Phucked
To say that this was a disappointing series with the Phils would be the understatement of the year. After getting it done against the Marlins, we suffered our first home series loss of the season, getting swept out of town by the Phillies.
I still don’t think the Phillies have the starting pitching to go the distance, but they’re playing like a team possessed right now. The Braves on the other hand are playing like a team about to get repossessed.
So, now we’re 6 1/2 games back from the lead on Philly, 3 behind the Marlins, and about to go on the road where we’re a pathetic 7-21. We’ve got a day off to learn how to win on the road because another .300 road trip might put us out of it for good in the competitive NL East.
Saturday
Philadelphia 6, Atlanta 2. This game was a relief after Friday night’s debacle. At least we didn’t have to hold our breath at the end waiting for whatever colassal cluster-phuck our boys would arrange to assure another loss. This one was out of hand by the bottom of the ninth. Jo-Jo Reyes pitched another strong game. Bobby should have taken him out after pitching 7; he was obviously running out of gas. That cost us the go ahead run.
Sunday
Philadelphia 6, Atlanta 3. The Phillies figured out that to hit Jorge Campillo, you’ve just got to take what he gives you. They blooped their way onto the board with two in the first and picked up one more in the third. Tex brought the lumber today going 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBIs, but he was the exception. Jeff Francoeur left 6 on base today. That boy is obviously driving an automatic because he’s got no clutch in him right now.
The Ugly
I’ll skip the good and the bad for this series because it was mostly ugly:
- The bullpen, which had been great all season long suffered catastrophic meltdowns in all three games. Though, to be fair, the bullpen wouldn’t have had the chance to meltdown on Friday had KJ gloved that ball, but no one is still bitter about that, I’m sure. To top it all off, Soriano is doing his best Mike Hampton imitation and has decided that he can’t pitch again.
- Jeff Francoeur. Francoeur went 3 for 13 with 0 RBI and left 15 men on base in this series. What happened to the guy we saw in 2006 who hit 29 HR or the guy who hit .293 in 2007? He’s worse than dead weight right now, he’s an anchor dragging us down.
- Injuries. Chipper sat today with a slight tear in his quads and will miss a couple. Kotsay is nowhere near ready to come back. Soriano is all gimped up again. I can’t imagine they’ll let him sit much longer without DLing him again.
- Attitude. This is not a team playing with a winning attitude. This is a team playing like it expects to lose. They’re playing sloppy baseball, making lots of mistakes, having bad at bats, and consistently choking at key moments. Ultimately, this is a leadership issue, and I don’t see the leadership stepping up to do anything about it.
As hard as it was watching the Braves collapse of June 2006 putting them out of contention and watching the team last year just not quite having enough, this year is just so much more frustrating because this is a team with more than enough tools to get it done. Yet almost every chance they get, they seem to just want to give it away. It’s hard to keep rooting for that.
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