The Braves blew a one-run lead in the ninth, then gave up two runs in the tenth, but scored one run in the bottom of the tenth and got the tying run thrown out at home to lose by one-run (again), 4-3. The Braves are now 1-6 in extra inning games and 3-17 in one-run games. I'm too pissed off to write about the game, so we'll leave it at that.
The MLB draft finished yesterday. The Braves picks in the first ten rounds are as follows:
Brett DuVall (1st round)
Robert Stovall (2nd)
Ezekiel Spruill (2nd)
(On average, 1 of these three will eventually make the majors)
Craig Kimbrel (3rd)
Braeden Schlehuber (4th)
Jacob Thompson (5th)
(On average, 1 of these three will eventually make the majors)
Adam Milligan (6th)
Paul Clemens (7th)
Brett Oberholtzer (8th)
Kyle Farrell (9th)
James Hoover (10th)
(On average, 1 of these five will eventually make the majors)
The NCAA baseball tourney started yesterday with three upsets. #1 Miami, #4 Florida State, and #5 Cal-State Fullerton were defeated at home. #8 Georgia was the only seeded team to win on Friday. All 16 teams play today, with four games being possible elimination games.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Good Times....These are the Good Times
The Braves completed a big series win against the Marlins last night, winning 7-5. Atlanta won 3 of the 4 games in the series. Chipper Jones was 4 for 5 and hit the 400th home run of his career. He still leads the league with a .418 batting average. Jair Jurrjens pitched 6 innings to get the win, he is now 6-3. Mark Teixeira had 3 hits to help the offense. Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth inning for his third save of the season. The Braves begin a 3 game series with division leading Philly tonight at 735p. Tim Hudson will pitch for the Braves. Jamie Moyer will pitch for the Phillies.
The first part of the MLB Draft was held yesterday, with Georgia high school prospect Tim Beckham being the first overall pick. Brownsburg High School alumni Lance Lynn was selected in the supplemental phase of the first round by the Cardinals at pick 39. The Braves used 5 of their first 6 picks to select pitchers. Their first pick was Florida high schooler Brett Devall, a left-handed pitcher. Top Indiana high-school prospect Alex Meyer was not drafted on day one, most likely because he will be going to the University of Kentucky to play baseball and partly because he is being advised by Scott Boras. The draft continues today starting with the 7th round.
The NCAA baseball super regionals start today. Georgia, Miami, CS Fullerton, and Florida State all host regionals starting on Friday. The LSU, North Carolina, Rice, and Arizona State regionals start on Saturday.
The first part of the MLB Draft was held yesterday, with Georgia high school prospect Tim Beckham being the first overall pick. Brownsburg High School alumni Lance Lynn was selected in the supplemental phase of the first round by the Cardinals at pick 39. The Braves used 5 of their first 6 picks to select pitchers. Their first pick was Florida high schooler Brett Devall, a left-handed pitcher. Top Indiana high-school prospect Alex Meyer was not drafted on day one, most likely because he will be going to the University of Kentucky to play baseball and partly because he is being advised by Scott Boras. The draft continues today starting with the 7th round.
The NCAA baseball super regionals start today. Georgia, Miami, CS Fullerton, and Florida State all host regionals starting on Friday. The LSU, North Carolina, Rice, and Arizona State regionals start on Saturday.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Some new hope, maybe, probably not
The Braves bullpen blew their seventh save of the year yesterday afternoon, losing to the Marlins 6-4. Manny Acosta gave up two two-run homers in the ninth inning to blow the save and get the loss. Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, and rookie Josh Anderson each had two hits. Tom Glavine started the game and gave up 2 runs in 5 innings. However, it took him 97 pitches in those 5 innings, leaving the tired and injured bullpen to pitch the last 4 innings. Closer Rafael Soriano was given the day off because he has just returned from an injury. Presumptive closer John Smoltz announced that he would have season-ending surgery on his shoulder. So, the closing role is Soriano part-time and whoever else we can throw out there for the rest of the games. Not exactly the situation that you want to be in when the team is 3-16 in one-run games.
Today is the MLB first-year player draft. The first round will be televised by ESPN starting at 2pm. The baseball draft is the least interesting of all the major sports drafts. Only 15 of the 48 players drafted in the first round in 2005 have made the majors, and that was three years ago. While I like the minor league system in baseball, it does make the draft uninteresting and more of a lottery than a talent-driven process. For example, I did some research on the 1991-2000 draft picks. Each team only got an average of one player from the first two rounds to actually play in the big show. Teams got an average of 2 players in the first 5 rounds, and 3 players in the first 10 rounds to play on the big stage. With those kind of percentages, it makes the draft an exercise in futility. But, if we did not have the draft, the well funded teams like the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, Yankees, Mariners, and White Sox would have first dibs on everybody. Most of what I have been reading project Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham or Florida State catcher Buster Posey as the number one overall pick. Only 3 of the 43 number one picks have not made the majors (Brien Taylor, Matt Bush, Steve Chilcott), so the number one pick is as close as automatic as you will get.
Today in the draft, Alex Meyer from Greensburg, IN is supposed to be a early-mid first round pick. However, he is represented by Scott Boras, who is not a nice guy and always asks for more money than his clients are worth. I know that is his job to do that, but it scares a lot of teams from drafting a talented player to play for their team. Meyer has a scholarship to Kentucky, so he may not sign a contract anyway, but having Boras has an agent does not help at all.
Just like my softball super regional picks, my NCAA baseball picks select all of the favorites. Here are my selections, in order of confidence:
#3 Arizona State over Fresno State
#4 Florida State over Wichita State
#2 North Carolina over Coastal Carolina
#1 Miami (FL) over Arizona
#7 LSU over UC Irvine
#6 Rice over Texas A&M
#5 CS Fullerton over Stanford
#8 Georgia over North Carolina State
Today is the MLB first-year player draft. The first round will be televised by ESPN starting at 2pm. The baseball draft is the least interesting of all the major sports drafts. Only 15 of the 48 players drafted in the first round in 2005 have made the majors, and that was three years ago. While I like the minor league system in baseball, it does make the draft uninteresting and more of a lottery than a talent-driven process. For example, I did some research on the 1991-2000 draft picks. Each team only got an average of one player from the first two rounds to actually play in the big show. Teams got an average of 2 players in the first 5 rounds, and 3 players in the first 10 rounds to play on the big stage. With those kind of percentages, it makes the draft an exercise in futility. But, if we did not have the draft, the well funded teams like the Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, Angels, Yankees, Mariners, and White Sox would have first dibs on everybody. Most of what I have been reading project Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham or Florida State catcher Buster Posey as the number one overall pick. Only 3 of the 43 number one picks have not made the majors (Brien Taylor, Matt Bush, Steve Chilcott), so the number one pick is as close as automatic as you will get.
Today in the draft, Alex Meyer from Greensburg, IN is supposed to be a early-mid first round pick. However, he is represented by Scott Boras, who is not a nice guy and always asks for more money than his clients are worth. I know that is his job to do that, but it scares a lot of teams from drafting a talented player to play for their team. Meyer has a scholarship to Kentucky, so he may not sign a contract anyway, but having Boras has an agent does not help at all.
Just like my softball super regional picks, my NCAA baseball picks select all of the favorites. Here are my selections, in order of confidence:
#3 Arizona State over Fresno State
#4 Florida State over Wichita State
#2 North Carolina over Coastal Carolina
#1 Miami (FL) over Arizona
#7 LSU over UC Irvine
#6 Rice over Texas A&M
#5 CS Fullerton over Stanford
#8 Georgia over North Carolina State
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
OMG! We won a one-run game!
The Braves beat the Marlins last night, 5-4. Greg Norton doubled home two runs in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead and Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. The Braves are now 3-16 in one-run games. Chipper Jones was 2 for 4 with a homer and 3 RBI. Jorge Campillo struggled on the mound, giving up 4 runs in 4 innings. His ERA is still a very good 1.79. Will Ohman pitched the 8th inning and got the win. Game three of the four game series is this afternoon at 105pm. Ton Glavine pitches for the Braves and Mark Hendrickson throws for the Marlins.
The Arizona State Sun Devils continued their dominance of the NCAA softball tournament by beating Texas A&M 11-0 to capture the school's first softball championship. Katie Burkhart struck out 13 hitters while only giving up 4 hits. She was named the tournament's most valuable player. Arizona State was 10-0 in the tournament and their 11 run margin in the final game was the biggest margin of victory in the clinching game of the tourney.
Tomorrow I will post my NCAA baseball picks and talk about the MLB draft that starts on Thursday afternoon.
The Arizona State Sun Devils continued their dominance of the NCAA softball tournament by beating Texas A&M 11-0 to capture the school's first softball championship. Katie Burkhart struck out 13 hitters while only giving up 4 hits. She was named the tournament's most valuable player. Arizona State was 10-0 in the tournament and their 11 run margin in the final game was the biggest margin of victory in the clinching game of the tourney.
Tomorrow I will post my NCAA baseball picks and talk about the MLB draft that starts on Thursday afternoon.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Fishing for Marlins
The Braves blew a ninth inning lead for the second time in three days, but survived in 10 innings with a 7-5 win over the Marlins. John Smoltz returned from the DL and is now the closer for the second time in his career. Smoltz blew the save in the ninth inning turning a 4-3 lead into a 5-4 deficit. Jeff Francoeur scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth to extend the game. Yunel Escobar hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning to win the game. Escobar had 3 hits and 3 RBI. Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira has two hits each. Teixeira added 2 RBI. Jo Jo Reyes pitched 6 innings only giving up three runs and striking out 4 Marlin batters. The teams play again on Tuesday night at 710pm. Red-hot Jorge Campillo will start for the Braves. Campillo has only given up one run in his last 20 innings pitched. Burke Badenhop pitches for the Marlins.
The Arizona State Sun Devils won the first game of the NCAA Softball Championship series last night, beating Texas A&M 3-0. Katie Burkhart was dominant on the mound, striking out 11 and only giving up 2 hits. Krista Donnenwirth had all 3 RBI for Arizona State. The teams continue the series tonight. With a win, the Sun Devils will capture their first NCAA Softball Championship.
The NCAA Baseball regionals completed last night. I was correct on 10 of my 16 picks. My confidence score was 79.4%, not great but good. The top 8 seeds are still alive in the tournament. The super regionals start on Friday the 6th and continue through Monday, June 9th.
The Arizona State Sun Devils won the first game of the NCAA Softball Championship series last night, beating Texas A&M 3-0. Katie Burkhart was dominant on the mound, striking out 11 and only giving up 2 hits. Krista Donnenwirth had all 3 RBI for Arizona State. The teams continue the series tonight. With a win, the Sun Devils will capture their first NCAA Softball Championship.
The NCAA Baseball regionals completed last night. I was correct on 10 of my 16 picks. My confidence score was 79.4%, not great but good. The top 8 seeds are still alive in the tournament. The super regionals start on Friday the 6th and continue through Monday, June 9th.
Monday, June 2, 2008
A weekend without the internet
Severe storms on Friday knocked out my internet connection for the entire weekend, so this will be a quick weekend wrap-up.
The Braves had a terrible weekend at Cincinnati. Friday night, they lost 3-2 in 11 innings. Saturday, they lost 8-7 in 10 innings after leading 7-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. On Sunday, they got beat 6-2. The Braves are now 29-28, 3.5 games behind in the NL East, 4.5 games behind St Louis for the wild card. The Braves did get some good new this weekend. John Smoltz should be activated on Monday and ready to pitch out of the bullpen.
NCAA Softball - I picked the final four correctly, although not the way I thought it was going to be. However, the finals are Texas A&M against Arizona State, way off on my Alabama/Florida prediction. The best-of-three championship starts tonight. My pick is Arizona State.
NCAA Baseball - I am 6 of 11 so far in my regional predictions with 5 games left to play on Monday night. All of my most confident picks have won so far, but most of my lower picks did not fare so well. I'll post the final results tomorrow.
The Braves had a terrible weekend at Cincinnati. Friday night, they lost 3-2 in 11 innings. Saturday, they lost 8-7 in 10 innings after leading 7-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. On Sunday, they got beat 6-2. The Braves are now 29-28, 3.5 games behind in the NL East, 4.5 games behind St Louis for the wild card. The Braves did get some good new this weekend. John Smoltz should be activated on Monday and ready to pitch out of the bullpen.
NCAA Softball - I picked the final four correctly, although not the way I thought it was going to be. However, the finals are Texas A&M against Arizona State, way off on my Alabama/Florida prediction. The best-of-three championship starts tonight. My pick is Arizona State.
NCAA Baseball - I am 6 of 11 so far in my regional predictions with 5 games left to play on Monday night. All of my most confident picks have won so far, but most of my lower picks did not fare so well. I'll post the final results tomorrow.
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