That was ugly folks. There's really no other way to put it. Jair Jurrjens got hit hard and struggled with his command for the 2nd straight start. Jo Jo Reyes' ERA is something in the 20's. Our offense only provided 4 hits, 3 of which came in the 6th inning once the game was over. Something needs to change. There's no reason to panic or destroy the stadium, as UltimaParadox said so beautifully, but yes, an adjustment must be made.
We all just need to believe in Bobby and his ability to get things going in the right direction. The man has 2,416 wins for a reason. He'll get us going.
As for my recap, I'll be doing the format a bit differently. All games will be broken into 3 segments, with a bonus segment at the end: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (with The Awesome too). Unfortunately, there won't be too much in the Good section tonight, but that will change starting Wednesday. There will also be a few other notes from the game and we'll get to those in a second.
Aaaaand we're jumping...
The Good:1. Jason Heyward's plate discipline - After going through the first "slump" of his short career, Jay Hey has come back with a bang. Sure, he was 0-2 tonight with 2BBs, but his plate discipline and recognition improves by the day. In his two walks, Jason laid off tough pitches both in and out of the zone. That's what gives a player true discipline at the plate: Sure, it's important to lay off the pitches out of the zone, but if you're swinging at pitches in the zone that you won't be able to do anything with, you aren't helping yourself at the plate. Jason showed how well he can cover the plate tonight, and nearly knocked out his 4th HR of the season on a tough low-and-away pitch in the 9th.
2. Jesse Chavez - Besides giving up a run late in Saturday night's game in San Francisco, Chavez has been filthy for us. In 1.1IP tonight, Jesse struck out all 4 batters. And the best part about his season so far? Only 1BB to 6Ks. If he can keep that up in closer ballgames, he'll work his way into a 7th inning role when Moylan or EOF are resting.
3. Marteeen Prado - He went 1-for-3 with a BB, but continued his 7-game hitting streak and will finish either 1st or 2nd in baseball with a .519AVG. Thata baby Marteeeen.
The Bad:
1. Jair Jurrjens: His numbers may look "ugly", but he didn't pitch horribly. I know there's no excuse for giving up 8 runs in 3.1 innings, but the Padres were incredibly lucky getting a 2RBI bloop single from their pitcher on a check-swing and another run on a bang-bang play at home with McCann and Gwynn. I don't think we need to worry about JJ's start, but it's something to keep an eye on.
The Ugly (here we go):
1. The 4th inning: 10 runs, 7 hits, 3 walks, 1 BS error on BMac. Never again. Never, ever, ever again.
2. Jo Jo Reyes - 3.1 innings pitched, 10 hits allowed. 3.1 innings pitched, NINE, i repeat, NINE runs allowed. Two HRs allowed. Three BBs and only 2Ks. An ERA of Nate McLouth's jersey number. Good lord.
3. Nate McLouth - Another game, another 0-for-4 with 3Ks. I know it's early, but I'm thankful we basically got him for spare parts. If it wasn't for one helluva season in 2008, Nate has been an average player since then.
4. Melky Cabrera - Now with a sexy .103AVG out of the leadoff spot, Melky isn't doing anything for this team offensively. And it's a shame, because Cabrera isn't a bad player.
5. Hitting w/ RISP - We were 1-for-4 tonight, which is just a little worse than our season average of .256. This team NEEDS to get hits with runners on base. We don't have enough power to score off HRs alone.
And the Awesome:
1. Nothing - It sucks, but there really wasn't anything great to take from this game. Losing 17-2 isn't fun for anyone. This will change on Wednesday.
Stat of the Game:
On Opening Day the Braves scored 16 runs. Since then, the Braves have scored...wait for it...19 runs. That's awful.
Open Thread Comment Count: 1,810
Upcoming Games:
The Braves and Padres have tomorrow off, but will resume the series with Game 2 on Wednesday night. First pitch at 10:05EST. On the mound, it'll be Tommy Hanson vs. Clayton Richard.