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Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Chipper’s homer not enough
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Milwaukee — Chipper Jones provided a spark in his first game back from the disabled list, but it wasn’t enough to crank the stalled engine that is the Braves offense.
Jones hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, but the Braves couldn’t add anything and Tim Hudson didn’t protect the two-run lead in a 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
“We’re awfully disappointed in the way we’re playing right now,” Jones said after the third loss in four games for the Braves (9-11), who need a win this afternoon to avoid being swept in the three-game series. “We’re just not scoring enough runs. We can’t string anything together offensively.”
The Braves are 3-4 on a three-city trip that ends Wednesday. They’ve hit .190 in their past nine games and generated three runs or fewer in eight, after batting .289 and scoring four or more runs in their first 11 games.
Jones had two hits, while five other Braves had a single apiece. That was it.
“That’s about all the offense we got,” first baseman Adam LaRoche said of Jones’ homer. “We threw a couple other hits in there, but it didn’t really matter. Huddy pitched great, but they just took advantage of every opportunity.”
Hudson (1-2) threw a three-hitter against the Mets a week ago and looked to be in similar form during the early innings against the Brewers.
But after allowing only one baserunner through three innings, he gave up a Geoff Jenkins solo homer in the fourth and two runs on three hits in the sixth, including two-out singles by Carlos Lee and Prince Fielder.
They added a run in the seventh as Hudson finished with seven innings, nine hits and four runs.
“He should have fared a lot better,” manager Bobby Cox said. “He pitched great.”
Hudson said, “I felt good, man. I felt a lot better than a 4-2 loss, that’s for sure.”
Tomo Ohka (2-1) limited the Braves to two runs and seven hits in seven innings, improving to 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA in his past four starts against them.
Jones homered in his second at-bat after a 15-day stint on the disabled list for a sprained right knee and ankle. His opposite-field homer to left-center off Ohka gave the Braves a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning.
It was the second consecutive year he homered in his first game after coming off the DL. On July 18 at San Francisco, he homered in the first at-bat after six weeks on the DL with a foot injury.
The Braves entered Tuesday trailing the NL East-leading Mets by 3-1/2 games, with a three-game series against New York beginning Friday at Turner Field. They wanted to make up ground at Milwaukee and have an opportunity to overtake the Mets this weekend.
Now they’re trying to avoid what would be the first-ever Brewers sweep of the Braves. Their win Tuesday gave the Brewers their first series win against the Braves in Milwaukee, and they’ve won five of the past seven games between the teams. Struggling Jorge Sosa faces Brewers right-hander Ben Sheets in today’s finale.
“There’s a little bit of pressure [today],” LaRoche said. “It’s a big game. There’s no other way around it. But we can’t go out there and play not to get beat. We’ve got to go out there and play to win.”
“It’s not too early to get frustrated,” Jones said. “We’ve got a lot of guys in here frustrated. Yeah, it’s only 20 games. But if you keep saying that … the next thing you know it’s 100 games and you’re 10 games out. And we don’t want that to happen.”
Former Braves prospect Jose Capellan pitched a perfect eighth with one strikeout, and closer Derrick Turnbow struck out Jeff Francoeur swinging at a full-count pitch with LaRoche on first base to end the game.
The Braves’ average was down to .248 before Tuesday, 15th in the National League. Their .315 on-base percentage was the NL’s worst, and 155 strikeouts by Braves hitters was the league high.
Getting Jones back should help in those areas, as will Edgar Renteria’s scheduled return Friday. But the Braves are going to need a lot more production from others.
Andruw Jones hit .424 with five homers in 33 at-bats against Ohka before Tuesday, when he went 1-for-4 with a single and lined into a double play. The center fielder is 2-for-15 with two singles and six strikeouts in his past four games, after hitting five homers in the four prior games.
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Tough call on Frenchy looms
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What happened? I woke this morning and it was 38 degrees with a wind chill factor of 27. I thought it was the last week in April?
Oh, that’s right; it’s Milwaukee. Never mind.
I was going to say that I was as cold this morning as the Braves’ offense. But I didn’t want to exaggerate — I wasn’t THAT cold.
How does a .186 average and 25 runs in eight games sound? That’s what Braves hitters have produced beginning April 15, the day John Smoltz threw a four-hitter to beat San Diego.
They have won four of eight games during this hitting slump, with three of the wins coming in complete games by Smoltz, Tim Hudson and Kyle Davies, the latter two tossing three-hitters against the Mets.
So as long as Braves starters throw complete games and allow four hits or fewer, the Braves are fine….
But seriously, they get Chipper back tonight and Edgar Renteria could return tonight or Wednesday, unless Bobby Cox decides to be extra-cautious and wait to play Renteria in the homestand opener Friday against the Mets, after the off day Thursday. They want to be certain Renteria doesn’t come back too soon and have this side-muscle strain nag him all year, and it’s difficult to argue with that reasoning.
They need Edgar if they are to win the division again and have any hope of advancing in the playoffs. He’s had more success in the postseason than any other Brave, or at least more success-per-postseason trip.
Renteria has been to six postseasons, four NLCS, he’s won pennants with Florida and St. Louis, and a World Series ring with the Marlins in 1997. He has a .304 average with five doubles in 11 World Series games.
But that’s getting way ahead of ourselves. The Braves have a lot of work ahead before they can even begin thinking about the postseason.
If it’s not No. 1 on the list of priorities — No. 1 has to be pitching, always — then it could be No. 2. We speak of the Frenchy Dilemma. Slumping Jeff Francoeur, what to do with him?
It’s not as if the Braves have a lot of OF options, what with Kelly Johnson still not able to throw at full strength and possibly looking at more surgery on his elbow if it doesn’t respond soon.
Brian Jordan isn’t an everyday outfielder anymore. James Jurries? Could be an option, but he hasn’t spent a day in the majors yet. So I doubt the Braves are ready to bring him up, put him or Diaz at an OF corner and let Langerhans take over in RF.
I doubt they’re ready to do that, and I know they don’t want to give up on Francoeur, or even send a signal that they’re giving up on him for the immediate future. They want desparately for him to hit his way out of this looooong funk, but it ain’t happening.
He’s batting .184 overall and a hard-to-fathom .096 (5-for-52) on the road, worst in the majors. His .203 on-base percentage is the third-worst in the majors and second-worst in the NL, better than only St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina. His .518 OPS (on base-plus-slugging percentage) is fourth-lowest in the NL.
Francoeur is hitting .183 (11-for-60) against right-handers. Batting with two strikes, he’s 1-for-29 with 16 strikeouts. Heard enough?
He started out the season with a 3-for-37 slump, went 6-for-8 with three homers in consecutive games April 13-14 against S. Diego and Philly, then went 5-for-31 with one extra-base hit (double) in his last eight games through Monday, including 0-for-11 in the past three.
He still hasn’t drawn a walk, and he’s swung at a majors-leading 55.7 percent of first pitches. Anaheim’s Vlad Guerrero (54.9) is the only other major leaguer who’s swung at as many as 47 percent of first pitches.
Finally, there’s this: Francoeur hit .379 with 10 homers, 30 RBIs and a .734 slugging percentage in his first 33 games in the majors last season, through Aug. 20.
In 50 games since Aug. 28, he has a .207 average with seven homers, 22 RBIs and a .362 slugging percentage, with 44 strikeouts in 188 at-bats.
What’s the answer? I don’t have it. The Braves are going to have to make a tough call soon, unless Francoeur can bust out of this thing before his average dips closer to .150 than .200.
