Sep 07 2008
Bad luck dooms Braves in loss to Nats
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
Nationals 8, Braves 5 (10 innings)
Top of the Order: A fitting scenario for the Braves of 2008: Kelly Johnson’s potential game-winner bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double in the bottom of the ninth, scoring two runs instead of three, and into extra innings, Mike Gonzalez allowed three runs as the Nats snapped the Braves’ two-game winning streak.
The Good: The month is six days old, but KJ continues to build his case for player of the month. Johnson went 2-for-5, including the ground-rule double in the bottom of the ninth to score two runs and tie the game at 5-5. Casey Kotchman had two hits and scored twice. Jeff Francoeur, who didn’t start, went 2-for 2 in two great at-bats. Greg Norton drew a walk in the ninth to load the bases. Jeff Bennett pitched two innings of perfect relief, striking out one.
The Bad: If this team didn’t have bad luck, it’d have nothing at all. Case in point: Johnson’s blast in the ninth, which bounced over the wall. If it doesn’t, pinch-runner Brent Lillibridge races home with the game-winning run. Instead, Lillibridge had to stop at third, and that’s where he was left. Mike Hampton hung pitches all night long, allowing four home runs in an otherwise-solid outing (seven innings, eight hits, five runs, four earned, one walk, five strikeouts). Gonzalez was hit hard in the 10th, giving up a homer to former Brave Ryan Langerhans, and finishing with three hits and three runs allowed in 1/3 inning. Chipper Jones went 1-for-4 with a walk, his average dropping to .356. Hoss also committed an error. Brian McCann struck out three times, and couldn’t leg out a chopper up the middle with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth.
View from the Sports Garage: Seeing KJ tattoo that ball in the ninth, I really thought it was gonna be a walk-off grand slam. But there are the Braves and this is 2008, so the ball fell short of the wall, and then bounced over. Ground-rule double. Two runs score to tie the game. But there is no way Lillibridge is thrown out at home if that ball hits the wall and stays in play. At that point, you knew the Braves would lose in extras, even with Gonzo on the hill. That’s just the way it’s went throughout the season. So you may say why bother with caring about this team, since it is so far out of the hunt in the NL East? Well, as I’ve opined on numerous occasions, it’s important for the Braves to finish as strong as they can to build momentum for 2009. Instead, the Braves get an unlucky break on KJ’s drive in the ninth, and Gonzo just didn’t have it in the 10th. Sigh. Time to try and start a new streak in the series finale Sunday. Speaking of which …
On deck
Braves vs. Nationals
1:35 p.m. today, Turner Field
The Skinny: The Braves pushed Jo-Jo Reyes (3-10, 5.49 ERA) back to today from his scheduled Thursday start, following the birth of his first child Wednesday. Good move, as you know Jo-Jo ain’t sleeping much. Given how impressive James Parr was starting for Reyes Thursday, it’s important Jo-Jo come out and pitch well. Bobby Cox yanked him from his last start in the fifth inning. With several spots currently open in next year’s rotation, the time is now for Jo-Jo to show his stretch of dominance from mid-May to mid-June wasn’t a fluke. For the Nats, right-hander Collin Balester (3-6, 4.75 ERA) toes the slab for the first time since he went season-high seven innings Sunday against the Braves in D.C.
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