Errors Doom Braves, As They Fall To Cardinals In Wild Card

Braves errors, a bad call by an umpire, and poor situational hitting doomed Atlanta as they fall to the Cardinals in the National League Wild Card game.

Braves Go Out Like A Lamb

Bottom of the ninth (Cards 6, Braves 3):

Prado grounds out sharply to second base for the first out of the inning. Heyward flies out to left field for the second out. Chipper acknowledges the crowd before his at-bat. He gets jammed and breaks his bat, grounding up the middle. An acrobatic play by the second baseman can't get Chipper at first, as the first baseman couldn't find the bag. Freeman then hits a ground rule double to left field. Uggla grounds out to second to end the game. The Cards and the umpires hurry off the field as more debris rains down from the angry fans.

Kimbrel Shuts Down Cards In The Ninth

Top of the ninth (Cards 6, Braves 3):

Craig Kimbrel comes on to pitch the ninth, facing Shane Robinson. He pops up to center. Descalso flies out to left field for the second out. Kimbrel then strikes out Kozma for the final out.

Braves Screwed By Blue In The Eighth

Bottom of the eighth (Cards 6, Braves 3):

Mitchell Boggs on in relief for the Cards. Freeman walks to lead off the inning. Uggla hits into what should have been a double play, but a bobble by the shortstop and hustle by Uggla only led to one out at second. Ross continues his hot hitting by lacing a single over the infield to center field. Simmons works a full count and hits a pop-up behind third. A miscommunication by the Cardinal defenders lets the ball drop, but the stupid outfield umpire calls the infield fly rule (on a ball 40 feet into the outfield), and Simmons is out, but the runners do advance to second and third.

Fredi Gonzalez comes out to argue, but the umpires won't listen. The fans respond by throwing bottles and cans of all kinds onto the field, causing a delay to the game.

That was a horrible call by the umpires. It was by no means an automatic out, and the fielder was not camped under the ball, as evidenced by the infielder thinking the outfielder was calling him off. It's "Posey was out" all over again. The Braves are screwed again by blue.

Fredi Gonzalez has put the Braves under protest by the Braves.

Because of the long delay, the Cards go to their closer Jason Motte, and the Braves go to their bench for Brian McCann. A patient at-bat by Mac loads the bases with a walk. Bourn works a full count, but strikes out to end the inning.

Braves Avoid Errors To Keep Cards Socreless In 8th

Top of the eighth (Cards 6, Braves 3):

Eric O'Flaherty on in relief, and gets Beltran to ground out to third. Holliday shoots a ball through the hole on the right side of the infield for a single. Craig sneaks a ball through the left side of the infield. Molina grounds out to third, and Chipper starts the double play, with Freeman making a great play on a ball that Uggla almost threw away.

Braves Add One Thanks To Constanza

Bottom of the seventh (Cards 6, Braves 3):

Edward Mujica comes on in relief for the Cards. Simmons pops up for the first out. Jose Constanza pinch hits for the pitcher, and laces a ball to right-center, past the center fielder for a triple. Bourn grounds out softly to second, but does his job and gets the run home, after a tough at-bat. Prado singles through the hole on the left side of the infield to extend the inning.

Mujica is relieved by the left-hander Marc Rzepczynski, in to face the left-handed hitting Jason Heyward. Heyward squibs a ball of the end of the bat and into no man's land in left-center. As the ball gets away from Holliday, Heyward advances to second. But Chipper grounds out to second base to end the inning.

Braves Bumble Away More Runs As Cards Add To Lead

Top of the seventh (Cards 6, Braves 2):

Medlen still on the mound at 83 pitches. Freese works a full count and grounds out to Uggla, who bobbles the ball, and then throws wide of first for an error. Freese goes to second on the error and is pinch run for by Adron Chambers. Descalso bunts back to the pitcher and Medlen's only play is the sure out at first.

Fredi Gonzalez comes to get Medlen, who pitches well, but was the victim of two errors, including the costly error by Chipper in the fourth. The fans give Meds a standing ovation as he exits. Chad Durbin comes on in relief.

Kozma grounds out to Simmons with the infield in, and after bobbling the ball, he too throws wildly to home for an error. The run scores and Kozma advances to second. Gonzalez goes back to the bullpen for Jonny Venters.

Left-hander Matt Carpenter is the pinch hitter for the Cardinals. He grounds weekly between the pitcher and first baseman, Venters fields the ball and misses the tag. Meanwhile Kozma scores from second. Jay mercifully grounds into a 6-3 double play, but the damage is done with two more unearned runs.

Warning Track Power Not Good Enough For Braves In Sixth

Bottom of the sixth (Cards 4, Braves 2):

Chipper pops up weakly on the infield for the first out. Freeman goes the other way and serves a single into left-center. Uggla hits a ball just off the end of his bat, just missing a home run. He flies out to the warning track in left field.

A pitching change and Lance Lynn enters the game in relief of Lohse. He gets Ross to fly out to the warning track in right field for the final out.

Cards Add Another Run On Holliday HR

Top of the sixth (Cards 4, Braves 2):

Beltran leads off with a fly ball to center. Matt Holliday rips a home run to left field on a 1-2 pitch. It looks like Medlen didn't put that ball where he wanted to, missing Ross' glove. Craig grounds out to the shortstop for the second out. Molina ground out to third to end the inning.

Top Of The Order Can't Spark Braves In Fifth

Bottom of the fifth (Cards 3, Braves 2):

Bourn leads off with a sharp ball up the middle that is knocked down by Lohse, who throws to first to get Bourn. Prado flies out to right field for the second out. Heyward flies out to left field just shy of the warning track.

Cards Go Quietly In The Fifth

Top of the fifth (Cards 3, Braves 2):

Kozma grounds out 1-3 on a check swing. Lohse flies out to Heyward for the second out. Jay grounds out 4-3 for the final out. Good bounce-back inning by Medlen.

Braves Waste Opportunities In Fourth

Bottom of the fourth (Cards 3, Braves 2):

Freeman pulls a single down the right field line for a leadoff single. Uggla chops a ball to third and almost legs out a single on a close play. On the first pitch, Ross drops down a bunt to the third baseman and barely beats it out, tripping over the bag in the process. Then on the next pitch Simmons buts, seemingly bunting for a hit, but the throw to first hits him in the helmet and interference is called, and Simmons is called out. The runners have to stay at second and third. That was a rookie move by Simmons with the pitcher coming up. I wonder if someone missed a sign. Medlen strikes out to end the inning and strand two runners.

The telecast interviewed Fredi between innings who said the Simmons bunt was a safety squeeze. The fault is still on Simmons for running so far inside the baseline, like he was trying to get in the way of the throw.

Cards Take 3-2 Lead On Chipper Error

Top of the fourth (Cards 3, Braves 2):

Beltran leads off with a soft single over the infield to right field for the Cards first hit of the game. Holliday hits a scorcher to Chipper at third who tries to start the double-play but throws the ball over Uggla covering second for an error. Beltran advances to third, Holliday stays at first.

Craig laces a 3-1 pitch to the left-center field gap for a double, Beltran scores the Cards first run. Molina grounds out to second to tie the game at 2. Freese hits a fly ball to center which scores Craig from third, and the Cards take the lead 3-2. Descalso flies out to right to end the inning.

That Chipper error was huge. From two out in the inning to two on and no outs. All of those runs should be unearned.

Braves Squander Lead-Off Hit In Third

Bottom of the third (Cards 0, Braves 2):

Bourn leads off the third with a single just to the left of the second base bag. Prado takes an awkward swing at an outside change, striking out. It looked like he might have been thinking about bunting Bourn over early in the at-bat. Heyward swings at the first pitch and pops up weakly to left field. Chipper gets jammed on a pitch and grounds out to second for the final out. Braves needed to do a better job of moving Bourn over that inning, and they squander a lead-off single.

Cards Fail To Score In Third

Top of the third (Cards 0, Braves 2):

Medlen falls behind Pete Kozma to start the third, but comes back for the strikeout looking. Simmons makes a nice play on a ball up the middle to get Lohse at first base for the second out. Jay pops out to Chipper at third for the final out. Medlen looked a little amped early in the inning, but more under control during the Jay at-bat.

Two-Run Home Run By David Ross Gives Braves Lead

Bottom of the second:

Chipper Jones starts off the Braves half of the second with a strikeout after working a full count. Freddie Freeman whiffs for the second out on a nasty slurve. Dan Uggla works a full count walk on a boarderline pitch for the Braves first baserunner.

Then with a 1-2 count, David Ross asked for time late, and was granted time late. Lohse threw a pitch anyway, and Ross swung threw it for what would have been strike three, but time had been called. Then the next pitch, David Ross deposited into the left-center field stands for a 2-run home run.

Andrelton Simmons follows with a single through the middle. Kris Medlen bunts the first pitch and is thrown out at first, but the Braves jump on the board with two runs thanks to Rossy. I guess Fredi Gonzalez looks like a genius now.

J-Hey Saves A HR In 2nd Inning

Top of the second:
Yadier Molina drove a ball to the opposite field off Medlen that Jason Heyward caught at the top of the wall, batting the sun the entire way, likely taking away a home run. Biggest play of the day so far, and an amazingly difficult play.

Medlen bounces back and strikes out David Freese, and gets Daniel Descalso to ground out to Freeman at first.

Lohse Gets Braves 1-2-3 In First

Bottom of the first:
Kyle Lohse comes out strong, much like Medlen, and gets Michael Bourn on a swinging strikeout for the first out. Martin Prado smacks a ball to first that is smothered by Craig, who tosses to the pitcher covering for the second out. Jason Heyward goes down swinging for the third out. J-Hey went a bit outside of his zone swinging at some pitches. Good start by the Cardinals Lohse, who looks a wildly effective.

Medlen Breezes Through First Inning

Top of the first:
Kris Medlen starts the game with a strike, then another, and another, getting Jon Jay looking for the first out. He needed all of five pitches to strike out Carlos Beltran for the second out. Trying to come inside on Matt Holliday, Meds plunks him on the arm above the elbow for a hit batsmen. But Medlen rebounds and gets Allen Craig to group out 6-3 to end the inning. Great first inning by Medlen, he was hitting spots with near perfection, except for one pitch, which didn't cause any damage.

Braves Set Wild Card Game Roster

The Atlanta Braves have announced their roster for today's Wild Card game:

PITCHERS (9): Luis Avilan (LH), Chad Durbin (RH), Cory Gearrin (RH), Tim Hudson (RH), Craig Kimbrel (RH), Kris Medlen (RH), Mike Minor (LH), Eric O'Flaherty (LH) and Jonny Venters (LH)

CATCHERS (3): J.C. Boscan, Brian McCann and David Ross

INFIELDERS (8): Jeff Baker, Freddie Freeman, Eric Hinske, Chipper Jones, Lyle Overbay, Tyler Pastornicky, Andrelton Simmons and Dan Uggla

OUTFIELDERS (5): Michael Bourn, Jose Constanza, Jason Heyward, Reed Johnson and Martin Prado

Noticeably absent from the roster is Cristhian Martinez and Juan Francisco. In a one-game playoff, a guy like Martinez probably wouldn't be needed anyway, and Francisco hasn't been playing much for the past few weeks. It looks like they're going with the veteran pinch-hitters in Overbay and Hinske.

Wild Card Q&A with Viva El Birdos

With the excitement of the NL's inaugural Wild Card game rapidly approaching, I took some time to ask some questions with Dan Moore of Viva El Birdos, our SBNation sister site for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Braves vs. Cardinals Wild Card Batter vs. Pitcher Matchups

Projected lineups for the Braves vs. Cardinals Wild Card play-in game, with batter vs. pitcher stats.

Braves Unveil Wild Card Starting Lineup

Fredi Gonzalez has announced his lineup for Friday's Wild Card game, and it is noticeably absent a six-time All-Star:

1. Michael Bourn, CF
2. Martin Prado, LF
3. Jason Heyward, RF
4. Chipper Jones, 3B
5. Freddie Freeman, 1B
6. Dan Uggla, 2B
7. David Ross, C
8. Andrelton Simmons, SS
9. Kris Medlen, P

With all the nagging injuries to Brian McCann, it was determined that Ross is a better option right now. McCann apparently would resume starting some games if the Braves advance to the next round. That's an interesting decision considering that McCann (.630 OPS) was a slightly better hitter in September than was Ross (.604). We'll see if it works.

Cardinals vs. Braves Wild Card Game Info

They have finally set the time for the St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves National League Wild Card winner-take-all play-in game. The game this Friday, October 5th, will begin at 5:07pm. That's a weird time, no doubt. Of course weird start times are nothing new to TBS, which is where you can catch the game.

You can also listen to the game, called by Jim Powell and Don Sutton, on the Braves Radio Network. In Atlanta you can listen on AM680 or FM100.5.

The TBS broadcast team that will call this game is led by play-by-play man Brian Anderson, and backed by color analysts Ron Darling, and the familiar Joe Simpson.

Who Would You Rather Face In Wild Card Game

Come vote in the poll, to let us know which team you would rather see the Braves play in the winner-take-all Wild Card play-in game.

Braves Wild Card Game Strategy

How should the Braves construct their roster for the NL Wild Card Game, and what other moves should they make to maximize their chances of winning?