Timmy's Night
The kind of start Ricky Romero had last night might be, in some ways, worse for the psyche than a blowout. Taking a shutout late into the game against another pitcher who is dealing, getting two outs (after a very nifty play at the plate) and then giving up a two run homer to that same pitcher who is dealing. The Braves had threatened to score a few times, but just hadn't gotten it done. It was almost as if Hudson had decided to take matters into his own hands. "It was Timmy’s night I guess.”
In the pre-game show, there was a quote from Hudson were he said that he had actually been pitching better than the numbers suggested. Yeah, you don't say.
After giving up the homer, Ricky was spitting nails in the dugout. And then on Twitter, some of the reporters were talking about how candid he was about his frustrations with the offense. I expected more nails. And then I read what he said,
"All I can do is just pitch. I can’t worry about the offence and what they do. I’ve always said this at one point we can’t rely on (Jose) Bautista, we can’t rely on (Adam) Lind. We’ve got to get somebody else to step up and get on base and drive them in. These guys are getting pitched around. Everyone’s got to step it up or else we’re not going to be winning ballgames. This team doesn’t revolve around one or two guys. Everyone’s got to put in their parts. That’s how we win ballgames.”
Frustrated, yes, but not exactly a Carlos Zambrano moment. Not that big of a deal.
Yunel Escobar returned to Atlanta for the first time since he was traded to the Jays, and armed with a brand new contract extension.
“Everybody has the right to their own opinion,” Escobar said. “(The Braves) have their opinion. I respect that. Now Toronto has their opinion about me. That’s the way I play. I’ve always played like that. I have fun on the field. I’m proving now by being the kind of player I am. I’ve always been that way and I’m proving it now. The Jays allow me to be myself.”
He looked a little tight from nerves being back in Atlanta, a place that seems to have made him feel pretty bad, even though Chipper Jones now says he was one of Yunel's biggest supporters. Sure, Chip.
Atlanta Twitter buddy @AliPhoneIC informed me that there were a lot of Escobar Braves jerseys in the stands. So basically I figure that it was more a Bobby Cox issue than anything as widespread as some would have you believe. Tim Hudson, for his part, after Escobar grounded out in the 1st, gave him a pat on the back with his glove, a gesture that was returned.
Although David O'Brien, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in a rather ridiculous column trying to, for whatever reason, justify the Gonzalez/Escobar trade, did call Escobar "a petulant hot dog of a player who rubbed teammates wrong at least as frequently as he ticked off opponents." O'Brien closes the column out by dissing Bautista, calling him the home run freak show, but told Braves' fans not to get excited because Bautista has only hit one homer in June.
Frustrated, yes, but not exactly a Carlos Zambrano moment. Not that big of a deal.
Yunel Escobar returned to Atlanta for the first time since he was traded to the Jays, and armed with a brand new contract extension.
“Everybody has the right to their own opinion,” Escobar said. “(The Braves) have their opinion. I respect that. Now Toronto has their opinion about me. That’s the way I play. I’ve always played like that. I have fun on the field. I’m proving now by being the kind of player I am. I’ve always been that way and I’m proving it now. The Jays allow me to be myself.”
He looked a little tight from nerves being back in Atlanta, a place that seems to have made him feel pretty bad, even though Chipper Jones now says he was one of Yunel's biggest supporters. Sure, Chip.
Atlanta Twitter buddy @AliPhoneIC informed me that there were a lot of Escobar Braves jerseys in the stands. So basically I figure that it was more a Bobby Cox issue than anything as widespread as some would have you believe. Tim Hudson, for his part, after Escobar grounded out in the 1st, gave him a pat on the back with his glove, a gesture that was returned.
Although David O'Brien, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in a rather ridiculous column trying to, for whatever reason, justify the Gonzalez/Escobar trade, did call Escobar "a petulant hot dog of a player who rubbed teammates wrong at least as frequently as he ticked off opponents." O'Brien closes the column out by dissing Bautista, calling him the home run freak show, but told Braves' fans not to get excited because Bautista has only hit one homer in June.