Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Double Trouble, and Major Minor Moves
John Gant’s 2-Step Mound Dance beats The Dark Knight in Gotham City as Braves’ Bats stay Hot. And that Interference call…
The Mets only got 2 hits off of John Gant last night – both were doubles, but only one of those scored. It was a first inning run, but that seemed only to spur on Gant and the braves – not deter them, despite the hostile environment.
The Braves’ pounded out 11 hits, including 4 doubles. They stole 2 bases (Mallex’s 14th – no surprise – and Freddie’s 3rd – big surprise). Two late double plays squelched chances the Mets had in late innings against the bullpen, and the Braves shut down the Mets, 5-1.
Great stuff, but that’s not want I wanted to talk about this morning.
About that last double play
First, let’s review James Loney‘s comments made after the game:
Loney said afterward that he didn’t intend to hit Peterson and that he had only put his forearm up to shield his face on the play.
“It wasn’t like I tried to hit him,” Loney said. “When you slide, you’re not thinking of where you put your arm. I’m protecting my head. They’re trying to make the game safer. I get that. But that’s just a natural move for a slide.”
Another media outlet reported this: “Loney said that even after hearing the ruling, he wasn’t sure what he should have done differently.”
A third writer had this account: “‘They said my arm went into him,’ Loney said. ‘You’re sliding into someone and you’re that close, your arm can go into him. It wasn’t like I tried to hit him.'”
Poor James.
Now let’s review the video of the event, which you can see at this link.
I have this to say about what Loney said: Balderdash.
The replay shot, taken from the first base line and looking toward second base, shows exactly what Loney did. He deliberately rolled toward Jace Peterson and attempted to break up the play with a forearm to the groin. The reason was obvious – he thought that the game would be over if he didn’t (though Kevin Plawecki had beat the rap at first base).
But it was also obvious what Loney was doing – especially since Jace had stepped to the side of second base after tagging it. Loney followed him with the “roll”, which actually turned his slide into a half-tumble toward Peterson… and this kind of action is exactly what the slide rule was intended to stop.
Of course the media didn’t report any of that… they just used words like “confused” and made Loney into an innocent bystander trying to “shield his face” – which was three feet below the ball path. Then again, some of the media also thought it was Erick Aybar getting whacked, so there you go.
I’ve been a critic of this slide rule, but in this case, Loney tried to put a rolling block into Peterson – that much is sure. The new rule was made for that… and in fact, the old rule should have invoked an interference call, too.
Here’s your happy box score:
2B: C d’Arnaud (9, off M Harvey); E Inciarte (7, off M Harvey); F Freeman (13, off M Harvey); J Peterson (3, off M Harvey).
SH: J Gant (1, off M Harvey).
TB: F Freeman 4; E Inciarte 3; E Aybar 2; C d’Arnaud 2; J Peterson 2; A Pierzynski; N Markakis.
RBI: N Markakis (37); A Pierzynski (12); F Freeman (25); E Inciarte (7).
2-out RBI: F Freeman; N Markakis; E Inciarte.
Team LOB: 11.
With RISP: 5 for 14.
Fielding
DP: 2. E Aybar-J Peterson-F Freeman; J Johnson-E Aybar-F Freeman.
Baserunning
SB: M Smith (14, 2nd base off M Harvey/K Plawecki); F Freeman (3, 2nd base off H Robles/K Plawecki).
Next: Moving Minors