Braves lose their 6th straight, fall to the Birds
4-3

post from Talking Chop on 26 April 2010 11:55:00 PM. © Talking Chop

This is starting to hurt.

What a crappy game. It looked like the Braves' offense was coming around after scoring 2 runs in the 3rd inning and then another in the 4th inning. Troy Glaus was showing his singles POWAH. Melky Cabrera was swinging the bat well. Nate McLouth ripped a double down the RF line. And Yunel Escobar had some great ABs in the leadoff spot.

But that certainly didn't last long.

After leading 3-0, the Braves fell asleep at the plate. The Braves went 1-2-3 in the 5th, 6th, 7th inning and left 2 runners on base in the 8th. The Cardinals chipped away at the lead until Yadier Molina delivered the big blow in the 8th inning, hitting a GW RBI double into left-center field. The Braves battled back and had a leadoff infield single in the 9th inning via Matt Diaz, but Eric Hinske promptly hit into a 6-4-3 double play. Yunel Escobar walked to keep hope alive, but Martin Prado grounded out to 2nd to end the game.

And just like that the Braves lose (again) 4 to 3.

I'm not sure about the TC faithful, but this loss hurts a lot more than any of the Mets or Phillies losses.

Timmy Hudson pitched a good game and even contributed at the plate going 1-for-3 with a run. Huddy was cruising in the first few innings but the Cardinals chipped away until they got within striking distance. Once again though, the offense had a bunch of chances to get our starter more runs to work with, but failed to do so leaving 8 runners on base. Eight. Ocho. Jeff Francoeur's old number +1. Ugh.

Takashi Saito struggled tonight, giving up the GW run along with 2 hits and a walk. Peter Moylan failed to strand his inherited runner, Yadier Molina, after he gave up a stolen base and then was victim to a bloop double from Bryan Anderson. All-in-all, not a strong night from the bullpen.

The Good:

Troy Glaus - 2-for-3 w/ a BB, 1RBI

Nate McLouth - 1-for-3 w/ a RBI 2B

Melky Cabrera - 2-for-4, 1R

Tim Hudson - 6+IP 3ER 4K/3BB

The Bad:

Peter Moylan - BS, allowed the tying run to score in the 7th after Yadier Molina stole 2nd off him.

Chipper Jones - 0-for-3 w/ a BB

Jason Heyward - 0-for-3 w/ a BB, 3 runners LOB

The Ugly:

Innings 5, 6 and 7 - 9 consecutive outs, 27 pitches seen. Good lord.

Takashi Saito - L, 1IP 1ER 2H 1K/1BB

Upcoming Games:

The Braves send their $60MM ~~ace~~ #5 starter Derek Lowe to the mound to face Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter. First pitch is at 8:15EST.

Open Threads Comment Count: 2,160

GO BRAVES.

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Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 4/26

post from Talking Chop on 26 April 2010 11:40:00 PM. © Talking Chop

Gwinnett 4, Durham 3

M. Young 1-2 2 BB, .273
F. Freeman 1-4 HR(4), 2 RBI, K, .253
B. Hicks 2-4 SB(4), .200
J. Thurston 2-3 2 RBI, .210
C. Kimbrel 1.1IP 0H 0BB 1K, 1.86

Gwinnett takes down the formidable Durham Bulls to move into a 3 way tie for 2nd place in their division. Freddie Freeman hit his 4th HR in 6 games and remains hot posting a .1200 OPS in his last 10 games. The only thing missing from his game right now is walks: he has taken just 3 free passes vs 16K this season (all three walks were in the last 10 games). Craig Kimbrel came in for the 4 out save opportunity and was perfect after giving up his first runs of the year last night. Also worth mentioning is Brandon Hicks who has 7 hits in his last 15 ABs after getting 6 in his first 50. Lets hope the trend continues.

Mississippi 1, Montgomery 2

A. Romero 1-4 .300
O. Mercado 1-4 RBI, K. .313
K. Cofield 5.2IP 7H 2R 2BB 5K 4.24
S. Marek 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 1K

The Braves fail to muster any offense despite a solid performance from Kyle Cofield who worked around baserunners for most of the night. Stephen Marek still has not given up a run on the year, likewise neither has Michael Broadway, maybe one of the best 8-9 duos in the minors outside of Gwinnett. Orlando Mercado has been the second best hitter on the team in the early going even if he has less power than a Baby Ruth candy bar.

Myrtle Beach - Off Day

Rome 0, Charleston SC 5

J. Kreke 1-2 2B, 2 BB, .262
C. Bethancourt 1-4 3K, .259
M. Weaver 2-4 2B, .279
A. Vizcaino 3IP 3H 3R 2BB 6K 4.95
R. Lopez 2IP 3H 2R 0BB 1K 2.13

Both Arodys Vizcaino and Robinson Lopez gave up their first homers of the season and the Braves offense did little behind them. Lopez has been brilliant so far this year but he has been giving up a few fly balls, a trend we may want to keep an eye on going forward. Vizcaino has been up and down but I'm not really worried about him. Just a note about Christian Bethancourt: opposing baserunners are just 9-15 against him this season good for a 40% CS rate on his part. Not bad sir.

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/4/26/1446269/atlanta-braves-minor-league-recap

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Week 3 of the WGOM Twins Prediction Contest

post from The WGOM on 26 April 2010 11:30:16 PM. © The WGOM

Here's where we stand after 3 weeks.

Twins WinsMauer VORPThome PAKubel HRRunsRuns AllowedLiriano IPHardy OPSSpan RunsPunto StartsTotalActual136.84021017021643128Pace55.429.0170.58.5430.6298.489.551.234.1Citizen X2.560.676981.54.545.1FTLT107651.51039.5Andrew710710539Milt on Tilt787106.538.5DK410458536spookymilk3.56.55497.535.5cowdisciple792418132punmanbowler0.63.5249928.1zooomx793.534.527Big Mak2.54435624.5GreekHouse5991.524.5sean2.5192.5924brianS910322Nate Tubbs Rules2.596.52.51.522socaltwinsfan7815.521.5Beau650.65.517.1Dread Pirate Will Young0.69514.6Zack22913SBG80.63.512.1davidwatts2.5810.5Rhubarb_Runner7.57.5eschapp2.557.5AMR16.57.5bjhess11

It kind of bugs me that the leader is someone who might not even be a Citizen.

Some notes:1.) Baseball Prospectus changed servers and as a result, they haven't updated [...]

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ntest/

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Royals Hang On To Defeat Mariners, 3-1

post from Royals Review on 26 April 2010 11:08:00 PM. © Royals Review

Old-timey baseball men will swear to you that a close, low-scoring game, is like the equivalent of God's England or whatever they think is really orderly and beautiful. Maybe they are, or maybe they just ended faster and you could head out on the town, or go to sleep, faster. This one was 2-0 for long periods, a pitcher had a no-hitter going, and we even had some late drama. Nevertheless, watching these two lineups "go at it" wasn't exhilarating. At certain points, it felt like a slog, a timeless slog. When the Mariners loaded the bases in the 6th, the tension was so thin you could gently let butter roll along. A few innings later, Ichiro pointlessly stole two bases, and the situation had all the drama of your Wednesday drive to work.

I'm not sure Davies' no-hit bid went deep enough for it to really qualify as an object of discussion. I'm not going to tell people tomorrow about his dance with history that ended barely halfway through the game. Still, with Davies, you always hope you're seeing signs of the breakout we all know is never going to come. I'm stupid about these things, what did you guys think about Davies tonight?
The Royal bullpen, with no Soria, only allowed a run. I'm having the boxscore faxed to my shared office tomorrow for safe keeping.
I enjoyed the Butler homer. Because he's a Royal, a small part of me is always going to be afraid that he's going to turn back into Ken Harvey.
I like Bruce Chen.

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http://www.royalsreview.com/2010/4/26/1446258/royals-hang-on-to-defeat-mariners

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Series Preview: Yankees at Orioles

post from Bronx Baseball Daily on 26 April 2010 10:35:19 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily

[...]

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http://www.bronxbaseballdaily.com/?p=5236

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Video: Obama and the Yankees

post from Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog on 26 April 2010 10:04:59 PM. © Sliding Into Home: A Yankees Blog

video details and more

(hat-tip to Zell's Pinstripe Blog)

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kees.html

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Game 19 Overflow Thread

post from Royals Review on 26 April 2010 10:04:51 PM. © Royals Review

Game 19 Overflow Thread

Hmm. Usually we're the other team.

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http://www.royalsreview.com/2010/4/26/1446106/game-19-overflow-thread

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Open Thread 4/26: Braves at Cardinals Overflow

More photos » Alan Diaz - AP

Hey Brian...have we really scored 3 runs tonight? Or is that just Bill Hohn playing jokes again? (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Browse more photos »

The Braves offense is horrible again, losing to the Cardin.....wait, what? We're winning? And we scored 3 runs? No way!

GO BRAVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/4/26/1446118/open-thread-4-26-braves-at

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Brewers extend dominance over Bucs, 17-3 (AP)

Yovani Gallardo did it all in Milwaukee’s latest blowout of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gallardo pitched six strong innings and drove in three runs, Gregg Zaun matched career highs with four hits and five RBIs and the Brewers extended their mastery of Pittsburgh with a 17-3 victory Monday night. The Brewers have outscored the Pirates 53-4 [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2010/04/27/brewers-extend-dominance-over-bucs-17-3-ap/

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Halladay suffers first loss with Phils (AP)

Eli Whiteside homered and doubled in a run, Jonathan Sanchez struck out six and the San Francisco Giants beat Philadelphia 5-1 on Monday night to hand ace Roy Halladay his first loss since joining the Phillies in a four-team trade this winter. Ryan Howard went 0 for 3 with a strikeout and walk hours after [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2010/04/27/halladay-suffers-first-loss-with-phils-ap/

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