Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Officially Eliminated
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves lost to the New York Mets on Saturday night 6-4. The Braves actually made a great comeback in the bottom of the 8th inning to tie the game 4-4, but Arodys Vizcaino gave up two runs in the top of the 9th. Freddie Freeman went 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts on his birthday. Atlanta is now 56-87 for the season and one game back from being tied for the worst record in baseball.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Markakis RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .296 | .371 | .374 |
| Hector Olivera 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .243 | .300 | .351 |
| Arodys Vizcaino P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Andrew McKirahan P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Peter Moylan P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Matt Marksberry P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .283 | .372 | .477 |
| A.J. Pierzynski C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .292 | .331 | .411 |
| Nick Swisher LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .215 | .310 | .339 |
| Jace Peterson 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .239 | .313 | .336 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .263 | .325 | .335 |
| Michael Bourn CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .230 | .302 | .276 |
| Williams Perez P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .083 | .154 | .083 |
| Pedro Ciriaco PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .261 | .348 |
| Ryan Kelly P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Edwin Jackson P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Adonis Garcia PH-3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .260 | .272 | .486 |
| Team Totals | 30 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 32 | .133 | .188 | .233 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williams Perez | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5.36 |
| Ryan Kelly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.08 |
| Edwin Jackson | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.61 |
| Arodys Vizcaino, L (2-1) | 0.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 |
| Andrew McKirahan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.70 |
| Peter Moylan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 |
| Matt Marksberry | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.59 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 6.00 |
Braves eliminated: Rebuild adds talent, but contention not in sight
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves were officially eliminated from the 2015 playoff contention. Not that this came to any surprise, but we can now say the Braves won’t be making an October run. It’s almost that time where we can put this season behind us and move onto 2016. At least we have some other great divisional races in the MLB…not the NL East, because the Washington Nationals continue to fall.
"In recent days the Braves were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. The Braves are just two seasons removed from a 2010-13 run that saw them make the playoffs three times in four years and average 92.5 wins per season. In 2014, though, they registered their first losing season since 2008, and at this writing 2015 finds them on pace for 98 losses. Now that they’re out of contention in even the most technical of senses, let’s take a look back and a look ahead.What went wrong in 2015: The offense was perhaps the NL’s worst. Right now, the Braves rank last in the NL in runs scored. In particular, they struggled in terms of power. While the Braves’ offense ranks a vaguely respectable ninth in OBP, they’re last in the NL in slugging percentage, home runs (they’ve hit just 87 all season) and total bases. Elsewhere, Julio Teheran took a step back in his development, Freddie Freeman missed time due to injury, the back of the rotation was inconsistent all season, and the left-handed relief corps struggled. Mike Minor missed the entire season after undergoing labrum surgery. More generally, the team collapsed down the stretch, as they’ve gone 10-29 since the beginning of August."
Atlanta Braves drop 11th straight home game with 6-4 defeat to New York Mets
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Quick thought – is the Atlanta Braves that bad OR is the New York Mets just playing really well right now? OK, you’re right…both answers are correct. The Braves continue to disappoint, even though I tune in each night to watch this team play. A lot of blame has come to the shoulders of Manager Fredi Gonzalez, and rightfully so in cases, but we knew this team was going to be awful with the offseason they had. John Hart expected this team to be bad.
"On a night that they dropped to 14-45 since July 8, the Braves lost their 11th straight home game, too.That’s the longest home skid since the franchise moved from Milwaukee in 1966 and it ties for the longest streak since the 1931 Boston Braves lost 11 in a row at home.“You don’t want that under your watch,” manager Fredi Gonzalez told The Associated Press. “Hopefully we don’t keep adding on to it. Hopefully we’ll get a couple of wins here before too long.”"