
Newnandawg
August 21st, 2012
12:14 pm
End the Dan Uggla experiment. He needs to bat .350 and hit 45 HR to justify his poor defensive play at second.
Prado to 2nd please.
mountain_jim
August 21st, 2012
12:16 pm
Why does Uggla take every pitch down the middle and swing at every pitch in the dirt?
I blame him more for his pathetic at-bats in the previous extra innings than the final play.
And Chipper caused the first-inning big-inning by nonchalanting and missing an easy ground ball for the double to get it rolling.
Chi Town
August 21st, 2012
12:16 pm
season is over
Chi Town
August 21st, 2012
12:16 pm
UGGLA is horrible. What a waste of money.
TomB
August 21st, 2012
12:17 pm
Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that when we get the leadoff hitter on base, we never bunt the guy over. I know Janish messed up popping the ball up trying to bunt, but it just seems we seldom bunt to move the leadoff guy into scoring position. I’m not crazy about our manager but what can you do when your big hitters fail over and over with runners on base in such an important game.
BenchUggla
August 21st, 2012
12:18 pm
Post blocked again?
Baloo
August 21st, 2012
12:19 pm
Right, If you are going to go with with a 6th man rotation you have to have a designated starter each game prepared to pitch in long extra innings games and be willing to use them. A good manager could even have used this to his advantage since the NATS were out of pitchers. Agreed, don’t not use your best pitcher. Win a winnable game now.
BenchUggla
August 21st, 2012
12:20 pm
Great point TomB, I think we would have caught the Nats off guard if they did that last night with Heyward up when Prado lead off with the double. Although many of you will say let him swing away (and he did and RIPPED the ball) I think doing the unexpected sometimes catches a team off balance! Just saying
BenchUggla
August 21st, 2012
12:21 pm
He does this mountain jim becasue he STINKS! The defintion of insanity is keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results……….what does that make Uggla? He swings at that pitch in the dirt over and over again! Gets the same results!
Baloo
August 21st, 2012
12:24 pm
If is it Bourn you don’t have to bunt him over. Half the time he was caught were bad calls. We like to sit back and wait for a double.
Sundrop Kid
August 21st, 2012
12:27 pm
It seems the Washington Post sportswriters are much more at liberty to put things in the proper perspective, and voice accurate, truthful opinions, as opposed to the ones we have to contend with locally. Just yesterday, James Wagner, of the Post, said (pre-game) that Uggla would maybe be sat out by F. Gonzalez for last night’s game and Wed.’s game since he was a combined 1-18 against Zimmerman and Detwiler. Common sense and logic would dictate this in anyone’s brain, except, of course, one Mr. FG! He also made the point that Reed Johnson was 18-45 vs the Gnats current pitching staff, insinuating that Johnson could play left and Prado second. I laughed, and said right then there’s no way “the teacher’s pet” sits on the bench, even when logical and smart. Just thinking outloud now. “Wonder if the Braves would have won that game last night had Uggs not been in the lineup?” Odds would have been at least much greater, one has to assume.
Also got a big kick out of what one Post writer said this morning in reference to Uggs(you will never hear stuff like this in the AJC): Thomas Boswell said, “he plays the position(2B) with his bat”. Not sure what he means there, but it sure sounds like a “dig” to me! Then he added, “he had a total glove and brain cramp”. Lastly he said, very accurately, ” even though scored a hit, it was a triple error by Uggla”. Nice to hear the actual truth spoken, even if elsewhere!
PMC
August 21st, 2012
12:28 pm
Really the worst part about the loss is that for me personally anyway I invested at least 3 hours of sleep to watch mostly horrible baseball that ended in an annoying loss.
glass-half-full
August 21st, 2012
12:33 pm
OK. Here are a few positive things:
* WITH HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE the Nationals couldn’t put us away and luck won the day with what I consider two fielding errors first one by chipper by abandoning third base to chase the grounder that awarded espinosa the extra base and then obviously uggla’s error. (maybe throw in error on the dugout/mccann for not calling for the play at the plate so uggla didn’t have to pause and think about it)
* We got four runs off of there fantastic pitching staff even with the pitiful efforts of Uggla/McCann at the plate
* They used ALL their pitchers – advantage braves bullpen for the rest of the series?
*No one got hurt (that we know of)
* These games just set us up and prepare us for facing them in the playoffs (if we make it there)
That’s all I got…. it was a pathetic way to end a good baseball game.
GT
August 21st, 2012
12:35 pm
You are right they made a lot of thinking mistakes that cost them the game last night. I thought the throw to third instead of first, filling the bases with no outs was not well done either. The bunt that was poped up reminded me how bad that has gone all year. They seem to snap out of these Monday games and play well the next two. Hope that happens here.
spilt milk
August 21st, 2012
12:37 pm
@Andrew~Brutal loss? Brutal? A bit dramatic.
markie mark
August 21st, 2012
12:38 pm
No #### – and Uggla’s contract is too big to eat, but that streakiness is killing us….
Abnerish
August 21st, 2012
12:48 pm
The only two things that give me pause are the 6 games in the standings we trail the Nats by and the number of baserunners LOB over the past several games. 6 games is a huge deficit to make up, especially against a team as good as the Nats.
extremus
August 21st, 2012
12:48 pm
I’m not ready to declare the sky is falling or that the Braves are about to have the aforementioned 2011-like collapse…yet…,but I am really beginning to think they’re looking at a Wild Card at best scenario. Yeah, technically it’s still the playoffs (by MLB’s capitalistic-motivated definition), but if the Braves get eliminated in a one-game playoff by another also-ran (what wild card teams would have been called 20 years ago), then there’d BETTER NOT be another banner hung at Turner Field “commemorating” it. The question of “who wants/deserves it more” really still is decided by who does what it takes to win their division over 162 games, regardless of the playoff crapshoot’s outcome.
Brandon Lee
August 21st, 2012
12:51 pm
For all the Numb-Nuts posting their Negative comments about Uggla… ANYBODY Whose EVER PLAYED the Game Knows Especially invlving an infielder, a ball can Countless times get Stuck in the glove when Semconds Count… But Most Importantly Here, Jones FAILUER to Cover His Base, CAUSED THe Nats Runner to Advance an Additional Base, Thusly the Runner standing on Third Base with a Lead already Heading Home to Score Would’ve Taken a Perfect Catch n Throw from anyone Fielding such a bouncer…. FG’s Mandate that the Ball be Thrown Home was indeed a High Risk… Higher than going for the Double=Play Option…..
“This Teams’ starting 9 are Better than the Nats…. What Drugs are you on Bradley… They Outpeform the Braves at Every Position…. Which is Why The Nats have Been in FIRST PLACE 90% of this year…. Starting Rotation for both teams may be Closer, than appears, with Strasburg feeling dileema of having Pitched More innings, Thrown More Pitches than at anytime in his Life, and If the Nats want him to be Effective for the Playoffs, Etc… He Will HAVE to SIT.
NickGranite
August 21st, 2012
12:52 pm
MLB.com has a good video perspective of the play, from the third base side between the catcher and third base with Uggla’s play in between. Uggla “had” the ball when the runner was about halfway down the line and I’m telling you, if he had fired immediately home that guy was as dead as 4 o’clock in a government office.
nobobfan
August 21st, 2012
12:54 pm
I insist,,,2 over .250 BA seasons in last 7 is far worse that “streaky”/ streaky my butt.. Sit him forever.
Matt
August 21st, 2012
12:54 pm
I didn’t see it but if the infield was in, which I think it was, that means they want you to go to the plate first. If the IF is in Uggla cannot see the baserunner at 1st so McCann or Freeman have to be yelling where the play is. By bringing the infield in they are not going for 2.
JHarber
August 21st, 2012
12:55 pm
Brian——-I have to admire your loyalty but facts are facts.
abby normal
August 21st, 2012
12:56 pm
I really believe that this team just drove the bus over the cliff. Hope I’m wrong.
Phil F
August 21st, 2012
12:57 pm
Enter your comments here
Jalabar
August 21st, 2012
12:58 pm
For starters, a large part of your problem is your rating of the talent of the Braves vis a vis the Nationals. In fact, the only place the Braves ARE stronger than the Nats is at closer. The Nats ‘pen overall is better than Atlanta’s, the Nats have the best run differential in baseball and since the AS game, lead baseball in runs scored. They are better offensively than the Braves, and they field better. Oh, and they have the best starting rotation in baseball, and even when they move Strasburg out and bring in Lannan, they will still have a better rotation than ATL.
“They bothered me because they fly in the face of what I’ve come to believe — and, truth to tell, what some in the Braves’ organization have come to believe — about this team vis-a-vis the Nationals. I (and certain Braves folks) believe the local nine is better than Washington everywhere but in the starting rotation, and here let’s concede that starting pitching has an outsize importance.”
So yeah, silly thoughts to have that have no evidentiary basis. Kimbrel is the only place the Braves are as good as Washington, and even that is only because Kimbrel has been so damn good, as the Nats closer this season has been very good.
Chas Zee
August 21st, 2012
12:58 pm
Uggla and his contract need to go. Heck, play Janish at second. Try to extend contracts for Freeman, Prado and resign Bourn.
Stuart
August 21st, 2012
1:02 pm
Reed Johnson should be starting every day to give one of the three outfielders rest. Bourn especially needs a day or two off. Prado should play at 2nd some to give Uggla some rest. And why not start our opening day shortstop at shortstop??? Janish has been solid on D, but even as average as Pastor was on O, he was better than Janish. Also, get Hinske a start or two at first to give Freddie some rest. And start Ross; McCann is hurting, and Ross is simply more productive at the moment. If Betancourt was healthy, I’d say put McCann on the 15 day DL, but for now, just let him be the one who plays once every 5 days in an effort to try to get him to heal some. Yes, these are key games, but we’re gonna need some gas left in the tank at the end if we want to have any chance.
Phil F
August 21st, 2012
1:02 pm
I cringe every time Uggla comes up to the plate especially if there are men on base. It’s just so frustrating watching him pop-up, strike out, or send a feeble fly to the outfield. You can not afford to have an automatic out in the lineup if you want to make the playoffs. The Braves have options, the coach needs to wake up.
JHarber
August 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
@ SundropKid
I appreciate your post was unable to understand why Uggla was in lineup after reading Johnsons numbers yesterday afternoon.
JK
August 21st, 2012
1:04 pm
Soooo, Fredi will send JJ down after 4 bad games but he sticks with Uggla for nearly two terrible years? Bobby used to have player loyalty but he wasn’t partial to any certain players. He gave everyone more than a fair chance but at some point, as with Jeff Franceour, he knew something had to be done and he did it. Fredi, that time is now.
MikeyDC
August 21st, 2012
1:06 pm
Mark, please explain to me how it is that you and some in the Braves organization have come to believe “the local nine” are better than the Nats “everywhere but in the starting rotation.” Ludicrous. You are seriously deluding yourselves.
Dawg Haus
August 21st, 2012
1:12 pm
They had plenty of chances to put Washington away and chose not to. Very disheartening loss. I’m hoping it’s the kind that sparks something in the team, but we’ll see how things pan out.
sleeze
August 21st, 2012
1:13 pm
Mark, sorry you felt discomfort after the Braves’ game. Next time, take some Metamucil and it’ll go away.
Sergeant Joe Friday, LAPD
August 21st, 2012
1:15 pm
Enter your comments here
Stinger 2
August 21st, 2012
1:17 pm
Braves team > Braves fans. Clusters has not come on today yet but if or when he does, there will be more of the negative posts. Count on it and take it to the bank.
Heisenberg
August 21st, 2012
1:18 pm
First let me say I favored the 6 man rotation during this stretch of games. But I cannot get past the irony of 2 bullpen-eating extra inning games only 2 days apart after sending down the “extra” reliever. The baseball gods are having a chuckle or 2 with Braves this year. They try 1 game with out a backup SS and look what happens. Be careful when tempting the baseball gods.
Marteen is a Ballplayer
August 21st, 2012
1:20 pm
Uggla’s lack of a play in the 13th really isn’t what bothers me. In fact, I have been pretty happy with Ugglas defensively. My issue is that Uggla seems to decide if he is going to swing or not before the pitcher even winds up. He takes strikes down the middle and swings at balls in the dirt…CONSTANTLY. There is no rhyme or reason behind it. You can’t lead the league in walks and strikeouts unless you are playing a guessing game and simply electing to swing or not before the wind-up regardless of what the ball looks like coming down the pipe.
Love this team…just tired of FG (have been since halfway through last year) and Uggla in the line-up..
Geno
August 21st, 2012
1:21 pm
I hope I’m wrong, but the game last night made it pretty clear that the Braves are now playing for the wild card slot, as winning the division does not seem likely. And, the current offensive pace can not be continued if they want to compete for the wild card. If it wasn’t for J-Hey, the game would’ve never made it to the extra innings. It was really sad watching all of the walked batters left on base. Leadoff men on numerous times and not advanced. This offense will not be able to compete against the better pitching that they’ll face in the playoffs. Let’s hope some of the many automatic outs are pulled and FG will do something to shake up the status quo.
rich
August 21st, 2012
1:21 pm
Eric Hinske has the greatest job in the world. Once every 2 or 3 days, he walks to the plate, swings 3 times, then goes back to the clubhouse and has another beer and cheeseburger.
He looks more like Doug Heffernan everyday
Geno
August 21st, 2012
1:21 pm
Enter your comments here
Charles
August 21st, 2012
1:28 pm
Mark, I don’t always agree with you, but it’s great to hear you are no longer drinking the Kool-Aid from Wren and the front office. You can slice and dice the final plays until you are blue in the face, but, as you point out, the Nationals have much better starting pitching, and the Braves had a chance to win tonight. All they needed was 1 meager run over six innings and then they could have brought in Kimbrell for lights out. But that didn’t happen because the Braves have too many non-hitters or inconsistent hitters: Janish can’t hit, McCann is hitting .220, Uggla has no average, and the Nats broadcasters pointed out every time Bourn came to the plate that he has struck out 123 times, 7th in the National League, hardly the thing you want from your “franchise” leadoff hitter. The bullpen performed valiantly against the Nats juggernaut, hoping for that meager run that never came. It was only a matter of time before the Nats offense produced the winning run, albeit in a most unusual manner. Bottom line – the Braves aren’t good enought to win at the top level to advance beyond the first playoff series. They have done a good job at mending their pitching problems, but you’re not going to win at the playoff level (which last night’s game was a harbinger) with 3-4 players who don’t hit.