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Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Good news, bad news
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The good news: Adam LaRoche is tied for the NL lead in homers (two) and RBIs (five), and Braves hitters are 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position, including 3-for-5 by Andruw Jones, who would have run away with the MVP award last season if he’d hit closer to .300 with RISP instead of the .207 he finished with.
The bad news: Braves pitchers have given up 27 hits and 15 runs in the first two games of the season, and aces Tim Hudson and John Smoltz have struggled even more than the bullpen has.
The good news: It’s not raining, for now, as of 12:35 p.m. in L.A.
The bad news: Even if the Braves get tonight’s game in, on time, yours truly will get approximately 90 minutes of sleep from the time I return to my hotel, and the 3 a.m. wakeup call I’m going to need in order to get to LAX for my 6 a.m. flight to San Francisco. Leaving so early because the damn game in San Francisco is at 1 p.m. because it’s the Giants’ home opener, and can’t risk a flight delay or anything else.
The Braves are going to be a bit tired, too, but at least they get to take a charter flight that’ll be waiting for their arrival tonight after they bus from Dodger Stadium to the airport.
OK, couple other things: Not clear yet if Barry’s going to play for Giants in series opener. Because they were rained out last night (Tues.) at San Diego, and the original plan was for Bonds to play Tuesday, rest his creaky body Wednesday and play Thursday. Just for those who care and were preparing to throw tomatoes at your TV screen or whatever.
Is anyone getting concerned for Frenchy (Francoeur)? I’ll write this and then he’ll go 3-for-5 with a homer tonight, just watch. But man, his torrid Grapefruit League start has been followed by quite a slump, sort of how his unbelievable first six weeks in majors last season were followed by significant dropoff in the last six weeks.
He went 9-for-13 with three homers in his first five Grapefruit League games after returning from WBC, then went 1-for-16 the rest of the spring. Now he’s 0-for-8 with no walks and two strikeouts to start the season. That makes him 1-for-24 with no homers, four strikeouts and one walk since his five-game initial Grapefruit League burst.
The good news (since I’m Mr. Positive, always looking for the ray of sunshine): Francoeur is 3-for-3 with a homer off Noah Lowry, San Francisco’s scheduled starter for Thursday’s series opener.
In case you didn’t see my follow this morning on other blog, regarding last night’s loss and Smoltz’s performance (five runs allowed in five innings, including four in the first inning), here it is again:
Smoltz’ big thing — reason or excuse for the problems — was his grip. He said the cold and rain didn’t allow him to throw his slider and other “feel” pitches. He threw a flat one to J.D. that he hit for the homer, and after that Smoltz said he was reluctant to throw the slider, which is one of his best pitches.
Hey, I’m just reporting what the man said, folks. It was terrible weather. Of course, Smoltz also acknowledged the obvious — Brad Penny had to pitch in same conditions, and he managed to make enough good pitches to get out of jams and record eight strikeouts with one run allowed in five innings.
I didn’t agree with the Braves that the umpire’s no-call on the ball that everyone swore hit the Dodgers’ runner (James Loney) in the foot in the first inning had a huge effect on the outcome. In hindsight, it was convenient explanation, but that’s one of those things that must be overcome.
You can’t look at everything that happens after an incident like that and go, “It wouldn’t have happened if not for that.” I never liked that kind of logic.
Braves made a nice comeback attempt, but fell short. Hole was too deep. Jordan whiffed to end the big three-run eighth inning, and that was that.
Rocky first too familiar to Smoltz
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Los Angeles —In the first inning Tuesday, John Smoltz pitched like it was opening day. By the time he snapped out of it, the damage was done.
Smoltz allowed four runs in the first inning, including a J.D. Drew home run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held on for a 5-4 victory against the Braves on a cold, rainy night at Dodger Stadium.
The Braves scored three runs with two outs in the eighth on doubles by Matt Diaz and Andruw Jones and Adam LaRoche’s second home run in as many games, a two-run shot that cut the lead to 5-4.
But Brian Jordan struck out to end the inning and the Braves’ final scoring threat.
One day shy of the anniversary of his opening day debacle last season at Florida, Smoltz struggled inexplicably again in the first inning of his regular season debut — and, like last season, after having an outstanding spring.
He was charged with five runs and nine hits in five innings Tuesday, including four hits and two walks in a 28-pitch first inning.
It was the second game of the season for the teams, after the Braves won Monday’s opener 11-10 despite a shaky start from Tim Hudson.
They will play the rubber game Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, then the Braves will fly to San Francisco for a four-game series that begins Thursday afternoon with the Giants’ home opener.
Smoltz allowed only one homer and three walks in 23 innings during spring training, when he was 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in five starts.
A year ago, after a similarly dominant spring, he surrendered seven runs (six earned) in 1 2/3 innings of a 9-0 opening loss to the Marlins, including five runs and a Juan Encarnacion grand slam in the first inning.
That dropped him to 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in three opening day starts. Smoltz joked this spring that he didn’t care about starting another opener, he just wanted to finally win his first start.
Instead, he’ll try to recover like he did after last year’s opening loss.
He had a 2.84 ERA in 32 starts after opening day last season, and allowed more than four runs just one other time — five in a loss against St. Louis on Aug. 5.
He gave up his fifth run Tuesday in the third inning on a Bill Mueller sacrifice fly that made the lead 5-1.
In the first inning, Smoltz retired former Brave Rafael Furcal on a groundout, but the next six batters reached base. After No. 2 hitter Jose Cruz Jr. walked, Drew homered on a 2-1 slider that Smoltz left flat and up in the strike zone.
Drew had a .198 average and no homers in 34 games against the Braves before Tuesday. The Georgia native played for Atlanta in 2003 and has 143 career home runs, including multiple homers against every other National League team.
Smoltz also walked rookie James Loney in the first inning on five pitches in his first major league plate appearance. Loney singled off Smoltz in the third.
The Braves stranded two runners in each of the first two innings against Dodgers starter Brad Penny — who threw 28 pitches in the opening inning, same as Smoltz, but got out of it without giving up a run.
After one-out singles by Edgar Renteria and Chipper Jones in the first inning, Penny struck out Andruw Jones and LaRoche.
Brian McCann homered with one out in the second, but the Braves left runners at second and third when Renteria flied out.
The Braves’ only hit over the next three innings was Jeff Francoeur’s leadoff single in the fourth. He was stranded at second when Penny struck out Ryan Langerhans and Smoltz to end the inning.
After manager Bobby Cox used six relievers in the last five innings of the opener, the Braves needed more than a few innings from Smoltz. He gave them five, despite the raw conditions and 25-minute rain delay in the second inning.
Smoltz was struck on the right shin by a Jeff Kent single to start the fifth inning, but he stayed in and induced a double-play grounder and groundout.
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Braves Report: Hottest hitters carry it over
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Los Angeles — Andruw Jones, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Langerhans were the Braves’ hottest hitters when the 2005 postseason ended, and that trio combined for three homers and eight RBIs in Monday’s 11-10 opening win against the Dodgers.
Jones led the majors with 51 home runs in 2005 and hit another homer in the division series. It will be difficult to match that breakout performance, but he started with a three-run homer and RBI single Monday.
With two runners on base in the fifth inning, Dodgers starter Derek Lowe tried to fool Jones with a sinker inside. He crushed it for an 8-1 lead.
“You have to give [Jones] all the credit on that one,”veteran Dodgers catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. said. “That was a good piece of hitting by a great hitter.”
Jones’ two hits and four RBIs Monday made him 8-for-23 (.348) with six homers and 11 RBIs in his past six games against Los Angeles, including four homers and eight RBIs in his past three at Dodger Stadium.
“The dude’s on a level of his own now,” LaRoche said of Jones. “It’s got to feel totally different as a pitcher, pitching to him compared to the other guys. Even Chipper [Jones] — Chipper will hurt you and take you deep, but Andruw, you can’t make a mistake against. If you do, it’s gone.”
LaRoche, after a career-worst 20-game slump through Sept. 14, hit .416 with six homers and 16 RBIs in his final 19 games in the regular season and playoffs. That included a grand slam in an 18-inning Game 4 division series loss.
Monday, the first baseman hit a three-run homer in the first inning. Tuesday, his two-run homer in the eighth cut the Dodgers’ lead to 5-4.
“It’s good, because I’ve been such a slow starter my first two years,” said LaRoche, who hit .206 with two homers last April, .214 with one homer in April 2004.
After struggling most of the spring, he asked to play in a minor league game the last weekend of spring training. He got nine at-bats in the game, hitting once every inning and swinging at very few pitches.
He did it to track pitches and get more comfortable before the opener.
“I just wanted to start out more consistent this year, so I’m not having to fight back after such a slow start,” LaRoche said.
Last season as a rookie, Langerhans hit .321 with a .412 on-base percentage in 34 regular-season games after Aug. 21, and was 4-for-12 with three walks in the division series. His eighth-inning home run Monday wound up as the game winner.
“When I hit it, that was the furthest thing from my mind,” said Langerhans, whose solo homer pushed the lead to 11-5. “It ended up being a pretty big hit.”
Just rusty, Boyer vows
Dodgers hitters knocked him around in the eighth inning Monday, but Boyer seemed confident he’d be back up to speed soon.
He missed most of spring training with a sore shoulder and made the opening day roster after pitching only 2 1/3 innings in three Grapefruit League games.
Boyer said there was rustiness when he gave up four hits in five batters in the opener. He was charged with three runs for an 81.00 ERA after one game.
“I noticed it when I reached back for my fastball,” said Boyer, who wasn’t able to generate extra velocity.
He also lacked control and got behind hitters.
“I’ll be back soon,” said Boyer, who added that his shoulder felt fine in the game and on Tuesday. “It’s stuff that can be fixed.”
Homecoming for Ramirez
Los Angeles native Horacio Ramirez rounded up about 50 tickets for family and friends to see him pitch tonight against the Dodgers.
“Just about everybody here [on the Braves team] is from the South, not many from the West Coast,” said Ramirez, who purchased tickets from the allotment that went unused by teammates.
He’d prefer his friends don’t witness the type of history that was made during his last visit.
Ramirez allowed two runs in seven strong innings on May 13 at Dodger Stadium, his first start against the team he grew up cheering. His work was overshadowed by what happened after he left.
LaRoche hit a grand slam in the eighth, but Milton Bradley countered with a slam off Reitsma in the bottom of the inning for a 7-4 Dodgers win.
It was the fourth time in 30 years opposing teams hit grand slams in the same inning.
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