I have the solution to this unbalanced/unfair Interleague schedule.....have each team in the NL East play two games against another AL Division and rotate the AL Divisions they play against each year. So for example, next year the Phillies, Mets, Braves, Marlins and Nats play two games against each AL East team, the following year they could play the AL Central and the following year the AL West. Why should one team have a softer schedule then another? If it was just 6 to 8 games it would not be that big a deal but why play 15 to 18 IL games and have some teams always play "special rivals?" It's BS.
I agree completely. Each team should have the same interleague schedule. It seems like every season one team is getting a soft schedule and another is getting a brutal one in interleague play.
The NFL solves this problem by having everyone in the same division play all the same teams in another division, and then rotates the divisions every year. MLB could do the same thing although it would probably require a litte more travelling. Every NL team in one division could maybe play two away and two home games against another AL Division. That would add up to around 16 IL games which is pretty much the way it is set up now. Phillies with a huge walkoff home run tonight by Jimmy Rollins....great to have him back in the lineup.
Pathetic three game series. They may lose first place tonight. I think they'll get it back on the homestand though. They always get their mojo back at home. I'll be at Saturday's game so they should be a lock to win that one. Why don't we get to play a series against the Orioles like everybody else?
It's gonna come down to head-to-head. All 3 teams are beating up on crappy teams and playing the good teams tough. Ultimately, the Braves second half schedule sets up pretty nicely.
I was at the game today. It was good to see KK finally get himself a win. The bullpen almost blew it. I was almost sick to my stomach standing there watching what almost went down in the 9th. It was an emotional roller coaster, b/c then Moylan rings up Damon with a full count and the place goes wild. I was also happy because there were a surprising number of Detroit fans over on the visitor dugout side where we were sitting. They had started chants and started getting frisky until Chipper shut them up. They almost got it back in the ninth. None of us there had a clue why Wagner didn't come out. We didn't find out until on the radio afterwards. TV probably didn't do justice to how hard Chipper hit that homer in the seventh.
Well, you should've left sad, because the last pitch Moylan threw was at least a foot outside. Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk
Yeah he had been throwing really hard. We had been watching to see if he took something off on any pitches but I don't believe he did. Which is probably why Chipper was able to time that one so well. That and he's a hall of famer.
Oh I'm sure, we just got extremely lucky that ump closed his eyes and called a strike. We'll take it though. Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk
Thank God interleague play is finally about to be over. What a disaster Tommy Hanson has been the past two starts.
Heyward was put on the 15 day DL. We won't be seeing him again until after the break. I hope the rest helps that thumb and helps him return to his April form. The pitching matchup last night was as good as advertised. The final score was a little lopsided but they didn't really break through until the seventh.
Sounds like Utley and Polanco are heading to the 15 day DL....we already have Ruiz out at Catcher. Everything is turning to crap. GM Ruben Amaro has to bring in an infielder or it could all be over. I am thinking Miggy Tejada or Ty Wigginton from the Orioles.
Looks like Utley was worse then everyone initially thought. Two months out. Not good news for the Phillies considering we were already ahead of them with Utley in the lineup. I think this also means we should be seeing Martin Prado as the starting second baseman in the All-Star game but I haven't looked at the voting lately. We picked up a half game over the Mets and Phillies and didn't even play. A pretty good off day if you ask me.
Talk about giving a game away. Had a chance to beat the Fish with Johnson pitching and blew it. Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk
I thought Venters had handed them that win when he blew that out on the failed squeeze play. Those were some fine ABs from all three of those guys in the 11th to get the kid off the hook. You always love your chances in a series when you beat a team's best pitcher.
Yeah, MAC gets some blame on that play too though. With Coglan breaking to third he could've just ran the runner into an automatic out. Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk
So I've been to three Braves game in three weeks. Two of them happened to be Kenshin Kawakami starts. We won those two games. I finally get to go watch a Tim Hudson start and we lose to Dan Uggla. On a ball that hit Huddy and somehow careened into right field. Besides that nonsense it was a pretty good game. I lowered my expectations anyway when the lineup was announced and half of the starters were out. I haven't heard anything about Troy Glaus being hurt but that's two games in a row he's been out. Maybe he's just taking a rest. I like that Bobby put Gregor Blanco in the two spot and moved Melky down. Melky isn't producing much anymore. With Diaz back and Heyward coming back before long I don't know how much we'll see him in the lineup.
Good game Brave's fans. Doc Halladay brought his best stuff tonight and he finally got a little run support, but not much.
He only needs a little. That may have been the fastest game I ever watched. Derek Lowe was really good, the difference was his mistake came with a man on base. And he wasn't efficient enough to last nine innings. Halladay makes it look easy.
I knew the Phillies wouldn't hit tonight. TWO hits in nine innings and another hit in the 11th....they were outhit 13-3 so it probably should not have gone to extra innings. Werth could have won the game but he couldn't get a guy home from 3rd base with no outs. I hope this overrated turd is gone by the July 31st trade deadline. Ruben Amaro has ruined this team. He also needs to go.
Werth seems like a pretty good player but you probably watch him a lot more than I do. Did you see that kid filling in at second base kind of taunt McCann before he threw to first for the final out in the first game? Nothing huge, it wasn't even that bad, just seemed a little strange. I don't think I've ever seen anybody do it before. Especially to a perennial All-Star. That pitcher who came in in the 11th last night looked just like the fat kid from Super Bad.
JJ and the bullpen bailed us out last night. You've failed as a team when you fail to get a hit off Jesse Chavez. Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk
I didn't see that..it must have been Wilson Valdez??? Was he showing him up? Without Utley, Polanco and Ruiz it just isn't happening. Ruiz calls a game so much better then Schneider and Sardinhia. I think the fat guy you mentioned is Zagurski. Philly fans are always getting on him for his weight. He is a horrible reliever. Ohhhh well, better the Braves on top then Boik's Mets. But we've only played half the season.
True, but don't forget we've played virtually the whole season without JJ, whom you saw could dominate last night. That also means we won't have to trot out Kawakami. Also, we've got Matt Diaz back, whom you also saw last night. Not to mention our offense has been horrible lately, with Chipper and McCann just now starting to come around. And...oh yeah, Jason Heyward is due back after the All-Star break.
It took a while but the Braves finally figured out how to hit Jamie Moyer. He was cruising along and then they suddenly lit him up in the 6th. That was a good way to close out the series even though Saito made me sweat a little in the eighth. Probably one of Medlen's rougher starts from an earned runs perspective but the offense picked him up, they really took advantage of that hitter's park.
Moyer always has that one bad inning. Oh well...the Phillies schedule gets much easier following the all star break....hopefully Polanco and Ruiz will be back by then. Phillies play 9 of their last 12 games of the season in Philly and the 3 away games are against the Nats, who we own. We play the Nats 12 more times, and I think just 3 more versus the Braves.
Funny, for 17 years, I rooted for the Braves and they were great the last 15 years. Then 4 years ago, I move to Atlanta, get to attend a boatload of games, have a blast, but they stink. Now I move to Boston and they get good again and exciting to watch. Maybe Braves fans have to thank me for moving away.
It's not just you. I moved to Augusta during the summer of 06. Previously I had lived too far away to regularly attend games. 2006 was the first year they missed the playoffs since I was about 11 years old. Now they are on the verge of breaking back through and of course I am moving up to Maryland for a job in one month. No playoff games at the Ted for me. I'm trying to get in all the games I can but I really had hoped I'd make a playoff game or two while I was in Georgia.
I think you'll make a playoff game this year. With the pitching staff and bullpen being what they are, I really can't see them anywhere else but the postseason. Of course, this is all contingent on guys staying healthy. But this team is SO deep, they can overcome an injury or two. Hell, they already have with McLouth and JJ being out most of the year, and Heyward missing virtually the last month.
I'm really starting to dislike Angel Pagan. As I'm sure Mets fans are really starting to dislike Omar Infante.
Their pitching seems pretty bad. I think the important thing to take from the past week or so is that our Atlanta Braves took consecutive series from every single divisional opponent. If that's not proving yourself the team to beat I don't know what is. But I'm sure the northeast biased media will continue to talk about how the Phillies will win the division just because they came from behind a couple of times before. I loved how during the Braves' run, the media started predicting their downfall from about '01 on. [At least] Every season was the season the Mets or whoever were going to overtake them. All they did was win the NL East over and over again but the media couldn't stop finding reasons they'd lose it. With the Philllies on a run [a very small one in comparison], the media thinks they'll win every season just because they did it before.
McCann made us proud last night, driving in all of the NL runs. Will the national exposure from this and the combination of Atlanta's [hopefully continued] good season propel Mac to the All-Star starting lineup next season?
