House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves Take a Step Back by the Bay, Fall in Game 1

By Alan Carpenter

Aug 21, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcherJeff Samardzija (29) throws to the New York Mets in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 21, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcherJeff Samardzija (29) throws to the New York Mets in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports /
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It was the little things that hurt last night – things you can get away wait against lesser opposition.  Against a San Francisco club that’s this well-managed?  Different outcome.

The Braves had not been shut out for quite some time – the last time being a 1-0 loss to St. Louis on August 5th.  Before that you have to reach all the way back to June 29th against Cleveland.

That’s actually pretty remarkable, given where this club is at, but coming into San Francisco you still had a bit of optimism for the Braves, given that Atlanta’s second half record (16-34) is actually better than the Giants’ 13-25.

But last night that didn’t matter, as Bruce Bochy‘s crew was ready from the opening Fog Horn.  It could have been different… but that would have required a lot more discipline from the Braves, and they did not do that.

Seems that youthful exuberance have taken over… and while that can be good, it also leads to mistakes.

Examples:

  • 1st inning.  2 doubles hit… no runs scored.  That was  because Ender Inciarte thought he could take third base on Adonis Garcia‘s grounder to SS.  Turns out they have a decent SS.  More on Ender later.
  • Bot 1st inning.  Dansby Swanson had perhaps a little more time than he thought to make a play on Brandon Crawford and threw the ball away at first base.  More on Swanson later, too.
  • Top of 2nd inning.  The Braves are down 3-0, yet have Jeff Samardzija on the ropes:  Walk/Single/Single and the bases are jacked – nobody out.  Can’t really fault Joel De La Cruz for his groundout – that’s not his job.  But then Ender K’d swinging and Garcia lined out to Crawford.  No runs scored.

That was enough of the game to give the flavor:  Braves unable to get things done… perhaps by trying too hard at times to make something happen… or many to atone for a past sin.

On Inciarte and Swanson

More from Tomahawk Take

Both of these youngsters have obvious talent.  But Swanson now has 3 errors in the field and Inciarte has 3 recent errors of the sort that do not show up in the box score.

In both cases, these miscues are products of over-zealousness:  making the ill-advised play/throw.

Ender’s 1st last night was in base-running as noted. But he also repeated an error also made in Arizona:  attempting a throw toward an advancing lead runner that allowed a trailing runner to advance … with almost zero chance of getting the lead guy.

Swanson will learn of the speed of the opposition soon enough, which will help him make better play-making decisions… when to go for the speculator and when to make it more routine.  This is where coaching needs to come into play, too.

Wrapping It

7. 40. 0. 17. Final

The final score was 7-0.  3 runs were charged to De La Cruz; one to John Gant, who struggled in 2 innings.  Brandon Cunniff did very well in mop-up duty.

Samardzija scattered 7 hits and got strikeouts as needed – 6 of them.  He went 7 strong… well, he looked very good after the 2nd inning.

Next: A Braves' Windfall? More like a Rockfall

It’s another late one tonight:  start time 9PM ET… Folty and Peavy.  Could be interesting.

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