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Monday, June 11, 2007
Braves had better series end than Sopranos
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First up, there’s no truth to the rumor that John Smoltz’s start will be pushed up to Thursday’s series finale at Minnnesota and Jack Morris will be coming out of retirement for one night to face him.
But it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?
Anyway….
Should be a couple of great pitching matchups Thursday and Friday in the last game at Minnesota and series opener at Cleveland, provided Smoltz’s shoulder and Tim Hudson’s leg are sound.
Oh, and of course, provided Hudson can pitch like he did the first six weeks of the season instead of lately.
(And do you think the Cavs can win just one stinkin’ game so the Finals will at least go five and Braves/MIB can be represented at Game 5 in Cleveland Sunday night? Can you do that, Lebron? I’ve already got to miss out on Prince’s old First Avenue club in Minneapolis because of three night games.)
Hudson and the Bravos had best be on their game Thursday to face Johan Santana. Then Friday it’s Smoltz vs. C.C. Sabathia in Cleveland. Like I said, couple of marquee pitching matchups.
Braves have only faced each of these teams once in interleague play, dropping two of three vs. the Indians at Turner Field in 2004 and winning two of three vs. the Twins at the Metrodome in 2002.
Then there was also that little seven-game series between the Braves and Twins in October 1991, which ended with a couple of extra-inning games, if I’m not mistaken….
By the way, the AL Central-leading Indians were a majors-best 21-7 at home before their game tonight. The Twins are only 16-16 at home.
Yes, 2-1/2 games back: Rather than say I told you so to all the knee-jerk reactionaries who took cheap shots at me for opining before Friday’s series opener vs. the Cubs that the Braves could and probably would still win the NL East, I’ll take the high road and simply point out they were 3-1/2 games out of first place when I said that. They’re 2-1/2 out of first as of today.
Doesn’t matter how bad they looked Friday or while losing eight of nine home games (that was pretty dreadful, though, wasn’t it?). Doesn’t much matter that they are a mere 28-28 since their 7-1 start.
Because it’s a 162-game season, and the Braves are 2-1/2 games behind the first-place Mets with 98 games to play. These teams and the Phillies, and maybe even the Marlins (though I doubt it), are just warming up for the race to come.
Earth to Willie…. Ah, to hell with it. Enjoy the ride, man. Who knows how long Willie Harris can keep this up? All bets are off. He’s already totally surpassed all expectations, batting .398 (37-for-93) with nine extra-base hits, eight steals, 20 runs and a .467 OBP since the Braves brought him up.
So who’s to say he can’t keep hitting at least .300? Hey, throw out what he’s done in the past and let’s just judge what he’s doing now. Seems fair in this case, since the only time he ever got to play this much before, he played well for the White Sox in 2004, batting .262 with a .343 OBP and 19 extra-base hits in 409 at-bats.
OK, so it wasn’t remotely as good as what he’s done so far with the Braves. And yeah, he’ll be 29 in a couple weeks and had a .238 career average and .306 OBP in the majors before this season.
So what? He’s hitting like a madman now, and helping the Braves in a major way.
And, by the way, showing no signs of letting up. If teams are going to figure out what his weaknesses are and exploit them, well, they haven’t been successful yet.
Harris is 16-for-34 (.471) with a .526 OBP in his past 13 games, including 3-for-3 in pinch-hit appearances in the past week. Tip of the proverbial cap to the man.
Here’s a guy who didn’t let being a victim of a numbers game after being sent down as a non-roster player despite a strong performance in spring training, who didn’t let that affect him.
Kept his head up, busted his butt at Richmond, and now he’s making the most of his opportunity. Gotta like that.
Gonzo gone, bullpen strong: You’ve probably noticed this yourselves, but the Braves’ bullpen has actually been just fine since losing lefty Mike Gonzalez to elbow surgery.
The Braves have whittled their bullpen ERA to 3.64, third-best in the NL, and have converted 20 of 25 saves. Repeat, they’ve only blown five of 25 save opportunities, after blowing a league-high 29 of 67 save opps last season.
Their comeback wins and save conversion numbers are also reflected in this stat: The Braves have allowed a meager .189 opponents’ average in late-and-close situations, 15 points lower than the next-best in the NL, the Mets’ .204.
“Scowl-ael” Soriano has allowed three hits and four walks in 60 at-bats in those situations, and Tyler Yates has yielded only three hits and three walks in 37 at-bats.
The Braves obviously have to keep the remaining two from the Big Three bullpen trio healthy, because right now Bob Wickman and Soriano are doing exactly what they were supposed to do. Soriano’s even been better than anticipated.
Wickman, since returning from the sore-back stint on the DL, has allowed seven hits, one run and only one walk in 10 innings, posting a 0.90 ERA and .194 opponents’ average while converting all of his five save opps in that stretch.
It’s obvious now how his sore back prevented him from getting proper extension on his pitches, which is why he couldn’t throw strikes in those last few appearances before he was DL’d.
Soriano has a 0.44 ERA and jaw-dropping .076 opponents’ average in his past 20 appearances, allowing one run while striking out 22 with four walks and five hits allowed in 20-2/3 innings over that span.
You’ve gotta wonder how long the Braves can go without another lefty besides Macay McBride in the bullpen. I mean, most championship-caliber teams have a good veteran lefty in the ‘pen. McBride’s good when “on,” but still relatively inexperienced, especially in big-game situations. Really big games.
But they’re getting by with what they’ve got for now, and McBride is doing quite well since he got back from his early season demotion to Triple-A. He’s held lefties to a .150 average (3-for-20) this season with only three walks and nine strikeouts.
And though they don’t have another lefty, Soriano pitches better than most lefties do against lefty hitters. They’re hitting .157 (8-for-51) against him, and .171 (7-for-41) against Wickman.
On the road again (and pleased by it): Now that they’ve salvaged something on an ugly and eventful homestand by winning the last two games vs. the Cubs, the Braves are back on the road, where they’ve played better.
The Braves haven’t been able to string together hits most nights at home, where their .244 average ranks ahead of only the sorry-butt Nationals and the Padres, who play in renowned pitchers’ park that keeps offensive numbers down.
But put the Braves on the road, and it’s been a different story.
They lead the NL with a .287 average (don’t ask me to explain it; no one can) and a .462 slugging percentage that’s a full 30 points ahead of the next-highest in the NL, and a whopping 59 points over the Braves’ home slugging percentage.
Three Braves rank in the NL’s top 10 in road average, paced by Edgar Renteria’s .370 (second in the league). Kelly Johnson (.336) and Jeff Francoeur (.333) are the others.
Is Edgar Renteria your early season Braves MVP? It’s gotta be him or Kelly Johnson, to this point, and I’d probably give the edge to Edgar for consistency.
By the way, he still leads the NL in average after the sixth inning (.392, 22 points higher than any other qualifier) and is seventh in average with men on base (.355).
We won’t know more about his sore hand until we get to the Metrodome tomorrow.
Love the show, always have: But hated the ending. The Sopranos, of course, is what I’m talking about. Last night’s series finale.
Not season finale, but series finale.
If it’d been a season finale, I think the fade-to-black would’ve been absolutely brilliant cliff-hanger device guaranteed to generate a record audience for next season’s premiere.
But that was it. End of series. Unless David Chase changes his mind, or unless he comes out with a movie (a strong possibility, I’d imagine), then we’re just left to wonder what happened.
That’s fine. I don’t like tidy bows wrapped around everything in movies and TV, at least not always. But in this instance, there’s just too much left to the imagination, in my opinion. I mean, seriously, does anyone feel real strongly that you know what was about to happen when the screen went black? I don’t. I really don’t.
Damn you, David Chase, director man.
Oh, well. Rescue Me’s new season starts this week. And while Sopranos won’t be back, The Shield will be, and so will The Wire.
“RITA BALLOU” by Guy Clark
She could dance that slow Uvalde/Shuffle to some cowboy hustle
How she made them trophy buckles shine, shine, shine
Wild-eyed and Mexican silvered,/Trickin’ dumb ol’ cousin Willard
into thinkin that he’s got her this time
Hill country honky-tonkin’ Rita Ballou/Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin’ barrel ridin’ Rita Ballou/Ain’t a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you
She’s a rawhide rope and velvet mixture/Walkin’ talkin Texas texture
High-timin’ barroom fixture kind of a girl
She’s the queen of the cowboys/Look at old Willard grinnin’ now boys
You’d of thought there’s less fools in this world
Hill country honky-tonkin’ Rita Ballou/Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin’ barrel ridin’ Rita Ballou/Ain’t a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you
So good luck Willard and here’s to you
And here’s to Rita and I hope she’ll do ya right all night
Lord I wish I was the fool in your shoes
Hill country honky-tonkin’ Rita Ballou/Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin’ barrel ridin’ Rita Ballou/Ain’t a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you
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