Atlanta Braves, 99 Problems And A Grounder IS 1

The Atlanta Braves are ending their six-game road trip on a pretty high note – going 4-2 against divisional rivals Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Mets.  It was definitely a strange trip as they lost to the Mets on Sunday, 3-2, after a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly in the 14th inning.  But, how “high” are they feeling about the games?

Apr 20, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Mets left fielder Eric Young Jr. (22) is safe at second on an error as Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla (26) waits for the ball during the first inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

We saw weird occurrences in the Phillies series in almost every game.  Then, Craig Kimbrel‘s 9th inning woes and his dispute with Fredi Gonzalez on Saturday.  Followed by Sunday’s game where Dan Uggla records two errors, that one of them was extremely routine and should of been an inning ending double play.

New York tied the game in the 6th inning after David Wright and Daniel Murphy both singled.  Then with one out and runners on first and third, Lucas Duda hit a grounder to Uggla but he let it roll between his legs, and Wright ran home.

Check out the play here at MLB.com

With runs tough to come by, we never know what could of happened towards the concluding innings of Sunday’s game but this play in the 6th inning played a huge part in the final box score.  We can’t blame Dan for the loss, but he seems to realize that play cost the team the lead and ultimately the win.

Thanks to Mark Bowman, we were able to hear Uggla’s comments after the game….

“It [stinks],” Uggla said. “I make that play nine out of 10, or 99 times out of 100. But today, it just ate me up.”

Well his statement isn’t exactly accurate and most Braves fans can pick out the inaccuracy.  He is a relatively an efficient second basemen for the Braves but the occasional errors do come.  These two errors on Sunday now have Dan up to five in 17 games.  Below is a chart from Baseball Reference showing his fielding stats over his career.

If you go year by year and divide the games he played by the number of errors he committed, it’s usually around ever 10 games he has an error.  With 17 games in the books for 2014 and 5 errors already committed, that’s ever 3.4 games he is committed an error.

The best part about the game of baseball is the quick turnaround in games and he can put these plays behind him.

After reading all the quotes by the players and Fredi from Sunday, my favorite one is this one by our own Braves Manager, Fredi Gonzalez….

“We had some opportunities to score some runs,” Gonzalez said. “We didn’t get it done and it came back and bit us in the end.”

Have you ever heard those words??

I feel like these words are on repeat…

The Braves take on the Miami Marlins on Monday at 7:10pm ET.  Julio Teheran takes on right-hander Tom Koehler at Turner Field.