What a pissy night. What a pissy game. Sloppy baserunning. Sloppy defense. Sloppy hitting. Sloppy pitching. Everything looked sloppy for the Braves on Tuesday night.
We're still a menagerie of various wounds and bruises, especially in the heart of our lineup where Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, and Brian McCann are all battling their own injuries.
Overall, though, it's the mistakes that are gonna kill you, and mistakes we made. Jordan Schafer overran second base on a double he attempted to turn into a triple. Matt Diaz let a ball get past him in the outfield that allowed the Nationals to eventually take the lead. We get two runners in scoring position in the ninth with no one out and can't f-ing score!
To some degree this team reminds me of those Braves teams during the 90's that would struggle and struggle to find themselves and gel in the early months, but you knew all the pieces were there. Those teams would eventually make their move and when they did they were clicking on all cylinders. This team is struggling to find its center, to find its balance, we're just waiting for it to come together like we all know it can.
May I humbly suggest to Bobby Cox that he turn his lineup around a bit. I think it's time to put Jordan Schafer in the leadoff spot and let him use all of his aggressivness. I don't care if that means Kelly Johnson or Casey Kotchman have to hit eighth. We know the current lineup can score some runs, but it certainly can't do it consistantly, so I think it's time to flip it on its head.