Apr 27 2008
Location betrays Hudson as beat-up Braves fall in Flushing
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
Mets 4, Braves 3
Top of the Order: One bad inning from Tim Hudson turned a 2-0 lead into a 4-2 deficit, and that proved to be the difference as the undermanned Braves – missing Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar – dropped the middle game of the three-game series with the boys from Flushing.
The Good: Martin Prado, an emergency starter at third base, did his part, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and nearly tying the game in the ninth, flying out to deep right-center. Mark Teixeira doubled home a run in the top of the first to give the Braves an early lead. Rookie Gregor Blanco didn’t have a hit, but walked and stole a base to add to his impressive first month in the majors. Take away Hudson, and the pitching was super. The bullpen continues its good work, stringing together five scoreless innings (just two hits and two walks allowed) from Buddy Carlyle, Royce Ring, Jeff Bennett and Jorge Campillo. Since Thursday, the bullpen has not allowed a run in 12 innings. Campillo struck out four in two innings, lowering his ERA to 0.79. Dude needs to stick around after Tom Glavine and (hopefully) Mike Hampton return; Campillo made the Mets look stupid with his breaking stuff hitting the corners.
The Bad: Jones has set the tone for this team with his great play throughout the first month of the season, but Saturday morning he set the tone for the day in a different way. Jones suffered back spasms in the clubhouse and ended up missing the game, joining Escobar (finger contusion) on the sidelines. Once the game began, Hudson couldn’t locate his pitches consistently and the wheels came off the apple cart in the third inning. The Braves only could muster six hits after back-to-back impressive offensive showings. Kelly Johnson, who hit in the third hole with Chipper out, was un-Chipper-like: 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Brent Lillibridge, promoted to give the Braves a short-term shortstop while Escobar’s finger injury heals, went 0-for-4 in his big-league debut with three strikeouts. But hey, he now has four more major-league at-bats than I do, so perhaps this doesn’t belong in The Bad category. And poor Phil Stockman. Promoted to the big club Friday, he was shipped right back to Richmond to make room for Lillibridge, who will be on his way back to Triple-A when Glavine returns from the disabled list Tuesday in Washington. Hope you enjoyed your one night in the NYC, mate.
View from the Sports Garage: Tim Hudson, what the … well, you know? I’m sensing a little bit of the ol’ Steve Carlton Operating Procedure here. When you’re good, you’re unhittable. When you’re bad, you’re in the showers way early. For the second time in his past three starts, Huddy was finished after three innings – not exactly co-ace material, and not exactly beneficial for a bullpen that’s been overworked and injured. But unlike his three-inning disaster in Florida 10 days ago, when Hudson’s fastball only reached the mid-80s, his heater Saturday consistently hit the low-90s. His location was consistent, too … consistently awful. Huddy’s control is his key to dominance. If he’s painting the black and working both sides of the plate, he’s one of the harder pitchers in baseball to hit. But from the outset today, you could tell Hudson just didn’t have that sharpness. It all fell apart on him in the third, and credit the Mets for jumping on Hudson and taking advantage of his pitch location. Then again, it was like Huddy was throwing batting practice out there. Ugh.
On deck
Braves vs. Mets
1:10 p.m. today, Shea Stadium
The Skinny: So this is what, the 834th time in his career John Smoltz has toed the slab for the Braves with Atlanta needing the bearded one to man up and pitch well? There is nobody – and I mean nobody – in baseball who is more geared for big moments that the soon-to-be 41-year-old who joined the 3,000 strikeout club his last time out. Smoltz was a tough-luck loser in that historic outing, going seven sparkling innings. His numbers on the season – 3-1 with an 0.78 ERA – are impressive, but to me, what’s been more of note is the fact Smoltzie has gotten stronger with each outing. Perhaps the ol’ veteran knew what he was doing in spring training when he elected to pitch simulated games and make his buddy Tiger Woods look bad on back fields at Lake Buena Vista, as opposed to making six starts over the course of March. The Mets counter with Nelson Figueroa, who isn’t exactly Pedro Martinez (he took Pedro’s spot when Daddy’s hammy popped the first week of the season), but who is 1-1 with a 4.05 ERA. The Braves need this one. Losing the final two games of the series after winning the first one, losing games started by the rotation’s top two pitchers, would put a pretty sour taste in everybody’s mouth.
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