McCarroll21
04-06-2007, 11:46 PM
Braves Open Turner Field In Forgettable Fashion
By: Josh McCarroll (http://www.braves-nation.com/forums/member.php?u=1) | Braves-Nation.com
The Braves opened up 2007 at Turner Field with a display of bad pitching and fielding, along with a forgettable offensive night too.
Mark Redman managed to hang around for 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits in his Braves debut. Though he was not great, he was not as bad as the line shows. He was victimized by shoddy defense.
In the first inning, Jose Reyes popped a ball up into foul territory that could have been handled by first baseman Craig Wilson. The ball fell and Reyes tripled on the next pitch into the right center field gap. Paul Lo Duca drove him home with a sacrifice fly one batter later.
The Mets scored again in the second inning when Jose Valentin doubled home Moises Alou, who lead off the inning with a double.
Defense reared its ugly head again in the third inning; though this time it didn't lead to a run the failure to turn a double play forced Mark Redman to make eleven more pitches than he should have needed. Lo Duca hit a sharp ground ball to third baseman Chipper Jones, who fielded the ball and made a clean feed second base for the first out, but Chris Woodward dropped the ball and could not complete the play.
The Braves cut the lead in half in the forth inning as Jeff Francoeur hit a home run to make the score 2-1. Francoeur's home run would prove to be the last Braves hit of the evening until Chipper Jones singled in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After that, the flood gates opened. The Mets scored three in the sixth inning off a combination of Mark Redman and Oscar Villarreal. The Mets then made the score 11-1 after scoring six more in the eighth inning off Tyler Yates and Macay McBride.
David Wright led off the sixth inning with a double into left field. Shawn Green chased him home with a single two batters later. Redman was relieved by Villarreal after giving up an Oliver Perez single. Villarreal was greeted by Reyes with another triple to score Green and Perez.
The six run eighth inning was aided by an error from Tyler Yates on a potential double play ball. Alou lead off the inning with a single, advancing to second on a walk from Green. Valentin then hit a ball back to Yates, who dropped the ball when he was turning to make a throw to second. He then bobbled the ball causing all runners to reach. After a force out at home, Reyes singled to center scoring Green and Valentin. Macay McBride was then brought on after an intentional pass to Beltran loaded the bases. Delgado singled up the middle to score the two lead runners, and David Wright followed that with a double to score Beltran for the eleventh and final run.
Villarreal pitched an inning and a third, only allowing an inherited runner to score. He allowed one hit and struck out two batters. Yates followed him by giving up five runs, only one earned due to his own error, on two hits and two walks, only recording two outs in the inning. McBride was the last Braves pitcher of the night. He also gave up an unearned run, giving up three hits and walking three more batters during his stay.
The Braves and Mets will play again on Saturday as John Smoltz and Tom Glavine will face off in a game being televised nationally on Fox. The game will start at 3:55 PM.
By: Josh McCarroll (http://www.braves-nation.com/forums/member.php?u=1) | Braves-Nation.com
The Braves opened up 2007 at Turner Field with a display of bad pitching and fielding, along with a forgettable offensive night too.
Mark Redman managed to hang around for 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits in his Braves debut. Though he was not great, he was not as bad as the line shows. He was victimized by shoddy defense.
In the first inning, Jose Reyes popped a ball up into foul territory that could have been handled by first baseman Craig Wilson. The ball fell and Reyes tripled on the next pitch into the right center field gap. Paul Lo Duca drove him home with a sacrifice fly one batter later.
The Mets scored again in the second inning when Jose Valentin doubled home Moises Alou, who lead off the inning with a double.
Defense reared its ugly head again in the third inning; though this time it didn't lead to a run the failure to turn a double play forced Mark Redman to make eleven more pitches than he should have needed. Lo Duca hit a sharp ground ball to third baseman Chipper Jones, who fielded the ball and made a clean feed second base for the first out, but Chris Woodward dropped the ball and could not complete the play.
The Braves cut the lead in half in the forth inning as Jeff Francoeur hit a home run to make the score 2-1. Francoeur's home run would prove to be the last Braves hit of the evening until Chipper Jones singled in the bottom of the ninth inning.
After that, the flood gates opened. The Mets scored three in the sixth inning off a combination of Mark Redman and Oscar Villarreal. The Mets then made the score 11-1 after scoring six more in the eighth inning off Tyler Yates and Macay McBride.
David Wright led off the sixth inning with a double into left field. Shawn Green chased him home with a single two batters later. Redman was relieved by Villarreal after giving up an Oliver Perez single. Villarreal was greeted by Reyes with another triple to score Green and Perez.
The six run eighth inning was aided by an error from Tyler Yates on a potential double play ball. Alou lead off the inning with a single, advancing to second on a walk from Green. Valentin then hit a ball back to Yates, who dropped the ball when he was turning to make a throw to second. He then bobbled the ball causing all runners to reach. After a force out at home, Reyes singled to center scoring Green and Valentin. Macay McBride was then brought on after an intentional pass to Beltran loaded the bases. Delgado singled up the middle to score the two lead runners, and David Wright followed that with a double to score Beltran for the eleventh and final run.
Villarreal pitched an inning and a third, only allowing an inherited runner to score. He allowed one hit and struck out two batters. Yates followed him by giving up five runs, only one earned due to his own error, on two hits and two walks, only recording two outs in the inning. McBride was the last Braves pitcher of the night. He also gave up an unearned run, giving up three hits and walking three more batters during his stay.
The Braves and Mets will play again on Saturday as John Smoltz and Tom Glavine will face off in a game being televised nationally on Fox. The game will start at 3:55 PM.