It shouldn’t have been that close, but I’ll take a win against the Nats however we can get it. Julio Teheran had one of those nights where he just couldn’t put anyone away, so this went from a no-doubter to a nailbiter in a hurry, before the Braves managed to win it in extras. This game was a good illustration of the benefits of home field advantage.
Neither team got much out of the first three spots in the order: theirs (Span, Rendon, Werth) were 2-for-16, ours (Heyward, Bupton, Freeman) were 1-for-12 with two walks and a caught stealing. But Chris Johnson went 3-5, Justin Upton went 3-3, Evan Gattis threw in an RBI single, and Ramiro Pena struck the biggest blow, a three-run homer in the second inning that made it seem like this game was in the bag.
Teheran didn’t have it, though. He threw a lot of sliders but couldn’t get much bite on them, and he gave up 10 hits in six innings, including a three-run homer by Ryan Zimmerman, who both giveth and taketh away. That made up for Pena’s blast and knotted the score at 4-4. The Braves scored a run in the bottom half of the inning and the Nats evened it up in the top of the sixth; then they pushed ahead by a run in the 8th and we tied it up in the bottom half of the inning via a Jupton homer. That’s three homers in two games for him. He just might be heating up.
B.J. went hitless again, and if Mac were here he’d have put B.J. in the doghouse long before now. That said, he was on base twice. In the first inning he hit a ball to deep short and Desmond bobbled it. If he played it perfectly and threw a perfect throw to first, he might have gotten B.J. but I think there’s a chance it might have been an infield hit; however, the Atlanta scorekeeper saw it differently and called the bobble an error. He got himself erased on the basepaths as he got thrown out attempting to steal. It was a good throw and I don’t know whether it was ordered from the dugout, but it didn’t help. B.J. also drew a walk in the 7th, and at this point, I guess we just have to take what we can get. Yeah, I know.
His brother’s doing better, fortunately. The 10th inning started inauspiciously, as Bupton and Freeman both quickly made outs against Nats lefty Jerry Blevins, one of their offseason imports. Then Regression hit a single, and Fredi put on his thinking cap and pinch-ran for him with Schafer. (I’m not sure who would have played third if we had gotten to the 11th inning, since Pena was already in the game. I wonder whether Andrelton would have come in at short while Pena slid over to third.)
With two outs and a 2-2 count, Schafer took off on a hit-and-run, and Justin Upton blooped it into no-mans land. Jordan scampered all the way around from first to score, and because we were at home, that was the ballgame. F’in success, man.
It’s somewhat unfair to not dump on Uggla.
I’m ready to dump Uggla.
I couldn’t watch the game last night, but I kept checking in on the score. What a roller coaster game. I’m glad Good Upton took matters into his own hands and we pulled out the win. Let’s ride his hot streak for as long as we can.
Also, Success! can absolutely fly. Scoring from first on a bloop single to right, without even drawing a throw, is incredible.
I was six rows behind the visitors’ dugout last night, a perfect vantage point to watch Schafer’s Mad Dash. Move over, Enos Slaughter!
Also of note: on that bloops single, Harper (or was it Werth?) misplayed the ball in RF precluding any chance of a play at the plate. GG Bravos!
Be happy that we’re not Reds fans. First, Joey Votto just got a windblown gift double. Then Brandon Phillips hit a hard single up the middle, and their new third-base coach sent Votto home. Votto is not a speedy man, and he got thrown out by yards. Brandon Phillips took second on the throw, though, and in the very next at-bat, Phillips tried to steal third and promptly got thrown out.
(Replays made it appear that he actually got in under the tag, but the throw beat him by a lot, and that’s generally what the umps call. Reds manager Bryan Price did not challenge.)
They won 97 games in 2012 but it’s looking like their window has already closed — the Cardinals and Pirates are both better in both the majors and the minors. And the Cubs have a boatload of hot prospects and a ton of money that they’re currently choosing not to spend. The Reds are a good third-place team, but that’s about all they are right now, and it’s not looking good from here.
The Reds just aren’t the same without Dusty Baker.
And they gave Homer Bailey $100 million. He might be worth that, but I’m not sure that he is, and he almost certainly isn’t worth that to them, considering that they’re a midmarket team with a midmarket revenue stream. I just don’t really get where they’re going.
@5 – I loved the Reds announcer’s call on Loney’s bomb. “Here’s the pitch and it’s one to nothing Tampa Bay.”
Several seconds later, the ball landed.
BMac with 2 HR tonight. Good for him.
He’d better! I drafted him this year.
Way to go, BJ. May that be the first of many home runs you hit this season.
I think Justin’s in one of those zones of his!
Brotherly club is a beautiful thing.
JUp is scary when he’s on.
Two hits and two RBIs out of Uggla and BJ this inning. Who would have predicted that?
Keep pouring it on, Bravos! Nice!!!
And some OSO to keep it going!
This feels like a slow pitch softball game so far.
IBB to Andrelton, which means we’ll turn the lineup around. Thanks!
Alex Wood: 0 for 27 with 19 Ks, career line.
@20 – That sounds like Heyward’s line this week.
It goes to show, if BJ and Dan ever remember how to hit, we could have a very good offense.
Now throw strikes, Wood. Just don’t walk people.
I wonder how many times BJ and Uggla have done something positive offensively in the same inning. Sure is remarkable tonight: a home run and a RBI single, respectively.
For chrissakes Alex, get our guys back up there.
wood getting squeezed, should’ve gotten a K on Leon
edit: cost him a few extra pitches, but he got out of it; seems like he might only go 5 today.
mlb.com said that BJ Upton went yard. Typo, right?
I think he was safe, after looking at the replays. We caught a break there.
But yeah, he’s getting squeezed like crazy.
Phew. Alex is on edge. I doubt he makes it past the sixth.
So is Andrelton going to do that thing again where he spends the first four months making first-pitch weak contact before he remembers how to hit in August?
Ump is definitely squeezing us. Wood has hit the outside corners to lefties several times.
Thanks Harper
Phew, the Nats bailed us out there.
Awww….poor Harper. Overruns a ball that allowed Success to score from first on a bloop last night, gets picked off at second by the catcher tonight.
I’d rather be lucky than good. But I’d rather the other guy be reliably dumb than be lucky, though.
Always nice to see a TOOTBLAN from a guy like Bryce.
#7 – Bailey isn’t worth $100 mil. He’s not worth half of that.
Bryce Harper is The Future Of Baseball (TFOB) so he’ll straighten things out. He has to.
So I’ve seen her now on FSS commercial breaks for the last year or so, and I finally Googled her. Took a little while to get the correct spelling of her name, but it was worth the effort. I’m just gonna leave this here:
http://bustedcoverage.com/2013/04/23/fox-sports-girl-of-the-week-canicka/
Another gift. Looks like Laroche actually caught that.
Baserunning drills for the Notionals tomorrow.
I think what separates Andrelton from other guys famous for their “fielding,” is that it isn’t just fielding. He’s a savant on the defensive side of the ball. He’s the Wayne Gretzky of getting people out.
I’ve complained that he’s sometimes over-confident, throwing where he has no business throwing (anyone notice earlier tonight when Harper was on second, and Andrelton threw the ball and hit Dan Uggla, who was neither on the base, nor looking at Andrelton?) but at this point I concede. If he wasn’t trying all the time, he wouldn’t be doing the things that amaze us.
Another RBI single for Uggla? What’s going on tonight?
Dan! I could get used to this non-useless version of him.
I think this is all for Mr. Jordan.
@42, I guess they want him to finish the inning? He’s been pitching batting practice most of the night. Make them pay, Andrelton.
If he puts Andrelton on, you have to go to Doumit for Wood, don’t you?
This is the stupidest of their rule changes. This “clean transfer” thing is so preposterous, that it paints all the positive changes in to one mess like something stupid the NFL would do.
Lame rule. Lame lame lame. Even though it made Nate look lame, it’s still a lame rule.
So, if a shortstop makes a diving “catch” and tries to shovel the ball to 2nd to double a runner, and the ball hits the ground first, the batter is safe, yes?
more like do’hmit….
good gravy, Jason….keep it up and I won’t miss you when you leave via free agency.
Finish him, Jason.
I can’t believe Jordan is still in here.
50- Me neither, and I can’t believe we didn’t make him pay.
Matt Williams seems, so far, to be a little behind the game. He doesn’t seem like he’s managing all the moving parts real well just yet.
The bullpen didn’t even BEGIN moving until Simmons’s at-bat.
Five runs, and yet it feels like we’ve squandered too much.
You’re right. But how do you think the Gnats feel?
Varvaro is doing the reverse Moylan. Remember when Moylan used to just spin 4 frisbees to all lefties, and take on the righties with men on base? Varvaro, for some reason, seems to only want to face lefties.
What in the world is wrong with Varvaro? He can’t get the ball near the plate against righties..
EDIT: And what is McDowell waiting for?
This bullpen … woof.
Is there time to sign a whole new bullpen before tomorrow’s game?
Freddie’s still a Free Man!
Freddie! What a start to his season.
I remember being a bit worried that the contract might put some unhelpful pressure on him coming out of the blocks. Ha…
Beating Washington is just heaps of fun. Let’s do it again tomorrow.
Two series vs. the Nats, two series wins. Nerve-racking, but beautiful.
62- Agreed!
Zimmerman out 4-6 weeks with a fractured thumb.
@65 Wow. This is why you don’t slide head first…
2 pickoffs on second? Crazy.
Saw Brian McCann hit 2 HRs in The Bronx, then got to see the Nats’ broadcast team go into the woe-is-us routine with all their misplays.
A good day, I gotta say.
Let’s sweep these bums.
@65, I respect the hell out of Zimmerman, but his body does not let him stay on the field.
@66 There’s really no other practical way to get back to a bag unless you’re not far off at all. Pickoff slides shouldn’t be conflated with sliding into a base you’re advancing to, though the injury certainly highlights the risks in either case.
Jeffy pranked.
This is quite funny:
Missed the game last night–how was Wood looking on the mound?
I thought Wood looked fine. The umpire was really squeezing him causing higher pitch counts and led to him having to come out after 5.
@72, 73 – Eh… he wasn’t getting any calls, that’s for sure. But he wasn’t exactly pounding the strike zone either.
He didn’t look good to me. Put me in mind of Mike Minor’s early performances. Nibble, pick, nibble, groove one.
71 — Figures Jeffy would fall for something like that.
@71 Brooks Conrad and Blaine Boyer sightings! it’s like the San Diego Padres farm team is channeling a more mediocre version of the KC royals plan.
Recapped.
I think Wood didn’t have anything on his fastball, but he got a lot of swings and misses on the breaking ball. Lucky thing, too, because if the batters hadn’t swung Vanover probably would have kept calling balls.