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Sunday, May 20, 2007
Andruw hitting sixth … when the rain stops
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Quick One (that’s a good Who album, by the way) while we wait for the expected rain to hopefully pass through so we can get this delayed game going….
Gotta hand it to these New England baseball fans — this place was packed yesterday on one of the most miserable days imaginable for baseball. Then again, these folks pay so much for tickets, most of them wouldn’t dream of buying and not using them.
News of the day: Anthony Lerew is on the DL with a sore elbow (officially ulnar neuritis), which certainly came as no surprise considering his early two-inning exit and then the ill-advised comment he made after Saturday’s Game 1 loss.
Minutes after manager Bobby Cox said Lerew was healthy and was only taken out of the game because he didn’t have good command, Lerew tells us his elbow’s been sore for a month after starts and that he was getting by in the minors by not throwing between starts.
He said he threw a bullpen after his first major league start two weeks ago vs. San Diego (the game when he threw so well), and that might have affected him since (he’s been bad in two subsequent starts).
The Braves filled his roster spot by calling up infielder Martin Prado, who got to Boston about 8:30 a.m. today and is in the lineup at second base and batting leadoff for this afternoon’s series finale, with Kelly Johnson’s getting a rare day off.
Bobby likes to do that — thrust a guy into the lineup and not give him time to think about it too much. And he likes to rest guys after they’ve had a good game, rather than bench them after a bad game so it doesn’t look like they’re being disciplined.
So Kelly Johnson, after breaking out of his May slump with a 3-for-6 gave with a double, triple, homer and five RBIs in the nightcap of yesterday’s doubleheader, is on the bench for today’s game.
Bobby made it pretty clear that Prado, batting .301 with no homers and 12 RBIs in 136 at-bats at Richmond, might not be up here too long. But for now, he’ll be a bat off the bench and get a start or two (he can play three infield positions and even played some left field in winter ball).
Andruw hitting sixth, and not scratched: We were all curious to see if Andruw Jones would be in the sixth spot in the lineup, where he was for the nightcap until he was scratched a half-hour before the game last night.
The answer is yes, he’s batting sixth today. And to his credit, Andruw didn’t complain or say it was unfair or anything else. And when I said something to him about it probably being a temporary thing, he said, “You never know. Those guys might be hitting better than me and he’ll keep them there.”
Brian McCann hit fourth in Saturday’s second game and broke out of his own slump by going 3-for-6 with three doubles and two RBIs. Jeff Francoeur is hitting fourth today (McCann, the lefty hitter, is seventh today, behind Andruw).
Francoeur is hitting .302 with seven homers and 33 RBIs, including .407 (11-for-27) with team-highs of six extra-base hits and 20 RBIs with runners in scoring position and two outs.
“It’s really no big deal,” Andruw said this morning. “You’re playing the game, that’s what it is. You go out and play the game to help the team…. If the team is playing better without me batting fourth, that’s the way you have to go.”
He is hitting .219 with six homers and 30 RBIs, including .200 (20-for-100) vs. right-handers with four homers, 14 walks, 33 strikeouts and a .302 OBP.
In two-strike counts, he’s hit .141 (12-for-85) with one homer, 14 walks and 46 strikeouts.
In 13 day games before today, he’s hit .213 (10-for-47) with one homer and five RBIs.
He hit .261 in April with five homers, 19 RBIs and 26 strikeouts and a .402 OBP in 88 at-bats. In May he’s hit .159 (10-for-63) with one homer, 11 RBIs, 20 strikeouts and a .243 OBP.
Yikes, yikes, and more yikes.
Is he pressing because of pending free agency?
“It ain’t no big deal. Free agent, no free agent, I just go out and play the same way that I play always,” he said this morning. “I’ve struggled before, before I busted out, in a good year, the year I hit 50-something [homers]. So it’s really not a big thing.
“You look at a lot of guys who have bad years, they start good and finish bad, so you’ve always got a chance to start bad and then pick it up. Normally I hit good in May. This is the first time I’m not hitting good in May, so hopefully when it’s past I’ll get in a groove and put up good numbers.”
Does he feel like he’s close to going on a tear, any signs of that?
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” he said. “In the game of baseball, you can’t project. It’s the way you feel at the plate and the way the guy is going to pitch you. You might go out there and get guys who make a lot of mistakes to you, then get guys who don’t make mistakes. We’ll see.”
So has he come to any conclusions about why he’s struggling to this degree and for this long this season?
“I’m just getting good pitching,” he said. “I’m getting pitched really tough. They’re pitching me different than they pitched me before. So I just have to make my adjustment to what they’re doing.”
Couple of things: Elias rates the Braves’ interleague schedule as the toughest in baseball this season. To date, their interleague opponents are a combined 100-66. The Braves’ opponents, as of today’s standings, include two first-place teams (Boston, twice, and Cleveland), a second-place team (Detroit), and a four-place team (Minnesota)…..
Also from Elias, we hear that yesterday’s doubleheader — 13-3 Red Sox win in first game, 14-0 Braves in nightcap — was only the second doubleheader in 60 years in which the teams split and each won by 10 or more runs….
The Braves’ 12 extra-base hits in the nightcap were the most by a visiting team at Fenway since Angels had 13 in a 20-2 win in 1980….
Chipper is 6-for-17 with two homers and three RBIs in four games since returning from his four-game absence for after his collision at Pittsburgh. He needs two homer to tie Dale Murphy’s Atlanta record (371)….
Last night’s 14-0 Braves win was the worst shutout for the Red Sox since 1990.
A little tune for a rainy Sunday….
“A BIBLE AND A GUN” by Steve Earle
There’s a full moon out tonight/And its shining down on me
And in that purest light/Any fool could see
That this highway is paved with sorrow/And every mile is lined with pain
And when the sun comes up tomorrow/You’ll be just as far away
Now I hear her whisper soft and low/Through every mile I run
As I travel through this world of woe/With a Bible and a gun
If a man was made to suffer/I’m a mighty man I know
From one heartache to another/I’ve been burnin down this road
I’ve got one eye on the mirror/And one eye on the line
The end keeps growin nearer/The past slips behind
I don’t mean to hurt nobody/I don’t mean to do no wrong
But somethin out there’s got me/And its pulling me along
Darkness is my shelter/Emptiness my light
And stranger, heaven help you/If our paths cross tonight
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