Atlanta Braves Morning Chop – At Least We Can Beat Philadelphia

Aug 7, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; A reporter dresses up for Zombie Night prior to the game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cincinnati Reds at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

We’re now well into the part of the season where personal pride has to take over.  Win or lose, it is now all about how you play the game.

One of the Braves learned that last night.

Breakdown

First inning, no score

.

drills an opposite field double to the right-center wall, scoring

to give the Braves a 1-0 lead with 2 outs in the inning.  Just as important, though, this put another runner into scoring position… until

pulled off the closest thing to an

imitation that he can do.  Here’s the video (not supported on all browsers, but here’s

the direct link as well

).

These still shots (below) that were pulled from the video make it pretty clear that either a zombie ate part of Garcia’s brain or he was otherwise snoozing on the play.  The Phillies, to their credit, were not.

Sept. 18, 2015.

Adonis Garcia

is caught napping at 2nd base (1) and (2) below. Still from MLB.com video http://m.mlb.com/video/v487499983/?game_pk=415854.

Garcia appeared to jam his knee or something else in that left leg during his panic to return to second base, but comments made after the game made it pretty obvious that (a) he was okay, and (b) that Fredi Gonzalez opted to make an example of him for the sake of the team as the season is winding down.

This “extra run” that didn’t score in the first inning (i.e., Garcia) might have been vital later.  With the final score being 2-1 in our favor, the bullpen actually pulled off an heroic effort to preserve that scant 1-run lead after starter Williams Perez (6-6) left the game in the sixth inning (6 K, 1 HR, 6 hits, 1 walk).

Of particular note was Arodys Vizcaino.  He walked one batter, true (though it was Jeff Francoeur, so no self-respecting Kangaroo Court should allow that to go unpunished), but pitched around an error and a wild pitch strikeout that Christian Bethancourt was slow to react to (stop me if you’ve heard that one before).

That ball ended up in the stands, allowing the K-victim to reach first – loading the bases.  Fortunately, Darin Ruf didn’t snakebite the Braves a second time:  he lined out to Daniel Castro to end it.

The Final Insult

Apparently, we’ve gotten to this part of our season’s doldrums:  baseball-reference.com didn’t even bother to post a box score for this game.  Probably feared that Little Leaguers would see it and give up baseball forever.

Or maybe it was just another zombie thing.

Next: Bridge-a-tude