AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 06
Thursday, October 6, 2005
On Smoltz’s shoulders
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He’s defied the skeptics before, and the Braves really, really need John Smoltz to do it again tonight.
The veteran with the sore shoulder needs to do some hero-level stuff tonight in game 2 of the division series, or else the Braves could be staring at not just their fourth consecutive division series loss, but the very real possibility of getting swept by the Houston Astros.
Because for all of Jorge Sosa’s Houdini escapes and 9-0 road record this season, he’ll be going up against 20-game winner Roy Oswalt on Saturday at raucous Minute Maid Park in Houston, where the Astros were the toughest home team in the league for most of the season.
So it falls upon Smoltz’s shoulders tonight, along with the veteran members of the lineup. The Braves did enough offensively in Game 1 to win, but not with the poor performance they got from Tim Hudson and the beleaguered bullpen. Smoltz, pitching with a sore shoulder and making his first start since Sept. 23, needs to give the Braves at least seven strong innings and preferably eight, so the Braves can hand over a lead to Kyle Farnsworth and hope that his career-best regular season will carry over to the postseason.
As for Hudson, it’s not too comforting a thought for the Braves right now, knowing that he’d have to face Pettitte or Clemens in a potential Game 4 or Game 5 if the Braves can get themselves back into this series. Hudson, for all his greatness in the past five seasons with Oakland — he was the winningest pitcher in the AL over that stretch — hasn’t done much in the postseason, at least not since firing a very fine eight scoreless innings to beat the Yankees in his second playoff start.
Since then he’s gone 0-2 with 5.73 ERA in his past five postseason starts, with 30 hits, 14 earned runs and 10 walks allowed in 22 innings (by the way, I don’t know why I keep hearing talking heads and such say Hudson only had four postseason starts going into yesterday’s game; he had six. He’s had seven starts and one relief appearance in the postseaon, and is 1-3 with a 3.98 ERA in those eight games, including six team losses).
Anyway, this may not come as a shock to you folks, but Chris Reitsma now has a 27.00 ERA and .533 opponents’ average in four career postseason games, all with the Braves, all against Houston, and all losses. He’s given up eight hits, 10 earned runs and two homers in 3-1/3 innings in those four games _ three last October and Wednesday.
And not to be pessimistic or anything, but here’s something worth making a mental note: Kyle Farnsworth has 5.93 ERA in his past 27 appearances vs. Houston (all regular season), with 30 hits, four homers and 14 walks to go with 40 K in 30-1/3 innigs.
As I said, it looks like this one is up to Smoltz.
