House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Not Getting any Better

By Alan Carpenter

May 6, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Brandon Drury (27) and center fielder Chris Owings (16) and right fielder David Peralta (6) celebrate a victory against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. The Diamondbacks defeated the Braves 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
May 6, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks left fielder Brandon Drury (27) and center fielder Chris Owings (16) and right fielder David Peralta (6) celebrate a victory against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. The Diamondbacks defeated the Braves 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Last Time Atlanta was in this much turmoil involved a General named Sherman

The full game recap is worth a read – and Fred hit all angles of for us, so this will be a stream-of-consciousness mind dump of unrelated thoughts about the state of the Braves.

You’d be tempted to say that Sunday’s matinee came down to 3 pitches and one fielding miscue.  That’s true in part, but the fact is that this Braves team simply has no margins for error of any kind.  Yes:  hittable pitches on an 0-2 count are begging for trouble.  Routine double plays need to be made.  Even so, the damage that Arizona caused from these gifts was relatively limited. But good teams came overcome these bouts with adversity, and save for a nice 8th-inning rally yesterday, the Braves were punchless and looking all the part of a team that anyone would like to face right now.

All along, I’ve been saying things like “well at least there’s the Phillies”.  Not so fast.  The Phightin’ Phils are now in third place after beating the Marlins yesterday.  There’s been a change at the top of the NL East, too:  the Mets have taken over first place while the Nationals were being held at bay by the Cubs – using a strategy I suggested way back in March:  don’t pitch to Bryce Harper and make the rest of the team beat you.

So now instead of a bit softer schedule, the Braves get to face a confident Philadelphia club this week that now is within sight of the summit.  They are 4 games over .500 while the Braves… are not.

Here’s my question for the day:  the Minnesota Twins come to Turner Field on August 16 and 17.  Currently, the Braves are 1-15 at home, the Twins 2-15 on the road.  Does the universe end after this pair of games?  Better question:  are both teams relegated to AAA?

Something needs to change here… and I’ll bet that a whole lot of things are now on the table that hadn’t been just a month ago.

Here’s your box.  I suggest locating a nearby recycling center for it.

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