Game 128: Braves 7, Giants 1
August 26, 2012 at 11:15 pm by David Lee under Atlanta Braves
Source: FanGraphs
Game MVP: Tim Hudson, 65 game score
Least Valuable Brave: Reed Johnson, -.064
Most Valuable Giant: Hunter Pence, .059
Least Valuable Giant: Tim Lincecum, 47 game score
Big plays:
1st – (ATL) Brian McCann RBI single for 2-0 Braves lead, .109
4th – (ATL) Juan Francisco solo homer for 3-0 Braves lead, .088
Tim Hudson was very good. I could stop there and that would be all you need to know about this game.
Hudson induced 14 ground balls, five fly balls and three line drives, pitching to a .217 BABIP against. He spotted everything so well, it seemed he was just out there to entertain himself. Definitely one of those nights where he had his command and stuff working.
Aside from the two big offensive plays listed above, Jason Heyward hit his 24th home run and Freddie Freeman hit his 18th in back-to-back fashion. Paul Janish added a triple and continued his solid defense. Brian McCann put together three singles in three different ways, but they all count.
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Tomorrow is a huuuuuggeee game. Washington is off and win gets us within 4. Would be huge! It’s not over yet!
I really don’t think it’s huge. Call me crazy, but that last series at Washington was it. We’re not just fighting to trim their lead on any given day, we’re fighting against the clock now. We’ve now got to outplay them by like 3.5 games over the last 32 AND take down a series from them, which just seems implausible to me. I’m done worrying about the East. I’ll scoreboard watch the Cards, Dodgers, and Pirates from here on out.
And that is why you are a fairweather fan!
I’m a realistic fan. I haven’t tuned out, I’m still watching all the games, and I still hope they’ll go deep into the postseason. I’m just not full of blind optimism like you apparently are.
That’s not even the correct use of the term fairweather fan.
And that is proof that Jomer doesn’t understand what the term “fairweather fan” means…
You seem so sure that it’s not possible to catch the Nats, when they just got swept by the Phillies. They aren’t impervious to losing, as they’ve been riding around with a horseshoe up their asses for a couple weeks now which was bound to fall out at some point(Astros series, the series they had against Milwaukee, hell even the extra inning game we played against them with the 3 infield hits that won the game). Will we catch them? Who knows, but it’s certainly not over. Even in this past week+ when we played terrible ball and only won 4 of the past 10, the Nationals didn’t honestly gain anything on us.
34 games is a lot of ball left to play.
Also remember, that Nats organization is seemingly in some turmoil right now. Desmond has been fighting nagging injuries, Morse had that contusion on his hand which even though not series those types of injures can crop up again(swelling, etc.). Harper is now seemingly destined to part time duty from the way he’s played since the break(even though his bat has sucked it up lately, he has saved several runs against us with his speed in the outfield) which adds more questions to what’s already happening in Washington.
They’ve clearly been playing over their heads for a couple weeks, but any plan to get the East that relies on them collapsing is not going to have a happy ending, in my opinion. The only way it happens, IMO, is if the Braves sweep the final head to head. Obviously, I’d love to be proven wrong and see the Braves return to the top of the division, but I just don’t see it.
Read on ESPN that Davey Johnson got into an argument with the Nats GM after the game. Maybe some cracks are finally starting to show.
Hudson looked absolutely filthy tonight. Haven’t seen him pitch that well since the 1-0 game against the Cubs. Think Maholm pitched in that game. Funny.
I was at that game. First time I’d ever seen the Braves lose in person. They had been 3-0 before. That sucked to see.
Anybody know of anyone else who has started at four different positions in 4 days that is as key a player on their team like Martin is?
He is our Mike Young, except he is good.
Please explain to me how 4.5 games with a month left is too big anon? Certainly will be tough but we’ve seen it happen a lot in baseball the last few years. (us and Boston blowing the wild card last year, a few years back when PHI caught NYM from like 7 back with 16 to play). Win games and it all takes care of itself. 3 extremely winnable series left, this after a tough stretch where we didn’t play well and didn’t lose much ground. Go Braves
Anything can happen but the Nats taking the division is more likely than not. Baseball Prospectus gives the Braves a 86.6% chance of making the playoffs. 10.5% shot of the Braves winning the division and 76.1% chance of the wild card. So while anything can happen it is 10:1 odds that are against the Braves taking the division.
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/odds/
All the games count. I’ll keep believing the Braves can take the division until (unless) the Nats clinch. Even if they do, anything can happen and the wildcard is still a 50-50 shot at the real postseason.
Was at the game tonight. That was fun, especially watching Jason and Freddie go yard back to back. Would have loved to see Chipper at least try to leg out his groundball, but at least I got to see him play his final game in SF.
I think it’s possible to catch the Nats (that sounds like an std), but I’m not going to bet the farm on it. McCann and Uggla are playing like shit, Sheets has turned into a pumpkin, and who knows what the hell is up with Tommy. It’s still a great team–probably the second best in the NL–but we go on streaks where we can’t score, Chipper is missing every third game, Huddy is getting long in the tooth, and who knows how Andrelton is gonna perform when he returns. The Nats are gonna shut down Strasberg whenever that happens, and they’re starting to get more and more nics and bruises on their position players. I think if we can gain another 1.5-2 games this week, then it’s a possibility.
Their pitching is too good to blow the lead, but it might be doable if we sweep the series.
I agree viva … It’s possible, but not the most likely outcome. It’ll be fun to watch nevertheless.
great post. Totally agree. When we were 6.5 back I definately was starting to lose hope on the division, but if we find ourselves 2.5 – 3 games back at the end of this week we will be in good shape.
I agree, beta it does sound like an std.
Knowing that Heyward and Freeman will be around for a while (eligible for free agency in 2016 and 2017, respectively), it was nice to see them go back-to-back in tonight’s game.
Sheets going on the DL is going to be a good thing. I’m hoping it can settle everyone down and get Hanson back on track. Everyone brags on Washington’s pitching, but I think we are on the verge of our pitching staff really locking it down. Huddy looked fantastic last game. Maholm has been 2 bad pitches away from perfect every start I’ve watched. Medlen is lights out. Minor has been right there as well. The folks on Fox called Minor the best kept secret in baseball, or something akin to that statement. And I have to agree. So if Hanson just pitches at 80% and they can get some run support, I think we can outplay these guys down the stretch. Now all this being said, their manager is 10 times the manager as our dude.
Hanson will not get back on track this season, or ever probably. His numbers have been on the decline for 2-1/2 years now, sheets going to the dl isn’t going to add 5 mph to his fast ball…..
I agree. But if you look at Hanson as the 5th, and stop hoping for more, I like our chances. Even if you are calling him the 4th, at where he is I like our chances. It is all a matter of perception. I bet there are plenty of National fans that are a bit nervous.
I can’t help but believe that hinske starting in that second game is what’s keeping us from being only 3.5 games back. I know its a heavy lift but that dude needs to be unloaded
I agree. His play on those two shots his way was close to sad.
Anyone notice Hudson’s velocity was around 91-92 like when he was in his prime. He typically sits 87-90 and last night was higher for whatever reason. If Heyward can keep hitting like this I’d love to see what happens in the MVP race.
And I know Fredi is pretty stupid, but I was happy to see Uggla not play again. He finally came out and said he wasn’t going to be patient anymore.
I’ve found it amusing that some here seem to have a similar consistency of thinking issue as myself:
The Nats 4.5 game lead seems almost insurmountable, yet our 4 game lead in the wild card is in immediate peril.
I do know that the stretch run will be exciting, and I will be extremely upset if we miss the playoffs again considering we only have 6 games left against teams competing for the playoffs, no more west coast once back from San Diego, and weekly days off the rest of the way.
I fully expect us to take one of the two wild card spots. But there is a certain logic to the mindset you summarize, in that we’re the only team chasing Washington, but for us there are four teams with a plausible shot of knocking us off (but Dodgers and SF exclude one another, of course).
Remember if this season’s postseason rules were in place last year, the “collapse” may never have happened. We would have played in St. Louis in the wild card game.
Also, if we only play .500 ball the rest of the way we get to 90 wins (1 game better than last year). I would think 92-4 wins is possible.
Jackdan, sheets does not need a 95-97 mph fastball to be effective. He needs to get his command back on the 91-93 fastball he has been throwing. The loss of command was general fatigue setting in as he was not in shape which will raise the pitch up in the zone. Also did anyone see huddy call out lincecum about wanting to strike out everybody and that he needs to pitch to contact more.
we were talking about hanson. 5mph to take him from 87 to 92. Sometimes he touches 90-91, but most of the time lately it is 87,88 with an ocassional 89. And no command to boot.
Is there another team who goes from completely incompetent to world beaters and back more than the Braves? Terrible start to the series, terrific finish.
Interesting. So Washington was playing “out of their minds” when they were doing well but weren’t the Braves doing the same when they had the 29-11 stretch?
I really really REALLY want to see the braves win the division but it’s tough to argue against the national on the field and on paper. They’re a damn good team.
My concern at this point would actually be with the dodgers but it may be a irrational concern. Do all of the moves they made potentially make up the lost ground in the standings?
On paper, how are the Nationals a better team? On paper essentially means you’re assuming every player plays to their career lines(sans small sample size). There are more Nationals players playing well above their career norms- and Braves playing well below their career norms- than the other way around.