Week in Review Aug 14-17

Well, I was out all week so it's time to get caught up.

Braves 5, Bonds 4
-Down 3-0 and after watching their manager get ejected the previous inning, the Braves woke up against Jack Taschner, who had replaced Kevin Correia in the fifth. Teix opened the sixth with a solo bomb and McMan singled. After a K, Andruw walked and Mr. Dynamic doubled in two to tie the game. Matty pinch hit for Smoltzie and brought the go-ahead runner in.

-It remained 5-4 until Wickmoo El Vulturized Mr. Smoltz. Dan Ortmeier tripled and after a single, a steal, and an intentional walk, Randy Winn brought in Ort with a groundout.

-Funny story on Ort. I picked him up in OOTP and brought him in on a minor league contract for 2006. He became my fourth outfielder and was a .300ish hitter as a pinch hitter. Only reason why I know who he is and feel comfortably calling him Ort.

-Anyway, Willie leads off the ninth by walking against Steve Kline, who has been Mike Remlinger horrible this year. KJ was called on to bunt him to second (hey Coxy, I know you did that) and he puts the bunt down. Dumbass Kline's throw is bad and runners are on first-and-second. Chipper ends the game with an RBI double off Randy Messenger.

-Quality start for Smoltzie. Six innings on 93 pitches. He does give up six hits, three walks, walks three, and strikes out four, but it was a quality effort for a team needing quality efforts. Um, quality.

-Mahay and Soriano were both solid before Wickmoo's sixth blown save of the year.

Braves 6, Bonds 3
-I hate Russ Ortiz. I hated him as a Brave, hated him as a non-Brave, and love every moment he suffers. It's almost unfair to him. I just hate pitchers who have no real stuff, no real talent, and still get the media to love on them. When Ortiz won 20-some games for the Braves, it proved the worthlessness of the "win" stat.

-Braves never trailed this one, though it was briefly tied at 2-2 in the sixth when the Giants' only player homered to cut the Braves one-run lead to zip. But the Braves quickly retook the lead with four runs in the sixth. Teix walked, McCann was hit, and Francoeur singled to load them. A wild pitch brought in Teix and Andruw doubled in both runners. Huddy singled him to third and Willie made it 6-2 with a sacfly.

-Huddy = Cy Young winner? Eight innings on eight hits and three runs. One walk and five K's to add to that solid effort.

-Wickmoo allowed a pair of runners, but no runs while not having it in him to get a flyball. I don't like him.

Bonds 9, Braves 3
-Wow, big surprise that Chucky James sucked it up. Four homers allowed, oddly none by Barry Bonds, and a loss is the result. James allowed only six of the 17 batters he faced to reach base, but long balls will kill you. Tyler Yates got him out of anymore trouble in the fourth before Villy sucked in his 2.1 ING. Manny Acosta looks like he could be useful and Aussie tossed a good inning.

-Braves had a chance of going apeshit in this game, but failed. After Bengie Molina's three-run bomb in the first, Willie led off against Tim Lincecum with a triple. After a walk to KJ, Lincecum uncorked a wild-pitch to make it 3-1. A Chipper Jones line drive single put runners on the corners, but Teix hit into a force out, McMan flew out to center, and Francoeur struck out looking. Teix's grounder did make it 3-2, but it could have been a huge inning.

-Braves got another run in the fourth when McMan doubled and after an out, Andruw singled to put runners on the corners. Another big inning was defused by a sacfly.

D'Backs 4, Braves 0
-Ugh.

-Brandon Webb allowed two hits, walked one, and struck out six while tossing a shutout. KJ had the first hit of the day in the fourth with a double with one out, but Chipper and Teix did nothing to follow. Francoeur singled in the fifth, but Andruw followed with a twin killing.

-Lance Cormier bought him the rest of the year as a starter with 7.1 innings in which he allowed just three runs. However, he did give up eight hits, walked two, and struck out just three so I wouldn't go too crazy. Moylan finished the 8th for Cormier and Yatesy gave up a solo homer in the ninth for the rest of the scoring.

-Oh, and ugh.