Sep 27 2008
Walk-off homer pushes Braves to brink of 90-loss season
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
Astros 5, Braves 4
Top of the Order: What a fitting way for the final series of this lost season to begin: a line-drive walk-off homer by Darin Erstad in the bottom of the ninth off Julian Tavarez sending the Braves to the edge of 90 losses.
The Good: Josh Anderson shined in his return to Houston, the team that he made his major-league debut for last September. Anderson finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, a perfect hit-and-run single in the ninth, a stolen base and two runs scored. Casey Kotchman drove in two runs. Brian McCann went 2-for-3. The bullpen put together five scoreless innings. Buddy Carlyle struck out three in his three innings of work, allowing two hits. Jeff Bennett struck out two in two innings, giving up two hits. Chipper Jones, who may start today, walked as a pinch-hitter in the ninth and is two days away from winning his first batting title. Off the field, the Braves decided to skip Jair Jurrjens’ turn in the rotation Sunday and give the ball to Mike Hampton. Nice move. Mike deserves one more chance to take the ball and toe the slab. He’s done nice work since coming back from injury in late July.
The Bad: Jorge Campillo wasn’t sharp, giving up seven hits and four runs in three innings of work. He allowed runs in each of his three innings, putting the Braves in an early hole, and he also committed an error. Tavarez got one out in the ninth before giving up the game-winning shot to Erstad. The Braves left two runners on base in the ninth, Martin Prado striking out to end the inning. Kelly Johnson went hitless, his hitting streak ending at 22 games. Houston speedster Michael Bourn scored on a sacrifice fly to dead center; problem was Bourn was on SECOND base, not third, and made it home.
View from the Sports Garage: It’s really hit me in writing the past two blogs that this season finally is about to be over, and my emotions are really more mixed than I anticipated. Several times during the past two months, I’ve made comments along the lines of “how much longer do we have to put up with this,” or “X-number of days to go until this is over.” And now that the end is just about here, I find myself wishing it wasn’t ending. Yes, the season has been a huge disappointment, and we’ll break all that down starting Tuesday. But still, it’s baseball, and it stinks that the Braves are about to disappear until the middle of February. Really tough outing for Campillo in the final start of what’s been a really good season for a guy the Braves plucked from the Mexican League in late December. As bad as this season’s been, Campillo’s been a bright spot and, along with Jurrjens, is the only guy you can write into next year’s rotation in indelible ink. He just didn’t have it Friday night, and that’s unfortunate. At least the Braves pushed across a run in the ninth to keep Jorge from getting the loss. Give Brandon credit for hustling down the line in the ninth, beating the throw on the play that Omar Infante scored on to tie the game. What’s not good is Brandon then turned toward second base and ended up being tagged out after the ball got away from Jose Valverde, who covered first on the play. Then comes Tavarez, who gives up the game winner. Oh, well. That’s 89 losses on the season. Braves gotta win the next two or else they’ll finish with 90 losses. Brothers and sisters, it’s been a long, long time since Atlanta finished with 90 or more in the L column: 18 years to be exact. OK, it’s almost over, and I’m glad. Just can’t take much more of this.
On deck
Braves at Astros
7:05 p.m. today, Minute Maid Park
The Skinny: Two starts great. Two starts not so great. In his fifth and final shot at toeing the slab this season, let’s see what rookie right-hander James Parr (1-0, 4.00 ERA) goes. Parr only made it through 1 2/3 innings Sunday against the Mets. Is that indicative of what Parr brings to the table, or is it the 12 scoreless innings he fired during his first two starts? For the Astros, it’s right-hander Brandon Backe (9-13, 5.66 ERA) makes his first appearance since allowing five runs in 1 2/3 innings on Sept. 17 at Florida.
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