Braves End Losing Streak Behind Joe Mather's Heroics
by Scott Coleman on May 22, 2011 2:32 AM EDT
in Braves Game Recaps
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Joe Mather pretty much won tonight's game all by himself.
After dropping three straight tough games, the Braves battled back after trailing early and won 5-4 in 12 innings.
Tommy Hanson started for the Braves and had his worst outing of the season. He pitched six innings and allowed four runs on five hits and four walks, though he did strikeout seven batters. Joel Pineiro started for Anaheim and shut the Braves down through six innings before finally cracking in the 7th when he departed.
LAA scored first on a 2-run Bobby Abreu home run in the 1st inning. They scored two more runs in the bottom of the 5th on a Torii Hunter 2-run single to left. The Angels could have added on, but poor baserunning cost them multiple opportunities.
It was more of the same for the Braves' bats during the first six innings. They were swinging early in the count, grounding out weakly more times than not, and most importantly, they didn't score a single run. That changed in the 7th inning.
Joe Mather came up to the plate with runners on 1st and 2nd and hit a big 3-run homer that just cleared the bullpen walls in left field. The home run ended a 17 inning scoreless streak for Atlanta. Martin Prado followed with a ground-rule double and then came around to score on a Brian McCann double.
It was a battle of the bullpens after that and the Braves' would prove to be slightly better tonight. Eric O'Flaherty worked a scoreless 7th, Jonny Venters dominated the 8th and 9th innings, George Sherrill (It's crazy, but Sherrill has really pitched well this month. Good for him.) struck out two batters in a scoreless 10th, and Scott Proctor worked a quick 11th inning. Great work guys.
With the score still tied 4-4 in the 12 inning, Joe Mather came through once again. With two outs, the outfielder drove a ball down the right field line which scored Alex Gonzalez from 2nd base without a throw. The Braves led 5-4.
Craig Kimbrel came in the bottom half of the inning and walked Mark Trumbo to start the inning. Alexi Amarista put down a sacrifice bunt to move Trumbo into 2nd base and Peter Bourjos grounded out weakly to Alex Gonzalez for the 2nd out. With the tying run on 3rd, Kimbrel got Macier Izturis to ground back to the mound for the final out of the game.
Thank goodness.
The Braves will try and win the series tomorrow at 3:35EST. Derek Lowe will be on the mound for Atlanta and he'll face rookie Tyler Chatwood. I'm already terrified.
Just something to discuss: Joe Mather has now had multi-hit games in each of his last four starts. I think Dan Uggla has had four multi-hits games all season. If Heyward is in the lineup, do the Braves consider moving Martin Prado back to 2nd base and continue starting Joe Mather in left field? It wouldn't be permanent, but Dan Uggla is a bad, bad, bad joke right now. We need our players to hit, and Joe Mather is hitting.
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Mather gets 4 hits, Sherrill pitches lights out and Proctor gets the win…maybe the world did end yesterday.
"Part of me wants to give him this huge hug, and part of me wants to kick him in the groin because he made it look so easy." - David Ross, commenting on McCann's two homer game.
by Sam Jethroe on May 22, 2011 2:37 AM EDT reply actions 10 recs
Rec'd
I kinda figured this would have been the recap we got… With mvhsbball’s rep. :-)
Don’t worry about older women until you turn 22. It’s called the Saltalamacchia.
by bwellnjonesco on May 19, 2011 4:13 PM PDT
by Klemson Krash on May 22, 2011 2:41 AM EDT up reply actions
It's like we where watching the Bizarro Braves
I don’t know what to believe anymore. Up is down, black is white, everything I once knew is now a lie.
Per DOB
#Braves’ Heyward checked by famed orthopedist Lewis Yocum (works w/ Angels), who concurred w/ diagnosis of rotator-cuff inflamm. Day to day.
Hopefully
this doesn’t become the sort of lingering injury that’ll affect him at the plate like the thumb injury did last year
"My parents do a lot of things behind the scenes that go unnoticed"- Cam Newton, Heisman acceptance speech.
by TurnerTheBurner on May 22, 2011 2:46 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m already convinced a trip to the DL is the best move right now. Give him a chance to get healthy and get back to what he is capable of doing
"The Dos Equis guys want me to be the least interesting man in the world" - Drama
by BravesDawg16 on May 22, 2011 3:08 AM EDT up reply actions
This
I’m sure Hinske/Mather can adequately replace Heyward’s 2011 performance so far and give him a chance to rest and come back strong
"I wasn’t thinking about it. That’s the worst celebration of all time. I didn’t know what to do. I got lost in the moment." - Brian McCann
by HansonManCrush on May 22, 2011 7:38 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
But who will agree...
When Mather goes hitless for two straight games, Heyward still has a week until his return, and everyone knee-jerks back into their “OMGZORS TEH WORLD IS GOING TO END” mode??
Let’s not pretend the rapture was the only reason people were worried about the world ending a couple short days ago…I mean, it’s May and we’re not in first!! O noes!!
-C
It’s rough to sit through these games and not have someone that can’t hit a Ball?
Agreed
I can see it coming already
“OMG, Fredi iz stupid! Who is Joe Mather and why is he starting? Wherez J-Hey? J-Hey hits dingerz, we need him!!”
"My parents do a lot of things behind the scenes that go unnoticed"- Cam Newton, Heisman acceptance speech.
by TurnerTheBurner on May 22, 2011 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions
The bullpen was lights out today.
Zero hits over 6IP, can’t do much better than that! :D
So MVHS
did you pre-write this recap too? cuz that would be pretty amazing
"Welcome to the show, Brandon Beachy. I think you’re going to stay a while." - Dave Cameron
Well played Mather...
Smite Smith, Kill Gil, Banish Bass, Dump Duhon, and Trump Turk. Did I leave out anyone?
Mather
what can you say? It would seem crazy NOT to use him, while he is on this hot streak. I think it is a good idea to let him be in left field when Heyward returns. Uggla is clearly not getting the job done.
Games like this
Are what keep us all hooked.
I’m going to quit picking on Sherrill and Mather for a good while. I’ll still pound on them if they do dumb stuff but I think they’ve earned their stripes as team members.
Proctor and Linebrink are still on my List.
"Part of me wants to give him this huge hug, and part of me wants to kick him in the groin because he made it look so easy." - David Ross, commenting on McCann's two homer game.
I agree will Linebrink..
But Proctor was not really fail per say… Atleast not enough to be on any list with Linebrink IMO
by UpstateNyBravesFan on May 22, 2011 8:28 AM EDT up reply actions
Excellent game
I’m glad they were able to pull it out there at the end. I’m getting tired of all these extra inning games!
Does anybody know where I can find a Bobby Cox t-shirt/jersey?
by GreatestEver on May 22, 2011 3:33 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
Literally tired...
2 a.m.+ is late for me now. At least we won this one.
Man, I felt we would score late yesterday, but our early inning offense is brutal.
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
Proctor
Proctor has been in 3 games so far and pitched well in two of them and got bad luck in the other. So far this season I say he has pitche well. Also gearrin will be back up in about 5 days and ascencio will be sent back down.
So fr I would say our pen has been one of if not the best in baseball so beggars shouldn’t be choosers.
by mauck98 on May 22, 2011 3:46 AM EDT via mobile reply actions
“Not getting scored on” and “pitching well” are two different things. He got pretty lucky in getting Wallace to swing at ball four the other day and tonight gave me 37 extra gray hairs with that fly that Mather caught. He’s a stiff and needs to be jettisoned ASAP.
"Part of me wants to give him this huge hug, and part of me wants to kick him in the groin because he made it look so easy." - David Ross, commenting on McCann's two homer game.
Well...
Great job on battling back. We obviously still need to try to get off to a better start to a ballgame, but hopefully this will give the guys some much needed confidence again. Props to Joseph Mather for manning up tonight and providing some CLUTCH hits! We have D Lowe on the hill tomorrow for the rubber match, so lets go out and take a series!
LOL
Those were Mather’s 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th RBIs of the year, Uggla has more bombs than that. I’m grateful he won us a game too but let’s get a little larger sample size before we declare him the triple crown winner. You all must think MLB GMs are incredibly stupid if Mather is supposedly going to out-produce Uggla for longer than a couple game stretch.
Proud perpetrator of yelling "Money MIke" at Oracle Arena since Dunleavy's trade to the Pacers.
Mather
Nobody is advocating it to be a permanent move, a day off for uggla might dobbins some good, and keep Mather’s warming bat in the lineup at the same time win win I u ask me
by mauck98 on May 22, 2011 4:34 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Thing is, "hot bat" isn't a sustainable phenomenon.
Mather’s just as likely to go 0-4 tomorrow afternoon as he is to get a couple of hits. Indeed, given his track record, he may be more likely to go 0-for-4. Uggla, brutal as he has been, has a much longer track record of success at the major league level, and I don’t understand what a single day off for him is supposed to do. Very likely, Uggla will come around sooner or later; until that time, the Braves genuinely don’t have a better option for the lineup, Mather’s anomalous (but welcome!) effort notwithstanding
I dissagree
A lot of what makes a hitter hot is them adjusting to the league. The league will eventually adjust back, but during that in between period, the hitter should be hitting very well.
I <3 RUNZ
Hot bats are definitely real, but not for this reason. Guys just get in the zone, feel comfortable, have confidence, and have their mechanics down for stretches of time. Mather’s BABIP is .550. This has been a nice ride and I have always been on the Mather side of the “he’s useless” conversation. The guy has talent and is a useful bench player.
Twitter: @Ben_Duronio Stop calling Tommy Hanson "Big Red"
It’s hard to look at Mather’s year-by-year numbers and figure out what’s representative… He had a terrible time in St. Louis last year, but if you look at his 2008 numbers, they were pretty decent for a rookie. Last year drags his career numbers down, and may (we hope) turn out to have been an anomaly.
Have you never played baseball before?
Old Hoss is ready.
by Taylor Masters on May 22, 2011 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Doesn't matter.
A lot of things baseball players and coaches think they know about baseball are empirically wrong. I wouldn’t say the “hot streak” thing has been completely disproven yet, but there is starting to be some firm statistical evidence against its existence:
http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/strategy-on-streaky-players-dont-trust-the-streak/
(Just describing the results from a study run for Tango et al.’s The Book.)
I came home at midnight and checked the score before going to bed.
Saw the bottom of the 7th where we tied the game.
My 6am alarm this morning forced me to turn it off and go to bed. Looks like since it went extras (again)… wise move.
I’m so glad they found a way to win.
What’s with Huddy and now Hanson having their worst outings of the year?
What’s with all these extra-inning games so far? Do we have more than most?
I’ll be able to watch this afternoon, hopefully we’ll take the series!
.
"In the happy moments, praise God. In the difficult moments, seek God. In the quiet moments, trust God. In every moment, thank God." - Robert A. Wood
I don't believe this was Hanson's
Worst outing of the year. His first start against the gNats was.
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
Mather
Put this kid in CF. He is proving himself and I like his bat over McLouths.
The defense couldn’t be as bad as McLouth because Mather seems to always work his heart out.
"I came to the Mets to be on a winning team"
-Chris Young
Interesting...
How is Mather’s fielding?
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
Mather vs. McLouth fielding
It’s hard to say just based on this year since Mather has only had eight outfield chances. I figured up his career numbers as an outfielder: 89 total chances, 87 PO + 1 assist + 1 error. Works out to a fielding percentage of 0.989. His career range factor as an outfielder is 1.95. (The bulk of that was in St. Louis, which is a somewhat smaller ballpark than Turner Field. In STL, Mather played all three outfield positions about equally; he has not appeared in CF for the Braves this year.)
McLouth’s numbers so far this year: 110 total chances, 109 PO + 1 error, for a fielding % of 0.991. His range factor for this year is 2.31. (He has played all of his innings in CF so far this year.) These are in line with his career numbers, which are 0.993 and 2.41 respectively. I think we can conclude that both players have good gloves, but based on range factor and experience McLouth is better as a CF. As corner outfielders, they’d be about equal in the field. I was surprised to find that they are both about the same age; I thought Mather was older; but McLouth’s actually a year older.
This.
I know he’s historically a slow starter, but this his str-Ugg-les (sorry…couldn’t help myself) are beginning to concern me. We absolutely NEED his bat to heat up.
We’re not paying him for his vaunted defense.
"Insert witty and/or funny quote here" ~ The Person Who Spoketh Said Quote.
Cool
New nickname for Dan while he’s bad. Dan Struggla.
"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby
Was looking at Uggla's full stats and they are terrible
They’re as bad as Nate’s were last year, yeah he has 7 homers but only 15 rbi’s and his slugging looks pretty bad. His ops is only 538. He’s never hit for a high avg, but Damn! I sure hope he gets back to his career levels soon. What would the Braves do if he doesn’t though? Never be able trade him and he costs too much to send to AAA. You can’t leave him as a starter hitting the way he’s doing much past the middle of June I would think.
Senator, we have another old saying,"Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining." Fletcher
Can’t really send him to the minors period. Weather he is making $475,000 or $100,000,000. I think he just needs a few days off, and to be reassured that he does not need to pressure himself so much. Just go out there and let his natural swing come to life. To me his big issue is that he is starting to push a little wanting to do more for his new team, pure speculation on my behalf.
by UpstateNyBravesFan on May 22, 2011 9:03 AM EDT up reply actions
I’m really putting this on Larry Parrish. We were one of the most patient ballclubs last year, and now, Parrish is preaching aggressiveness. Well, being aggressive doesn’t always work, like first pitching swinging, and Dan’s and Jason’s struggles. Terry should still be the hitting coach. Where did we get Parrish?
"What are you doing, putting the tying run on first base? This is baseball, not backgammon!" -Walter Matheau, The Bad News Bears
No, Pendelton should NOT be the hitting coach.
DON'T GO TO SLEEP EARLY OR JEFF FRANCOEUR WILL HAUNT YOUR DREAMS AND LOWER YOUR OBP. - Scott
I like patience like it was last year. And Terry WAS the hitting coach last year.
"What are you doing, putting the tying run on first base? This is baseball, not backgammon!" -Walter Matheau, The Bad News Bears
And the entirety of the Braves fanbase was clamoring for him to be fired because the team was not hitting.
DON'T GO TO SLEEP EARLY OR JEFF FRANCOEUR WILL HAUNT YOUR DREAMS AND LOWER YOUR OBP. - Scott
Are these the same people calling for LP to be fired?
Just wonderin’.
Most people use statistics the way a drunk would use a lamppost—for support, and not for illumination.
www.duwanis.com
Well
I’m not exactly calling for Parrish to be canned but I’m deeply suspicious that this hacktastic vibe is his doing. Go back and look at last year’s entries and you’ll see that I was defending TP and laughing at his lazy critics all season. In point of fact, I would have preferred to see him get the manager’s job.
"Part of me wants to give him this huge hug, and part of me wants to kick him in the groin because he made it look so easy." - David Ross, commenting on McCann's two homer game.
Hanson was decent( I don’t think this was his worst start of the year), but the bullpen pitched great and Mather basically won the game for us. Let’s win the series today and get the offense going. Maybe Uggla does need a day off….
ehh ok
Maybe this start is tied for his worst this year. 4 BB isn’t very good but FIVE STEALS. Jeez
Good win
Love to see a comeback win. Seems like we’ve struggled against starting pitching most of the season, at least more often than not. Put Heyward on the DL already, the guys a beast when he’s healthy. Give Uggla a day off, even two, we need him to get started. With Mather and Hinske being at least decent or better lately, now seems to be a good time for Heyward and Uggla to regroup.
"Bunting's my favorite." Fredi G
I’m putting all of the blame for the Braves troubles, and my fantasy teams troubles, on Uggla. Popeye just ain’t hittin. I guess some days off might help but I doubt it. He simply needs to start getting hits, period.
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they are going to feel all day. - Frank Sinatra
Games like these are why I love baseball.
"Tony Gwynn made sacrifices. Cal Ripken made sacrifices. I'm not sure Derek Jeter made sacrifices given the ungodly deep pockets the Yankees have." - Chipper Jones
by MBL1 on May 22, 2011 12:50 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Not saying Mather is gonna pull a Jason Werth
But I’ve always liked him since the signing because of his ability to do just what he did last night. He hasn’t put it together in the majors yet, but the ingredients are there. Maybe this can be his breakout year. He’d be a more versatile Matt Diaz.
Who knows, maybe he’ll get a swing adjustment and hit 54 HR next year. I mean, it’s happened before.
I’ve got Jack Johnson and Tom O’Leary waiting for ya, right here
I have to ask does anyone play Road to The Show in MLB 11: The Show? I do, and I’m pretty good. At AA Mississippi, in 30 games with 121 at-bats, I have a .281 average, 34 hits, 5 home runs, 2 grand slams, 30 RBI, 5 triples (leading the league), 8 doubles, a .554 SLG percentage, a .282 OBP, and a .986 fielding percentage. I’m 2nd in All-star voting for 1st basemen.
"What are you doing, putting the tying run on first base? This is baseball, not backgammon!" -Walter Matheau, The Bad News Bears
I don’t play video games, but a .281 BA and .282 OB% don’t go with your earlier comment about liking patience at the plate.
"Bunting's my favorite." Fredi G
I play the franchise mode
Old Hoss is ready.
by Taylor Masters on May 22, 2011 1:53 PM EDT up reply actions
not a fan
Of this new aggressive approach Fredi and Parrish have brought in. Santana threw 103 pitches in a complete game against us. We swung at 15 1st pitches. Terrible. We need to get back to working the counts. No championship team hacks away like that
by drumzalicious on May 22, 2011 3:14 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
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