It’s really hard to win a baseball game when you commit four errors, but I almost can’t even get mad about it. Not only was it a mostly inconsequential post-clinch game, the weather was brutal.
There was enough rain to build an ark and the field was still clearly taking punishment all night. Guys were falling all over the place, it was impossible to get a grip on the ball and even routine outs felt like major accomplishments.
But enough about the New York Mets, let’s get into the game.
Positives:
- Forget the three (unearned) runs on the final line, Ian Anderson was great. The biggest difference between tonight and his last two starts was his command right from the start. He had his changeup working right from the jump, and it showed. The six strikeouts and zero walks on his line were a much more accurate reflection of how he pitched than the trio of runs that crossed the plate. He also pitched well in tight spots, of which there were a few because of the four errors behind him.
He’ll take the ball next Thursday in game two of the Wild Card round, and it will be more than deserved.
- Josh Tomlin’s mustache looks immaculate. Better than any postseason beard you’ll see all October.
- Nobody picked up an injury for either team. That’s really all that matters from a game essentially played on a slip-and-slide.
Negatives:
- Of course it was pouring, but four errors is still four errors. The Braves haven’t done that since April 24th, 2015 in a loss to the Phillies. Hopefully it’s another half-decade before it happens again.
- Between not scoring after the first two hitters reached in the seventh and stranding runners on second and third in the eighth, there were a few chances to turn a sloppy loss into another comeback win. The final tally for the evening was 1-for-10 with RISP and 11 men left on base.
- There was a chance for some serious #BravesAfterDark fun tonight in a season where every game has started by 7:30 PM, but it ended up being a pretty routine 4–2 game. We’ll have to wait for the first west coast road trip of 2021 to get back to some post-midnight madness.
- The Braves are still in really good shape in the race for the №2 seed, but a win would’ve made the last weekend completely irrelevant. It will only take one more win (or Cubs loss) to lock it up, but there is still a little bit of work to do over the final weekend.
Former Brave Of The Day:
Rio Ruiz picked up three hits and two RBIs for the Orioles in a 13–1 win at Fenway Park. Rio evolving into a solid everyday starter has been one of my favorite under the radar feel-good stories of the 2020 baseball season.
Quote Of The Game:
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.â€
— Nuke LaLoosh
Tomorrow’s Goal:
Lock up that second seed and make the final two games irrelevant.
Anderson has demonstrated that he can be dominant, and he has also demonstrated that even when he hiccups, it doesn’t turn into an Episode.
I’m willing to believe he’s the goods.
Also, question to the board, which I asked last night in the game thread:
On the radio, Ben Ingram was commenting about Tomlin’s facial hair and asking Joe if he ever did anything crazy with his facial hair. Joe replied that it was “kind of hard for an Indian,” so no.
I knew Joe was from Oklahoma but I never knew he was Native American. Did we know that before?
Braves are back to worst case scenario in a 3-game series and that is with the Reds. We need to be a big Giants fan and a big Twins fans these last few games.
I can’t say the Reds would be an ideal match-up given their starting pitching, but our line-up has shown throughout this truncated season that we can score runs off of some of the best in the NL (given that many of them reside in the NL East) and the Reds are not quite juggernauts when it comes to scoring runs and we’re lined up with Fried and Anderson starting the first 2 games. That said, I’d prefer to face them in a best of 5 because we never know when hibernation mode will show up (and what we will actually get out of this rotation on any given night.)
Alex,
I, too, was curious, but I couldn’t find anything on the Internet. Why don’t you write him and ask him yourself? Muscogee? Cherokee? He’d probably answer.
@1 I feel like that was something I was aware of, but I honestly don’t remember how. I’d also be curious to know more gif he’s willing to share.
All I managed to find was Jessica Simpson, who I’m pretty sure isn’t related to Joe. I also heard rumors that Joe used to date Elizabeth Warren, but even if true that wouldn’t count.
https://www.indianz.com/News/2009/08/03/tmz_jessica_simpson_claims_she.asp
@6 Joe does have those high cheek bones too.
We know the Reds can pitch (3rd in NL ERA). But they’re a quirky bunch, otherwise.
They don’t hit for average (15th at .211), but they take walks (1st in NL). They hit HRs (4th), but they don’t hit doubles (13th), so they’re right in the middle (8th) in SLG. Because they don’t get on base so much (12th in OBP), they don’t score many runs (13th).
So, they can pitch, take walks & hit HRs – but they don’t really score. Very dependent on the HR, it seems. A weird, but certainly dangerous club for anyone in a best-of-3 series.
Seems like a long shot, but I really wouldn’t mind the Reds matching up against the Dodgers in round 1.
Would be an intriguing matchup and could be just the team to bounce the Dodgers in a short series.
Only good thing about facing the Reds is the only other time we faced them in postseason was 1995, pretty good year.
You wanna win the whole thing, we gotta beat the best teams anyway. I like our lineup against any pitching rotation. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind not seeing the Reds in round one either.
I’m guessing Joe is Chickasaw given that Purcell, where he was born, is very close, or maybe even part of, the Chickasaw Nation. Just drove through there the other day on the way to Ft. Worth and the Chickasaw have one of the most eclectic radio stations I have ever listened to.
Purcell, is also just north of Wynnewood, where most of “Tiger King” was filmed.
Really, almost anything’s possible in terms of which NL clubs finish 5-8.
The Braves could end up playing StL, Mia, Cin, SF, Phi or Mil.
Also, it seems that the Cards will end up playing a makeup DH on Monday @ Detroit.
Given the extra 14 innings they’d have to play just 2 days before post-season begins, plus the fact that they will have played 31 games in 24 days (they played 8 DHs this month with only 2 off-days), wouldn’t the Redbirds be the most desired 1st round match-up for any club?
Yes, I’ll prob regret this later but my order of preferred opponent is:
1) SF
2) Mia
3) Stl
4) Mil
5) Phi
6) Cin
Alex,
I definitely remember Joe commenting on his Native heritage. Something like 1 / 4th, as I remember. I do not think he was primarily accultured as a Native American. That was an issue which caused some official person or board to reject Sen. Warren’s profession as irrelevant to her being member.
If the Cards were going to make the playoffs regardless of the outcome of the makeup DH and it would only potentially impact seeding, would it still be played?
16 – If they will be seeded 5-8 no matter what they will not be played is my understanding, but if they could somehow get homefield or miss the playoffs entirely one or both games will be played.
From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
The Cardinals will play one or two games in Detroit at Comerica Park on Monday if one or both of those games will determine a berth in the postseason for the Cardinals or one of their challengers.
The Cubs are on the brink of clinching the division title, and because the Cardinals cannot qualify for the fourth-seed with their current schedule, that doubleheader will not be played to determine seeding. If those games are the difference between the sixth, seventh, or eighth seed in the playoffs, they will not be played, an MLB official confirmed. Only if they are needed to determine home-field advantage. Essentially, if these games can determine if the Cardinals’ season or any of the other NL contenders’ seasons end, they’ll be played.
Stub of a game thread posted