Game 124: Braves 5, Nationals 1
August 23, 2012 at 12:53 am by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Source: FanGraphs
Game MVP: Kris Medlen, 69 game score
Least Valuable Brave: Chipper Jones, -.104
Most Valuable National: Michael Morse, .115
Least Valuable National: Ian Desmond, -.352
Big plays:
2nd – (WAS) Kurt Suzuki grounded into inning-ending double play with runners on corners, -.124
4th – (ATL) Chipper Jones grounded into double play with two on, no outs, -.124
5th – (ATL) Martin Prado two-run double for a 2-0 Braves lead, .272
6th – (WAS) Adam LaRoche fouled out with bases loaded, one out, -.118
6th – (WAS) Ian Desmond fielder’s choice out with bases loaded, two outs, -.117
8th – (WAS) Desmond grounded into inning-ending double play with two on, -.234
Kris Medlen had another outstanding game to push his scoreless streak to 21 innings. He has pitched consecutive shutouts with a combined total of 12 hits, one walk and 13 strikeouts over 16 innings.
Medlen induced 15 whiffs in this start, including five each on the curveball and changeup. The more he progresses with his breaking pitch, the more excited I get and the further he can go in a starting role. This was highlighted by Bryce Harper’s third at-bat. Medlen had gotten Harper with two weakly hit outs on changeups away in his first two plate appearances, and after throwing a 2-1 changeup away in his third at-bat, Medlen went 2-2 curveball inside, which Harper swung over the top of and missed. It was great sequencing and is a brief example of Medlen’s use of the curve.
Martin Prado broke through with two big doubles, while Jason Heyward tacked on two singles. Hopefully the timely hits will fall the Braves’ way as they hit the road to San Francisco.
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so the boot is probably going to Sheets or Hanson, maybe minor– though he’s been pretty consistent for a while now.
I think Sheets needs a break Hanson can stay up for a bit and we can bring Sheets back when rosters expand hopefully to a rested form.
Now would be a good time as any to let Fredi go…..sadly it looks like he is here to stay. His bullpen management among other things is frustrating to watch.
What was wrong with it tonight? Seriously, what?
Pitching Kimbrel with a 5-1 lead but not pitching him two days ago in a tied ball game. The Braves had a 98.6% chance of winning yesterday’s game in the bottom of the 9th. I realize that Kimbrel needs work and pitching him yesterday was ok but not pitching him Monday is mind numbing.
Putting Kimbrel in last night was the right choice. Not only did he reassert his dominance but it also prevented anything crazy from happening in the bottom of the 9th, something the Nats have an affinity for. However, I do want to defend Fredi on Monday. Putting Kimbrel in almost guarantees a scoreless bottom frame which you don’t want to waste when the game is tied. There was no way to know that Uggla would freeze and you want to reserve your high-leverage pitcher for the ideal scenario. Its easy to see now that if he goes in we don’t lose in that inning, but who comes in after he pitches his? It was the right choice then as well, sometimes you just lose ball games.
Agree completely. But, I think he was already warmed up before we tacked on the extra runs. So no point in getting him warm just to sit him back down, but I’m not a manager.
We had Kimbrel warming up for a save situation. Cause their was always that possiblity. I do not know who expected Atlanta to score 3 runs in the top of the 9th. Given he was already up and how short of notice they had to get another rm up it was the right call. He did not pitch yesterday cause on Mon he warmed up 4 times and we never held a lead.
I swear some of you people astound me with you logic. You can not have it both ways!
Fredi does a lot of dumb things, but sitting Uggla and playing Pastornicky in his place tonight was not one of them. Glad to see some accountability for poor performance – I know All-Star Dan has the big contract and the big name, but, at some point, you can’t keep running him out there to take more strikes and swing at more balls and hit more pop ups to shallow right field.
Fredi does a lot of dumb things, but sitting Uggla and playing Pastornicky in his place tonight was not one of them. Glad to see some accountability for poor performance – I know All-Star Dan has the big contract and the big name, but, at some point, you can’t keep running him out there to take more strikes and swung at more balls and hit more pop ups to shallow right field.
I want Prado at second with Johnson in Left for the foreseeable future. Yall’s thoughts?
Agree
I thought they might do this for a short period, like a series, to give Uggla a break, shake him up, desperation attempt to do something different to get him going, but in the end, Uggla is more productive than Johnson IMHO.
I also hope they use Ross more regularly down the stretch, but keep Mac as the regular catcher. But that might be wishful thinking.
Right or wrong Dan is gonig to play, they are just trying anything to break him from this awful slump. If they can do anything to spark him into life it will give the braves something that no other player on the rosta can give them. At this point I think it is more in pure hope than belief as he just hasn’t performed consistently for the braves for reasons we do not know. I still maintain Hanson should be the one to go at this point, I suppose the next start will seal any deal?
I wonder if Dan’s newfound Youkilis-esque BB numbers have screwed him up. I looks like he’s almost being too selective, and then gets frustrated and becomes too aggressive. Besides Prado there isn’t a player on the team who looks at more hittable pitches than Danny Boy, but you can excuse Martin because he’s actually hitting the ball.
A little premature but with Meds dealing what does 2013′s rotation start looking like? Huddy, Beachy, Minor, Medlen and Delgado/Teheran? Hanson could be used as an offseason trade piece.
Boy, is it great watching Medlen pitch. He makes it look easy out there. I like that he trusts his stuff and throws strikes for weak contact. He made Bryce Harper look stupid on a few occasions, but he has been in a pretty bad slump so I’m not sure I can give Kris TOO much credit there. Also good to see him get out of some tough situations. I guess that’s where his bullpen experience comes into play.
If Medlen keeps pitching like this, I think he should get serious consideration to start the wild-card game.
All depends on where we are in the rotation. Only 1 day off in between last game of season and Wild Card game. Plus the final series is vs the Pirates who will be in the Wild Card mix as well. Maybe fighting for that spot in the Pittsburgh series.
Well if we can clinch a WC berth before that series, that would be ideal. We could adjust our rotation accordingly. At that point we’d just be battling for home field advantage in the WC game. But given our track record this season, I’d rather have the game on the road.
So I’m looking at the standings, and there are three teams tied for the second wild card (the Cardinals, the Pirates, and the Dodgers). How does that tiebreaker work?
I think it comes down to head to head matchup records. But honestly, I think Selig and the gang are just crossing their fingers that it doesn’t come down to that.
I wanna see 5 teams tied for the WC and a mini round robin tournament to determine who goes to the big boy playoffs.