Gamethread: Braves @ Nationals May 6, 2010

[Lauren T.]

From MattE's public Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/MattE-and-Leslee-Diaz-Family-Foundation/343319968141?v=wall&story_fbid=416831383141): After the game in D.C. tonight we're taking a train to Philly, I feel like Babe Ruth traveling by train this is awesome. :thumbsup:

go braves

[-Dr. Brave-]

I'm not used to having the gamethreads up this early. I thought we were supposed to wait until 9:00.

[BigWorm]

Rubber Match!!!

Boing. Boing. Boing.

[HaRdCoReBrAvEsFaN]

good thing Hudson's pitching good...

[Chris_Moderato]

Check it out! 7th inning and somehow our pathetic offense is being no-hit...again!

[-Dr. Brave-]

Check it out! 7th inning and somehow our pathetic offense is being no-hit...again!

I bet the Gwinnett Braves would have had at least two hits by now.

[-Dr. Brave-]

good thing Hudson's pitching good...

... batting practice.

Another solo homer makes it 2-0 gNats.

[BigWorm]

If you can get Heyward out. You got a pretty good chance at throwing a no hitter against us.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Boing. Boing. Boing.

Might be a good time for Morganna the Kissing Bandit to pay Olsen a visit.

:thumbsup:


Still no hits for duh Braves going into the 8th.

[-Dr. Brave-]

David Ross hits a 1-out single in the 8th to break up the no-hitter.

And Cabrera reaches on an error... 1st and 2nd, 1 out, trailing 2-0.

McLouth at the plate, followed by pinch-hitter Jason Heyward.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Tied.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Untied.

[KB 34]

It amazes me how much the offense relies upon Heyward and how well he's delivered as a 20 year old rookie. He's a piece to build the offense around. Too many players in this lineup need to get their butts in gear or on a plane out of town.

[Lauren T.]

As I said on Twitter, Willie Harris likes to show the Braves what they gave away, doesn't he? :) I still like him, even if we lost because of him.

[bravos4evr]

I can honestly say that I have never seen so many quality MLB hitters struggle at the same time.(and by quality I mean honest to goodness major league hitters not superstars)
Glaus, Cabrera, Chipper, McCann, Mclouth....... all hitting under .250? wtf?

Unless we really are this unlucky or everyone is planning on their career worst seasons at the same time. This HAS to stop sooner or later.... One good thing to ponder tho. IF it does break out and these guys start performing like their career avg seasons, we could go from anemic to awesome on offense very quickly.

[Wahoo]

Just got home about an hour ago from tonight's game. We had some pretty kick ass seats thanks to my wife, who bought them as an early b-day present for me. She took a ton of awesome pictures that I will hopefully have posted on here within the next few days.

Here are my impressions from tonight's game.

1.) Nationals Park is a nice looking park. I don't think it really beats The Ted, but pretty good nonetheless. I was most impressed with how nice and courteous the staff were. It made for an enjoyable experience.

2.) Weather was great. Early on we were already in the shade so it was plenty cool despite the fact that it was close to 90 during BP.

3.) Troy Glaus is a big dude.

4.) Tim Hudson pitched well. Again minimal strikeouts, but he did what he's been doing all year: inducing groundballs. I counted about 7 pitches all night that were flat and/or higher in the zone than they should have been, he paid for 5 of them (2 dingers). Aside from that Gnats' hitters were beating the ball into the ground all night. It's easy to how we can continue to be successful, unlike Derek Lowe.

5.) Our offense (and I realize I am stating the obvious) flat out stinks. I can count on 1 hand the number of balls that Brave hitters hit sharply all night. Two of those were by David Ross.

6.) I was wrong about Jason Heyward. He was clearly ready for the majors. He is without question our best hitter. I was so pumped to see him step to the plate. I get the same feeling I used to get when Chipper came to the plate.

7.) Emphasis on used to. Chipper looks old. He moves slowly and stifly (even leaving the field and in BP). He hit the ball with zero authority all night and like most of the rest of the lineup, swung at absolute garbage when he did make contact. I hate to say it, but I think he needs to hang 'em up. If he weren't a disiplined hitter, his OPS would barely make .700 right now.

8.) Our hitters made Olsen look better than he was. He didn't top 93 all night (neither did Hudson) was hovering between 89 and 91 most of the night. Half of his strikeouts came on Infante and Matt E (staring 3 times, at least 2 of them were bad calls). He did not have electric stuff like Jimenez.

9.) This team can contend, but we need another hitter. The team I saw tonight is not going to contend in its current state. We have to add another hitter to the mix, if only to jump start some of the other guys.

10.) A pretty pleasant evening that ended on a sour note. An enjoyable night at the park, despite the loss. I would definitely go back to see a game there again.

[Wahoo]

I can honestly say that I have never seen so many quality MLB hitters struggle at the same time.(and by quality I mean honest to goodness major league hitters not superstars)
Glaus, Cabrera, Chipper, McCann, Mclouth....... all hitting under .250? wtf?

Unless we really are this unlucky or everyone is planning on their career worst seasons at the same time. This HAS to stop sooner or later.... One good thing to ponder tho. IF it does break out and these guys start performing like their career avg seasons, we could go from anemic to awesome on offense very quickly.

A.) I would contest the inclusion of Melky Cabrera as a "quality" major league hitter. He's below average, in my opinion.

B.) Chipper looks old, and I'm pretty sure that what we are seeing isn't a "slump" as much as it is his age catching up with him. We are so used to past players, thanks to performance enhancers, maintaining their production into their late 30s and early 40s, but as I am pretty sure Chipper was clean for the most part, I think we are seeing the natural decline phase of a HOF player. I think he's done.

C.) I think Glaus will improve, but I don't expect him to be a world beater. .800 OPS tops is what I see for him this year, which is production, and not bad for what we are paying him.

D.) McCann will start turning it around once he starts seeing pitches to hit and the hitters around him start hitting. I am not worried about him in the least.

E.) McLouth is bothersome, if only because he has been awful since the very get go of spring, and I think batting him at the bottom of the order hasn't done him any favors either. Sure, he will improve, but I fear only in a Reggie Sanders way, if you know what I mean.

[Hobbes]

Might be a good time for Morganna the Kissing Bandit to pay Olsen a visit.
Nice reference. Although, nowadays they'd just taze her and she'd lie there twitching on the ground.

[-Dr. Brave-]

Nice reference. Although, nowadays they'd just taze her and she'd lie there twitching on the ground.

Yeah, that might not be so good. She might bruise herself.

Suddenly I have this image of crossing spotlights, like before a stage show.

[luvdembravos]

4.) Tim Hudson pitched well.

5.) Our offense (and I realize I am stating the obvious) flat out stinks. I can count on 1 hand the number of balls that Brave hitters hit sharply all night. Two of those were by David Ross.


I'm glad you enjoyed yourself at Nationals Park. It's Ok as far as ball parks go and a big improvement over what they had but I still prefer Camden Yards in Baltimore. That is a great venue to watch a game.

This morning, a local sports radio station was making a big deal about a comment Hudson made after the game regarding Scott Olsen's pitching performance. When asked to give an opinion of Olsen's no-hit bid, Hudson basically laughed and said "let's be honest, he doesn't have no-hitter stuff." That pissed off a lot of Nats fans but Hudson was right. Olsen isn't that good. What Hudson should've said is that our offense must really stink if I guy like Scott Olsen can take a no-hitter into the 8th inning.

[Wahoo]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself at Nationals Park. It's Ok as far as ball parks go and a big improvement over what they had but I still prefer Camden Yards in Baltimore. That is a great venue to watch a game.

This morning, a local sports radio station was making a big deal about a comment Hudson made after the game regarding Scott Olsen's pitching performance. When asked to give an opinion of Olsen's no-hit bid, Hudson basically laughed and said "let's be honest, he doesn't have no-hitter stuff." That pissed off a lot of Nats fans but Hudson was right. Olsen isn't that good. What Hudson should've said is that our offense must really stink if I guy like Scott Olsen can take a no-hitter into the 8th inning.

He's absolutely right. Scott Olsen didn't have a no-hitter last night because of his stuff. He had a no-hitter going last night because the Braves offense is one of the worst in MLB.

And I completely agree about Camden Yards. That thing started the trend of new ballparks, and it's still a great place to catch a game.

Side note: I don't know how DC is going to keep the Gnats. They are charging $8 for a freakin' Coors Light, basically because no one will show up. They are a good ball club, certainly better than the Braves. I have no idea why that stadium wasn't at least 75% full. If they don't finish above .500 I will be shocked.

[luvdembravos]

Side note: I don't know how DC is going to keep the Gnats. They are charging $8 for a freakin' Coors Light, basically because no one will show up. They are a good ball club, certainly better than the Braves. I have no idea why that stadium wasn't at least 75% full. If they don't finish above .500 I will be shocked.

At most Nationals' games I've attended, it seemed like half the crowd was rooting for the visiting team. That's just the nature of Washington D.C. where most people (like me) aren't native Washingtonians. That said, it might explain why the stadium was so empty last night. In the past, Braves fans use to come in droves when Atlanta came to town...not any more cuz' we stink!:)

[-Dr. Brave-]

At most Nationals' games I've attended, it seemed like half the crowd was rooting for the visiting team. That's just the nature of Washington D.C. where most people (like me) aren't native Washingtonians. That said, it might explain why the stadium was so empty last night. In the past, Braves fans use to come in droves when Atlanta came to town...not any more cuz' we stink!:)

And it's not like the Nationals have been there for a long time, either... unless you count the Nationals that became the Twins, or the other Nationals that became the Rangers. Maybe by 2016 these guys will be in Portland.

[Wahoo]

At most Nationals' games I've attended, it seemed like half the crowd was rooting for the visiting team. That's just the nature of Washington D.C. where most people (like me) aren't native Washingtonians. That said, it might explain why the stadium was so empty last night. In the past, Braves fans use to come in droves when Atlanta came to town...not any more cuz' we stink!:)

I did see my fair share of Braves fans. I'd say 1 out of every 3-4 fans I ran into had a Braves hat/jersey on