Braves 3 Mets 0 (8 Innings)
OK, frequent readers of Brave-O-Matic know that, for us, the game ends upon Dan Kolb's entry, so in our best-of-all-possible universe, the Braves notched a 3-0 win over the Mets tonight. Anything that happened after the eighth inning is your fault for watching. (LATE NOTE: Psych on Brave-O-Matic!! Ominous rumblings of Kolb were premature -- Reitsma was allowed to go 2 innings for the save! Gloryosky...)
I'm no proponent of "small ball", but if ever a team should play that way, it's against the Mets' battery of Zambrano-Piazza. The term "fundamentally sound" usually applies to position players, but it must be said that Victor Zambrano is one of the most fundamentally unsound players I've seen this year. First, he botched a sacrifice bunt by popping up a pitch up around his shoulders. Then, in the fifth inning, Estrada at second and Langerhans at first with no outs, Pete Orr attempted a sacrifice bunt. Zambrano fielded it and, apparently mistaking Johnny Estrada for an African spotted leopard, threw the ball wildly to third, allowing two runs to score.
Furcal proceeded to single in Orr, and then stole second and third against Piazza, who just can't throw at all. I was asking out loud for a patented Bobby Cox squeeze after the steal of third, but Giles isn't a bunter. Pity that -- I have no doubt it would have worked.
Zambrano was doing Piazza no favors on the steals, though. By my count, he faked more throws to second base (3) than he attempted throws to first (0). Given his lack of any other ancillary skills, it wouldn't surprise me if he's prohibited from throwing anywhere but plateward.
Back to Piazza. Not only did he give up 5 SBs in the game, but Davies made him look horrible on two strikeouts, one on a check swing on a high fastball, and the other on a nasty curve he could only flail at. He's 36 and has caught 1470 games -- we may be witnessing the end of a Hall of Fame career. At the least, he's looking more and more like a DH wearing the tools of ignorance.
Ahh, Davies. The kid had it going once again. This was my first look at him, and it's obvious that his fastball, changeup, and curve are all major-league quality. He took a ball off the ribs in the sixth and had to leave the game, and hopefully he's not hurt too badly. As mentioned previously, we need him, and he's coming through like a champ so far.
The offense didn't do much -- all three runs were a direct result of Zambrano's foolish play. Marcus did have three hits.
Incidentally, Pete Orr is quite the adventure in left field. I commend Cox for trying something different and getting Mondesi off the field, but.... On one play, a bloop hit fell in front of him, as he was probably distracted by Furcal running at him. Then he was flummoxed by the smoggy Atlanta twilight and lost a fly ball that fortunately dropped foul. Finally, on another tweener that Furcal couldn't catch, he had Marlon Anderson dead to rights rounding third base. A throw behind the runner would have nailed him, but Orr's throw came home instead. Again, it worked out okay, as no runs scored, but a more experienced outfielder would have probably gotten the out.
And finally, props to Furcal for some fine defensive plays and aggression on the basepaths. He'll always be a high-risk, high-reward player, and tonight he was a pivotal cog in the victory.
I'm no proponent of "small ball", but if ever a team should play that way, it's against the Mets' battery of Zambrano-Piazza. The term "fundamentally sound" usually applies to position players, but it must be said that Victor Zambrano is one of the most fundamentally unsound players I've seen this year. First, he botched a sacrifice bunt by popping up a pitch up around his shoulders. Then, in the fifth inning, Estrada at second and Langerhans at first with no outs, Pete Orr attempted a sacrifice bunt. Zambrano fielded it and, apparently mistaking Johnny Estrada for an African spotted leopard, threw the ball wildly to third, allowing two runs to score.
Furcal proceeded to single in Orr, and then stole second and third against Piazza, who just can't throw at all. I was asking out loud for a patented Bobby Cox squeeze after the steal of third, but Giles isn't a bunter. Pity that -- I have no doubt it would have worked.
Zambrano was doing Piazza no favors on the steals, though. By my count, he faked more throws to second base (3) than he attempted throws to first (0). Given his lack of any other ancillary skills, it wouldn't surprise me if he's prohibited from throwing anywhere but plateward.
Back to Piazza. Not only did he give up 5 SBs in the game, but Davies made him look horrible on two strikeouts, one on a check swing on a high fastball, and the other on a nasty curve he could only flail at. He's 36 and has caught 1470 games -- we may be witnessing the end of a Hall of Fame career. At the least, he's looking more and more like a DH wearing the tools of ignorance.
Ahh, Davies. The kid had it going once again. This was my first look at him, and it's obvious that his fastball, changeup, and curve are all major-league quality. He took a ball off the ribs in the sixth and had to leave the game, and hopefully he's not hurt too badly. As mentioned previously, we need him, and he's coming through like a champ so far.
The offense didn't do much -- all three runs were a direct result of Zambrano's foolish play. Marcus did have three hits.
Incidentally, Pete Orr is quite the adventure in left field. I commend Cox for trying something different and getting Mondesi off the field, but.... On one play, a bloop hit fell in front of him, as he was probably distracted by Furcal running at him. Then he was flummoxed by the smoggy Atlanta twilight and lost a fly ball that fortunately dropped foul. Finally, on another tweener that Furcal couldn't catch, he had Marlon Anderson dead to rights rounding third base. A throw behind the runner would have nailed him, but Orr's throw came home instead. Again, it worked out okay, as no runs scored, but a more experienced outfielder would have probably gotten the out.
And finally, props to Furcal for some fine defensive plays and aggression on the basepaths. He'll always be a high-risk, high-reward player, and tonight he was a pivotal cog in the victory.
posted by Sam Bass | 9:54 PM
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