AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > July > 02
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Braves struggling with ‘Torino and Phils
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My daddy was a traveling salesman for John Morrell meats when I was a kid. He’d drive to grocers throughout eastern North Carolina, the way they did it back then. There were two things I remember most about his job.
The first was how he’d sit at the dining-room table, calling in orders to somewhere I imagined was far, far away, reciting phrases and codes, which always seemed to end with something like “Ottumwa 2-3-4-7.”
The other thing was the great new car he’d get every year, obviously always a solid, four-door American-made machine. The salesman’s perk.
When the Starsky & Hutch TV series came out, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that my dad had driven the same car as those boys drove, and I only wished the company would’ve let him paint the white stripe down the side of his Ford Victorino.
Yes, daddy drove a Victorino. Several of them, in fact. And now I find myself writing about how a Victorino is killing the Braves. And I just find it ironic that … what’s that? It was a Gran Torino that he drove? Oh.
Nevermind.
OK, folks, I went an awful long way for this blog lead-in, didn’t I? Hey, the way the Bravos are playing, got to use your imagination to prevent this daily chronicle from slipping into some sort of repetitive-stress disorder.
Anyway, Shane Gran Torino is quickly joining the list of Braves Nemeses (wouldn’t it be better if the plural of nemesis was nemesi? I think so.) A list that includes some obvious guys, like Torino’s teammate Ryan Howard, but is topped by the likes of Tony Clark and Shawn Green, guys who hit as well or better against the Braves than they did against any other teams.
Folks, Victorino had a homer and four RBI last night, giving him 25 career RBIs against the Braves, which is as many RBI as his totals against any two other teams
He’s got 125 total RBI, including 25 in 44 games against the Braves. His next-highest totals are 13 (in 46 games) against the Marlins and 12 (in 42 games) against the Mets. He also has a personal-best five homers against the Braves, which is more than one-fifth of his career total (23).
The Torino has hit .326 (43-for-132) with a .386 OBP and .515 slugging percentage against the Braves, for a .901 OPS. People, I’d like to remind you: This is Shane Freakin’ Victorino we’re talking about. A .901 OPS!
He’s a career .274 hitter with a .339 OBP and .400 slugging percentage (.739 OPS).
But against the Braves, he’s hit .377 (20-for-53) with three triples, four homers and 12 RBIs in his past 13 games, including two triples in the Kelly Johnson dropped pop-up game, when Victorino had a 10th-inning RBI triple and scored what proved to be the winning run.
Add him to the mix that includes Chase Utley, Howard and Pat Burrell, plus the occasional shutout by Cole Hamels and Kyle Kendrick’s unbeaten record against the Braves, and it’s not too difficult to see how the Phillies basically have assumed ownership of the Braves the past few years.
The Phils are 36-26 against the Braves since the beginning of the 2005 season, 13-5 against them since May 26, 2007, and 6-1 against the Braves this season, including a current five-game winning streak against them.
The Phillies have hit .311 and posted a 2.15 ERA while winning the last five against Atlanta, while the Braves have hit .226 with a 5.60 ERA in those games. The Braves have been outscored 29-11 in that 0-5 skid against Philly.
More disturbing: The Phillies have won seven of their last nine series at Turner Field, and the Braves need to win tonight and Wednesday to keep the Phillies from winning another.
Tonight is a very winnable game, with the Braves’ Jorge Campillo (3-2, 2.54 ERA) facing the Phillies’ Brett Adam Eaton (2-6, 4.86). Eaton is 3-3 with a 5.94 ERA in nine starts against the Braves, and 1-2 with a 9.15 ERA in four since 2007.
Chipper Jones is 6-for-12 with a homer against him, Kelly Johnson is 3-for-10 with two homer, Greg Norton is 5-for-7 with a homer, and Mark Teixeira is 3-for-5 with a homer.
But tomorrow night, that’s when things should get very interesting in a tasty pitching matchup of young aces, Philly’s Cole Hamels (8-5, 3.38) against the Braves’ Jair Jurrjens (8-3, 2.94.)
Jurrjens hasn’t faced Gran Torino and the Phillies, and has never lost a home game. Hamels is 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA in his past five starts against the Bravos, including a four-hit shutout on May 15 in his most recent game against them.
That should be fun. But for tonight, it’ll be up to the Campillo to swap paint with ‘Torino and Co.
By the way, they announced a late-innings substitution last night, and I heard “99 Taguchi,” and it reminded me that I’d like to buy a dirt bike for my nephew and I wonder if by brother would permit him to ride before he’s 16…
Hitting with distractions: The distractions I’m referring to are baserunners, which are giving these Braves fits. Their own baserunners, that is.
The Braves are tied for the second-best average in the NL with no one on base, a .274 average, same as the Cardinals (the Cubs lead at .282).
But with a runner or runners on base, the Braves slip to seventh in the NL at .265. Meanwhile, the Cubs gain a point to .283, also the league leader).
And with runners in scoring position, the Braves slip yet again to .255, smack in the middle of the pack in the NL, ahead of only seven of the other 15 teams and 31 points behind the Cubs, who lead in this category, too, at .286.
Finally, in close-and-late situations, the Braves are ninth in the NL at .248, while the Cubs — surprise — lead the league at .276.
See a pattern? Cubs go from .282 with none on, to .283 with runners on, to .286 with runners in scoring position, and .276 (with 16 homers) in late-and-close situations.
Braves go from .274 with none on, to .265 with runners on, to .255 with runners in scoring position, and .248 (with eight homers) in late-and-close situations.
And the RISP average continues to slide with games like last night’s horrendous 1-for-15 performance by the Braves with runners in scoring position.
Young Charlie Morton pitched poorly last night and was gone without recording an out in the third inning. He gave up four runs in that inning, five altogether. But you gotta wonder, might the game have been a little different if the Braves hadn’t gone 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position during the first two innings?
By the way, the rest of the runs came off Blaine Boyer, and you think he might be dreading the next time he’s called on to face the Phils? He’s faced them four times this season and given 10 hits, eight runs (seven earned) and five walks with two strikeouts in three innings.
The Phillies have hit .556 against him this season.
OK, gotta get to the park. Another beautiful day to ride the (motor)bike to work, no rain in sight, humidity still relatively low.
”DANKO/MANUEL” by Jason Isbell (Drive-By Truckers)
Let the night air cool you off.
Tilt your head back and try to cough.
Don’t say nothing ‘bout the things you never saw.
Let the night air cool you off.
I ain’t living like I should.
A little rest might do me good.
Got to sinking in the place where I once stood.
Now I ain’t living like I should.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can only hear it in my head.
Fifteen years ago we owned that road
now it’s rolling over us instead.
Richard Manuel is dead.
God forbid you call their bluff.
Like the nightmares ain’t enough.
Remember when we used to think that we were tough?
God forbid you call their bluff.
First they make you out to be
the only pirate on the sea.
Then they say Danko would have sounded just like me.
“Is that the man you want to be?”
Can you hear that song? It sounds like gold.
Maybe I could make it bigger overseas.
Fifteen years ago we owned this road
now it only gives us somewhere else to leave.
Something else you can’t believe.
Can you hear that singing? Sounds like gold.
Maybe I can hear poor Richard from the grave
singin’ where to reap and when to sow
when you’ve found another home you have to leave.
Something else you can’t believe.
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