So that makes 9 wins in 13 games for the Braves, extended hit streaks for Inciarte and Aybar, a swim move worthy of The Matrix for Freeman… but everybody wants to give hot takes on Tim Tebow this morning.
We’ll have none of that nonsense here! (Oops)
Nick Markakis, the greatest right fielder in the National League, hit another homer last night. Freddie Freeman whacked a double that probably shouldn’t have been. A.J. Pierzynski went yard. Robert Whalen did a fairly nice Julio Teheran imitation – keeping the Brewers mostly off-balance for six innings and striking out 7. The Braves bullpen gave up no runs over 6 additional innings.
And the Braves won again.
If this keeps up, we might have a dilemma on our hands. We touched on this yesterday, but here’s some further details:
We want the team to win – no doubt. But with actual hitting going on to support the pitching we’ve been getting, there is a real chance of catching the next tier of teams in the standings… and there’s a bunch of them.
The Braves are now…
- 3.5 game behind the Diamondbacks
- 3.5 GB the Rays
- 3.5 GB the Reds
- 4.0 GB the Twins
Beyond these clubs are the Padres (6.5), A’s (7), Angels (7.5), and Brewers (8). While Atlanta would hold the tie-breaker vs. any other club besides the Reds, can you imagine being the worst team in baseball for the first 130-140 games of the year, and then ending up drafting 5th??
That scenario suddenly looks to be in play as the Braves are finally hitting as we’d hoped they would all year… and it’s an offense that’s coming from all sides now.
It took 12 innings last night, but 10 more hits and 4 runs went on the board… just enough to overcome 4 GIDP’s.
For the record? If Tebow actually has a tryout that’s attended and then actually gets a minor league deal with somebody, then yes: it’s news. Until then… doesn’t matter. But let the man have a couple hours to see what he can do in front of actual scouts (as a minimum) before passing judgment.
Here’s the happy box score from last night:
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Next: Roster Rationing