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Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Hate to say it, but countdown continues
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Past time for a new blog, so here it goes….Day after Labor Day and here comes the school year, real life, and soon enough, the fall. We’re down to 24 games left on the Braves season, and let’s hope it goes mercifully fast.
Sorry to the purists, but you know it’s an all-out free fall when the Braves game notes have been pointing out each day: 28 games to go….27 games to go….26 games to go.
It seems the Braves find new ways to lose one-run games, and at some point they’ve got to run out. It’s been 29 road one-run losses now going back to last August. The Braves are 7-27 overall in one-run decisions this year, 7-5 at home, 0-22 on the road.
This obviously follows that kind of trend, but I thought I’d mention it. The Braves have eight last at-bat wins this season, seven of them at home. The only road win in their last at-bat came June 18 at Texas when Omar Infante singled in the winning run. The Braves scored two more runs in the inning on a Gregor Blanco triple and a Kelly Johnson groundout.
The Braves finished August 9-20 (.310). If they play .310 ball the rest of the way, they’ll finish the season at 67-95. That’s not far off their record in 1990 of 65-97. That’s how far they’ve fallen.
Since the Mark Teixeira trade, the Braves are 10-23 and have won a whopping two series - at Arizona and last week at home against the Marlins. They’ve hit .269 in those 33 games, averaging 4.4 runs per game, and have a 5.85 ERA with only four saves.
Before the Teixeira trade? The Braves were hitting .265, scoring 4.5 runs per game, and the pitching staff had a 4.04 ERA. So the Braves are allowing almost two more runs per game the last five weeks.
So that suggests more than any effect losing Mark Teixeira’s bat has had on the offense, it’s been a downturn in pitching that’s eating the Braves, and no doubt a change in mentality, knowing they were out of it. Frankly, the offense hasn’t been very good all season, and the Braves hung around early in the season with some unexpected efforts from young and unknown pitchers and the guys that were still healthy at the time. Now pitching has run beyond thin.
BATTING TITLE: Entering Tuesday night’s game with the Fish, Chipper Jones had fallen behind Albert Pujols in the batting title by five points: Pujols .363, Jones .358.
Pujols has hit in 13 of his last 14 games, hitting a whopping .519 (28-for-54) dating back to August 15 with six homers and 16 RBIs. He’s had two three-hit games and a four-hit game in that time. Chipper has been getting his one, maybe two hits a game, but it’s not enough to keep pace. In that span since August 15, he has hit .305 (18-for-59) with one homer and eight RBIs, with no more than two hits in a game.
Jones maintained from the beginning he wouldn’t hit .400 and now he knows it’s going to be tough on him to keep up with Pujols.
“I think he’s the best hitter in the game, no doubt,” Jones said. “Nobody can do the things that he can do offensively. He doesn’t miss the sweet spot. He does it more frequently than everybody else in the game. Regardless of who wins the batting title, I don’t think there’s any argument who the best hitter in the game is right now. I just got off to an 11, 12-week start that was unconscious and I’m just trying to hang on.”
As for how much of an effect it’s been without Teixeira hitting behind him, Chipper said it’s not a factor if Brian McCann is hitting behind him. It is if he’s not.
“Mac is just as respected as a quality hitter that can drive in big runs in big spots,” Jones said. “He’s a guy who commands respect, so it’s not all that different. But it’s a heck of a lot different when Mac doesn’t play. And you can’t play every day because of the position he plays. But it’s going to directly affect pitches that I see.”
Having a batting title to gun for gives Chipper something to keep him going hard for these last 24 games. And that’s more than can be said for some of his teammates, whom CJ concedes are struggling with that.
“It’s a motivational tool,” Jones said. “We’re out of it, we’re not going to the playoffs, but you’re a professional and you’re expected to go out and entertain and represent your team. You have a job to do. You’ve got to go out there and perform. A lot of guys in here are having to really take it upon themselves to find something to motivate themselves day in and day out. For me it’s easy. For some of the other guys it’s not so easy. They’ve been struggling with it. I’m trying to help them through it as much as I can.”
TIDBITS FROM THE OLD-SCHOOL: The CR version of the Braves/MIB blog offers a shout-out of congrats to Greg Maddux for catching Roger Clemens yesterday. Think that doesn’t matter to him? Think again….It’s 354 and counting, one more to go before he moves into sole possession of eighth place on the all-time win list.
He could get four more starts - one against Arizona this weekend, a team he rarely pitches well against (5-11, 5.37 ERA for his career) and one at Coors Field, but after that it’s nothing but Giants and Padres.
And you gotta love Eddie Perez. Please stop reading if you think nobody is allowed to laugh anymore with the season gone down the tubes. Eddie bought this stuffed parrot that’s hanging in his locker in Florida. It can repeat whatever is said in English and Spanish, or just sounds of laughing and hooting. It was good for some belly laughs yesterday.
OK, newcomers from Richmond getting in today and Charlie Morton trying to put together a second strong start in a row. More from the ‘yard as we go.
