243 thoughts on “Nats 3, Braves 1 (by Sansho1)”

  1. Sansho, you’re so swell. Love the details you noted on the first page, and congrats to the paintbrush for winning the race. I assume the tally marks are for the number of beers you consumed.

  2. If that chicken scratch doesn’t help move product, I don’t know what will. One of the great things about keeping score is the poetic license it provides, i.e. in my records, Medlen will forever be charged with giving up one earned run.

  3. I assume the tally marks are for the number of beers you consumed.

    I was taught that the secret to good reporting lies in the details.

  4. I thought Bethany just provided the good looks, now I know she is the brains of this outfit.

  5. I had been feeling good about Medlen’s start. But am now worried that he may routinely struggle to find his command until the other team’s lineup sees him once.

    And our defense continues to hate him.

  6. Did it seem like the entire nats lineup was going away with Medlen last night? I can only recall LaRoche and Harper pulling the ball. It seemed like a gameplan thing to me, hopefully it can be cured by pitching inside more. Having said that 8 hits and 1 er is certainly nothing to be concerned about.

    Bring on the Mets, cuz a good portion of May/June are going to be tough sledding the way this offense is scuffling along right now.

  10. Looks like they should get tonight in – Saturday is going to be problematic. Sunday will be hard too (of course, someone just dropped some primo seats on me for Sundays game) but might be doable.

    //might have some extras for Sunday – watch this space.

  13. I see the Mets starting lineup and I don’t see anyone with a batting average under .240, let alone deep in the .100s. Depressing.

  18. This is ridiculous. Get 2 big outs and have a base open, 2 outs, a dude that has been hot….why throw him anything close?

  19. It didn’t seem like that bad of a pitch to Buck. I could be wrong but it looked like it was at the knees and on the outside corner. Sometimes guys just run into one.

  20. Jordan has been seeing a lot of pitches, which is good. We have so many guys in the lineup right now who can’t even do that right.

  25. Simmons kills offenses. You just have to hope he damages the opponents’ offense more than he does yours.

  28. Last thing I want to do is spend my Friday night watching the Mets beat us.

  31. They are just so miserable to watch right now. They need McCann and Heyward back to give them a jump start. I have seen enough of Success on a regular basis for a while. What about Uggla as the lead off hitter. I know he strikes out a lot, but so does everyone else. At least he takes a walk occasionally and he would be less of a rally killer then he is now

  33. The Braves are gonna lose for awhile. They have one good hitter and mediocre starting pitching.

  37. Well, I feel fine. Especially after Juan showed why he needs to play more.

  44. Just stand on the base until the ball is hit, guys. Nothing good happens when you try to steal bases.

  45. Cannot believe he’s walking off the field. The human body is an amazingly resilient thing.

  47. Gameday tells me that FatJuan just tried to steal third. Please tell me Gameday is mistaken.

  48. Juan rolled his ankle because effing Success showed bunt on a 1-1 count. With one out.

  49. Jordan is the new Dan Uggla. Except without the forearms and the homers. But he walks.

    @40 Here you go, Smitty

  51. Its a good thing the Braves let Simmons try SS after drafting him. I don’t think he’s got the bat to be a pitcher..

  52. DOB says if Fat Juan is DLed, it will probably be McCann that takes his spot

  54. Did FatJuan step on his pant leg? He’s one of those who wears ’em long and down to the heels.

  57. I can’t remember a stretch of games where the umps missed so many calls.

  61. Fredi’s gonna hit-and-run. He won’t be able to help himself with Pena up there.

  68. I’m glad BJ has 2 hits but I swear he argues every close call and never seems right.

  70. We need to start fining these guys for bad bunts. And make it hurt. $50,000 for a failed bunt.

  75. Success! has certainly proven that he has an excellent eye this season. He’s picked up a ton of bases on balls so far

  77. 71-I assume you are referring to his comments about how Schafer needs to expand his zone to protect the runners (with a 3-2 count!!)? Yeah, it occurred to me that maybe he’s had a stroke or something.

  81. @77

    Yeah, he wanted to send the runners

    Wait, LaTroy Hawkins is still in baseball?

  84. Minor almost cost us that run by walking home from third.

    Edit: Minor, not Schafer. And Simmons would have been equally culpable.

  91. We scored our third run despite Minor lollygagging his way to home, and despite Simmons making a boneheaded attempt to take second.

    Fredi needs to start some serious baserunning drills. We look like a bunch of amateurs out there on the basepaths.

  96. 91- Do you really want our players internalizing Fredi’s (or worse, Snitker’s) baserunning instincts?

    And I’d like El Oso Blanco to actually hit a pitch every so often.

  100. And BJ returns to his usual level of competence. Four years and five months of this to go.

  101. @96: I say Fredi because he’s the only one in a position to demand improvement. For better or worse we’re stuck with the guy.

    But really, how hard are drills like “Run hard on a sac fly” and “Don’t look at a play when you’re trying to beat a throw on a force out”? Ultimately, they’re punitive drills meant to embarrass the multi-millionaires into not repeating mistakes high schoolers get benched for.

  104. That Vandy guy pitched a heck of a game. Would be nice to score this inning for him.

  107. Success’ improved batting eye is not a joke anymore. How many 2-strike counts has he worked into a walk tonight? Awesome.

    The only thing I worry about now is the DP machine is cocked and loaded.

  111. I haven’t heard Simmons talk yet but I imagine Mike Tyson’s voice coming out of his mouth.

  116. I am as skeptical of Success! as they come, but fair is fair: he’s doing a pretty decent job of getting on base lately.

  123. With Minor going as well as he was, and with a low-ish pitch count, I wondered why Fredi pinch hit for him and then had Pastornicky bunt. Can Minor not bunt? I would loved to have had him out there for another inning.

  124. And with that, Minor crosses EOF off his Christmas card list.

  130. Freeman has sucked since the DL stint (the one that he didn’t want to do).

  140. Uggla and BJ have gotten their two-hit games for the month on the same night.

  143. BJ is officially my least favorite Brave. I thought for sure he was going to beat out that slow ground ball.

  145. If Kimbrel can close it out, I believe that will be the sixth game-winning knock for Gattis.

  153. How do you make someone look foolish on two consecutive swings then let him crush one?

  159. You could kind of see that coming… Just felt like Wright was going to catch one the way the night has gone

  160. @157, He set the bar impossibly high last year. That certainly doesn’t help.

    PS: Buying one of your scorekeepers soon; looking forward to using it.

  161. @157 To be fair, Kimbrel had one of the top relief seasons in baseball history last year, so that’s a pretty high standard. At least Kimbrel is hitting 97-98 with his heater now (some games earlier in the year it seemed like he was topping out at 93).

    In any event… man, baseball is a real rollercoaster. The Braves have gone from basically unstoppable to nearly unwatchable to really frustrating.

  164. I still think we’re going to pull this one out. Can’t tell you why.

    EDIT: And with that, Pena rakes a double down the line. How ’bout that?

  166. OK this is the one situation where I will abide a bunt. Please don’t f this up.

  167. Chip: “A perfect bunt. Absolutely perfect.”

    My dad: “No it wasn’t. A perfect bunt, you get on base.”

  169. Hopefully they’ll walk the next two in order to set up the double play. Lol.

  172. Radio guys just speculated they might walk the bases full to set up the double play – and face Upton. Ahem.

  174. I think Schafer’s gotta end it here. If he walks for a fifth time (!) I’ll be nervous about Simmons hitting another weak grounder to short.

  175. @168: Does any manager use two pinch-hitters as bunters in one night?

    @170: It was a great bunt indeed, but the descriptive “absolutely perfect” brings in all sorts of existential questions that an out doesn’t help answer.

  176. Why not walk one guy to set up the DP for Simmons?

    By the way, trying to get a sac fly from Schafer seems… Ill advised.

  182. Simmons is pissed that everyone here is bagging on his weak grounders to the infield. I think he’s gonna win it.

  183. Maybe not, but I think Pena could have scored there.

    @180: Yes. Just pisses me off. All so predictable.

  185. Sometimes it’s like Fredi doesn’t know that when a guy is on second he is already in scoring position.

  190. Those were 99 MPH balls, but just a few inches off the plate. That was a tremendous at-bat.

  194. Well, dang. If we have to go to extra innings, though, I’d rather us be at home.

  198. Have seen two games in person this year. Have seen two blown Kimbrel saves. I accept the blame.

  201. I will say, even in my frustration here, that Wren’s constructed a pretty good club. The bullpen has been injured and uncharacteristically shakey, half the lineup has been nothing short of terrible, the starters have been up and down, but mostly good.

    But they’re in first place. You could put it all on that 10 game win streak, sure. But I’d counter by saying even in that winning streak, they weren’t really clicking.

    There just seems to be enough talent there that they are coming out on top more often than not.

    They should have gone maybe 7-3 over those 10, and they could have lost a few of the 4 they’ve won in this bad stretch.

    There’s just enough there. They’ve struggled mightily, but the names on the jerseys are going to come through.

  202. “Sometimes it’s like Fredi doesn’t know that when a guy is on second he is already in scoring position.”

    THIS. A thousand times this. When you leadoff the ninth with a double, why bunt him to third on a night when the wind has been blowing the ball in all game?

  203. Bunting is actually the percentage play in a walk-off situation. The problem in our case is that Success/Simmons were due up next.

  204. Context matters. Schafer doesn’t hit fly balls. Bunting there is the wrong decision, and it’s not close.

  205. Like McCann making his way back into the lineup cutting Gattis’ playing time down, here’s another good problem down at Gwinnett…
    Terdoslavich.962 OPS 5HR 13 doubles

  206. I don’t think we score without the bunt either. Look at who was due up, and their guy is throwing 99.

  215. If he were a closer he’d have just given up the solo shot and been done with it?

  217. Honestly the Braves don’t deserve to win this game. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory is becoming and all too familiar theme

  218. This’ll probably go down as a loss to the LOLMets, but at least Fredi had two pinch-hit sac bunts, and that’s an accomplishment nobody can take away from him.

  219. Can we be done with the Fredi era? Even if he isn’t to blame for these terrible games I still want him gone.

  226. I doubt the Mets closer goes a second inning. Maybe we can string something together against whoever’s left in the NY pen. Not that we deserve to win this game.

  227. Maybe tomorrow in batting practice Schafer can show Freddie how to take a fucking walk.

  229. Also, Terry Collins managed circles around Fredi tonight. Emptied his bench to get matchups, instead of saving them to PH for his relievers in the 11th and 14th. Emptied the bullpen to prevent losing, instead of saving them to prevent attrition. Didn’t walk the bases loaded to get himself a force just because the winning run got to third base. Brought his closer into a tied game, then pinch hit for him when he needed to.

    Fredi, meanwhile, called for two pinch-bunts, and left Walden in lose it on his 29th(!) pitch of the inning, because he wanted to save guys incase the Game went 16 innings. EDIT: Also, saved his best bat on the bench (C. Johnson) for a high leverage AB that never materialized. Err, a high leverage AB where he couldn’t instead send someone up to bunt, anyway.

  230. With the pitcher came up to bat there, everyone knew the runner was going. Why not throw to first once?

  234. Of course, everyone will talk about the homers. They should talk about Fredi, but the Atlanta media doesn’t have the balls.

  236. way to go struggla .. leave the bat on yuor shoulder .. Gonzalez a goof … we dont pinch hit C Johnson with the winner at 3rd base .. what a joke for a mgr .. he is clueless …

  238. worst mistake taking out Minor .. low pitch count .. should have let him bunt the runner over ..what a goof Freddie is .. can we please get Bobby back . BOBBY BOBBY BOBBY

  241. 4-10 in their last 14 games. Granted, it should be 6-8, but maybe they’re just not that good.

    Still, it’s a long season and there will be twists to come. We’ll see.

  242. I think that we all knew that this team could win and would be frustrating. But I certainly underestimated just how frustrating it would be and how bad the Braves could and would look on a given night….

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