BRAVES NEWS
Pitching lets the Braves down in 7-6 loss to Arizona
It was a rough night at Chase Field for the Atlanta Braves' pitching staff. Shelby Miller and the bullpen combined to walk 10 Diamondbacks batters and the bullpen once again faltered in the late stages of the game. Despite the fact that the Braves had a big, five-run sixth inning to take the lead, the bullpen ended up losing the lead when A.J. Pollock hit one into the pool in right center. Pollock's home run made it 7-6, and that was what ended up tying this three-game series at one. Judging by these quotes from Fredi Gonzalez, it seems as if the Braves manager is starting to get fed up with the bullpen tomfoolery.
#Braves Fredi G said middle relief blowing several recent games was "demoralizing" and you could see it on some position players' faces.
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) June 3, 2015
Fredi on relief walks: "We’ve got to get it fixed. Because we’re in every ballgame. 1st week of June and we’re right in the thick of things"
— David O'Brien (@DOBrienAJC) June 3, 2015
Maybin expects to return today
There was a bit of positive news after last night's defeat: Cameron Maybin should be able to return for today's contest! The center fielder told reporters that he was "feeling great," and that he expects to be in the lineup this afternoon.
Markakis is having a serious home run drought
Nick Markakis has been playing relatively well for the first 51 games of his tenure as an Atlanta Brave. However, despite the fact that he's hitting .299/.387/.361 with a 12.2% walk rate, .334 wOBA and 111 wRC+, one thing still hasn't happened yet: A home run. Markakis' last home run came in October when he was a Baltimore Oriole. It's now June and he's with a different team, yet we still haven't seen Markakis take a round tripper as an Atlanta Brave. I'm encouraging everybody to stay positive about this, though: He's going to put a ball over the fence eventually, and it'll be a glorious day of sunshine and lollipops for everybody involved.
Markakis isn't the only one suffering from a power drought
With that being said, Nick Markakis is not the only member of the Atlanta Braves who's having trouble hitting for power. As a team, the Braves are currently 29th in all of baseball in home runs hit, and they're 27th in baseball in ISO (they're hitting .117 as a team), which has contributed to the team having a wRC+ of 88; That's good for 26th in baseball. This is no surprise, and I'm pretty sure that we all expected these types of numbers going into the season. Still, it's a bit jarring to actually see it playing out on the field.
Check out today's minor league recap
MLB NEWS
Lloyd McClendon gets his money's worth in tirade on umpires
The Seattle Mariners lost a tough one to the New York Yankees last night. They fell 5-3 in 11 innings, and this came after Fernando Rodney blew a save that could've won them the game. However, that probably wasn't the most frustrating moment of the night for the Mariners. That particular moment came in the third inning, which is when Lloyd McClendon decided that he was fed up with the umpiring and proceeded to bless the baseball world with one of the best tirades you'll see all season. Seriously: He went to every single umpire and gave them a piece of his mind. This is a minor-league-manager-level blowup, which is to say that this is awesome.
Watch Lloyd McClendon's incredible tirade after he and Mike Zunino were tossed https://t.co/UMeK2Jo0b1
— Jose Rivera (@notjoserivera) June 3, 2015
Joey Gallo hits a homer in his big-league debut
Tuesday night was a big night in Arlington, as much-heralded prospect Joey Gallo made his major league debut for the Texas Rangers. The night went about as well as it possibly could have for Texas: The team won 15-2, and Gallo went 3-4 on the night. One of those 3 hits was a monster shot to right field for a homer. That's not a bad way to debut, eh?
Giancarlo Stanton eats Kit Kats like a monster and Kit Kat is not pleased
In addition to having monstrous hitting power, Giancarlo Stanton also eats Kit Kats in a monstrous manner. Seriously, look at this:
@Giancarlo818 you need to start respecting the rules sir. pic.twitter.com/IvkUAphhJv
— Dee Gordon (@FlashGJr) June 1, 2015
Who does that?! Predictably, both Kit Kat and Kit Kat Canada were extremely disappointed with Stanton's actions. I am, too. Half of the satisfaction of eating a Kit Kat bar is breaking the pieces off one by one, and here's this guy just ripping off the package and gnawing at the chocolate like he's Cookie Monster. This is madness!