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Since its opening in 1997, Turner Field, home to the first place Atlanta Braves, has seemed like hell to the New York Mets, with Bobby Cox playing the role of the devil. Even when the Mets have fielded competitive teams, they still have struggled in Atlanta.

In 116 contests over the course of 14 seasons, the Mets have won only 38 games while dropping 78 in the new “Home of the Braves.”

However, despite losing the first three games of the series in pitiful fashion, the Mets came out swinging in game four, scoring four runs—a feat they have accomplished only twice in their last seven games—to earn a 4-2 victory.

The Mets plated two runs early, thanks in part to Melky Cabrera’s misplay of a Carlos Beltran line drive that rolled all the way to the wall. Beltran turned on the jets and arrived at third base standing.

Omar Infante’s ill-advised relay throw wound up in the Mets’ dugout, allowing Beltran to score. It was great to see Beltran stretch out that injured knee as he rounded second base. Maybe there will be a happy ending after all to the Beltran saga?

Following back-to-back singles and a walk to Chris Carter, David Wright, and Ike Davis respectively, newest Met Joaquin Arias hit a slow grounder to third that Martin Prado had no play on, allowing Carter to score. The Mets have been abysmal with the bases loaded this season so it was nice to finally see someone get a hit in that situation, albeit an infield hit.

Naturally, even in a Mets’ victory, something has to go wrong. Tonight was no different as Johan Santana left after five innings, only having surrendered one run. Reports claim that he is day-to-day with a strained pectoral muscle. Despite leaving, he earned the win and is now 11-9 on the year with a 2.98 ERA.

David Wright cracked his 22nd home run of the year off Tim Hudson in the sixth inning to give the Mets some needed insurance. Though inconsistent most of the time, Wright has put up some solid numbers for the Amazins this season.

Elmer Dessens, Pedro Feliciano, Bobby Parnell, and Hisanori Takahashi combined for one run on four hits over the final four innings to seal the win for Johan. Once again, we saw Takahashi in the closer’s role, where he recorded his third save of the year.

The win marks the last time the Mets will visit Atlanta this season. They will head to Chicago to open a three-game series with the fifth place Cubs. Saturday will be the highly anticipated first major league start by Mets prospect Jenrry Mejia. In his only start at AAA Buffalo, Mejia allowed one run over eight innings of work while striking out nine.

If the Mets can discover what they have in their young players such as Mejia, Josh Thole, Ruben Tejada, and even Lucas Duda, this final month may actually serve a valuable purpose.

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When speedy Washington Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan charged the mound at Florida Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad on Wednesday night, he did it to defend himself.

Nyjer had been plunked on the back earlier in the game, most likely on purpose for separating catcher Brett Hayes’ left shoulder, which tells you the Marlins weren’t too happy with Morgan. 

Morgan had made a dirty play in the series before against the St. Louis Cardinals, bumping into their catcher Bryan Anderson when there was no play at the plate.

It looks like the Florida Marlins had gotten their payback: They plunk the guy; you are leading by 11 runs; it’s over.

But Morgan, too, wanted his part of the revenge, as he stole second and third base—not to mention he slid in aggressively.

The Fish didn’t like that, as later in the game, Volstad threw behind Nyjer Morgan. That was pushing too hard. What are you going to do, just take another base?

Morgan sprinted towards Volstad and missed a punch, while Gaby Sanchez from the Marlins quickly clotheslined him to the ground. 

The benches cleared.

Now at this point, it seems to boil down to this: The Marlins made a mistake trying to hit Morgan two times. It should have just ended when he was hit the first time. Morgan had to crash into Hayes at the plate the night before; it was in extra innings. You aren’t going to slide and get an out at that point, are you?

Morgan understood the first time he was hit since he had made the dirty play in St. Louis, but it wasn’t dirty in Florida. He still kept his temper until he couldn’t anymore.

So, if the story were to end there, with players leaving after the brawl, there were positive notes for baseball in there. 

It showed that our national pastime matters to many of us. It showed that people will fight back in Major League Baseball and that it is isn’t a sport that should be ignored. It showed that there could be some entertainment while at it.

But sadly, the story doesn’t end there. As Morgan was heading to the showers after the brawl, with his jersey torn (which is probably coming out of his paycheck), he screamed at the fans booing him. You can’t exactly know what he had said, but screaming at fans and raising his hands as if saying, “what are you gonna do about it” is a big no-no.

He had made baseball an embarrassment because of that act, and that can’t possibly be close to being okay to MLB commissioner Bud Selig and us, the fans.

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For as much hope as Monday night’s win against the Giants brought to the Rockies’ playoff chances, Tuesday and Wednesday felt like an anvil to the head.

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The Giants won 2-1 on Wednesday and after a disastrous month of August, Tim Lincecum has rebounded. It took several starts to rediscover his rhythm, but he did his job on Wednesday night. His line: 8.0 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 9 K. The nine strikeouts are certainly a promising sign, as well as the one walk. The lone run came on an opposite-field solo shot by Carlos Gonzalez. With a Cy Young Lincecum on the mound, the Giants are a force to be reckoned with. Their offense hasn’t been scoring a lot of runs lately (just 2 on Wednesday), but they did face Ubaldo Jimenez. Mike Fontenot knocked in a run with a 5th inning RBI single, and were able to score another run off of a combination of luck and small-ball: in the 8th inning, Mike Fontenot drew a walk. September call-up Darren Ford pinch ran for him, and Lincecum laid down a bunt to get him over to second. Ford attempted to steal third on a wild pitch, and the throw to third was high and flew into left field, giving Ford ample time to score. Darren Ford is going to be an asset to the Giants: previously, the best speed on their bench was Nate Schierholtz. Ford is quite a bit faster.

Meanwhile, the Giants’ foes are falling rapidly. The Padres have lost seven in a row now, and they haven’t been cheap losses. Five of the seven games they’ve lost have been by three runs or more. The Cardinals, too, are struggling, having lost 13 of their last 17. The Giants are just three games back in the NL West. They still have seven games left against the Padres, so an NL West division title is not out of the question.

Notes:

• The Giants’ starting pitching is back to doing what it does best: win games. The Giants’ starters have had four consecutive quality starts, giving up just 6 ER in 28.1 IP (ERA: 1.92); Tomorrow Barry Zito will try to continue the quality start streak. 
• Freddy Sanchez refuses to cool down: he was 2 for 4, and is now riding a nine game hit streak. During that span, he’s 20 for his last 36 (.555 average). 

Tomorrow: Giants get to rest. And maybe enjoy a Phillies loss (Joe Blanton pitching at Coors Field).

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On Baseball Tonight this evening, analysts Aaron Boone and Steve Berthiaume gave the Boston Red Sox no hope. Boone has already pegged them dead in the water, saying, “it was a valiant effort.” Berthiaume went a bit further, believing the Red Sox had already hung up their spikes by giving guys like young outfielder Ryan Kalish a “good look for next year.”

First, regarding Boone, who had to love getting the chance to proclaim the Red Sox done considering he, a former New York Yankee, smashed the 2003 ALCS-clincher to send them home.

After tonight’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, Boston still has 30 games on their schedule and, though they entered play 7 1/2 games back in the Wild Card race, face the Yankees and Rays a few more times. Say “it was a valiant effort” when or if they are indeed eliminated from playoff contention.

Now to Berthiuame. Manager Terry Francona is not one to use September as a 2011 tryout when this many games remain. Boston has lost many of their best position players for the year, including outfielders Jacoby Elllsbury and Mike Cameron.

Instead of trading for replacements, they desired to save money, keep the farm stocked, and bring up players they deemed capable of contributing. Kalish and Daniel Nava have been necessities, not luxuries.

And the two commentators said “sayonara” to the Red Sox after they pulled off a must-win to keep them in the race. I understand that Boston’s odds aren’t great of coming back to nab a playoff spot. But they are still playing like they have a shot, as their game against the Orioles exemplified.

Boston fell behind 5-2 after two innings as Jon Lester struggled against an offense that helped Baltimore win 17 games in August. And with the way the Red Sox offense has played of late, the three-run deficit appeared to be too daunting a hill to climb.

The third and fourth innings went by with no sign of life, but then came the fifth.  J.D. Drew clubbed a solo homer off rookie Jake Arrieta, nailing it to dead-center to pull Boston within two.

Lester followed with his third straight scoreless inning, and then pitched his fourth as the Red Sox offense also went scoreless in the sixth. To win, two runs were needed with nine outs remaining, a daunting task for a struggling group of hitters. But they came alive in a big way once Mark Hendrickson entered from the Orioles bullpen.

Their relief hasn’t been good this year, ranked 24th out of 30 teams with a 4.38 ERA. Hendrickson continued their woes, then Alfredo Simon built upon them. The former allowed a two-run homer to the previously struggling Marco Scutaro, who has been battling an assortment of injuries lately. Suddenly, Boston was tied on the timely and unexpected one-out blast by someone who hit only .237 hitter for the month of August.

Then they were tied no more, as Drew, the last hitter Hendrickson would face in the seventh, walked to start another rally. Simon replaced the tall veteran left-hander and was similarly ineffective. The cooling off yet still quite warm Victor Martinez laced a straight fastball to right-field for a go-ahead double, then the Orioles made matters worse by making a questionable decision.

Buck Showalter has done a fine job since taking over as manager last month, but this was not one of his better moments. Instead of pitching to David Ortiz, who has been hot and cold this season, he intentionally walks the slugger to bring up Adrian Beltre, who has been on fire all season long.

He wanted to set up the double play, which is what most managers would do in this situation, but because of what ensued the decision is nightmarish for the Orioles and their fans.

Beltre gladly strode to the plate with a second runner on base and tagged the second pitch he saw from Simon sky-high to left field. He didn’t get all of the 96 mile-per-hour fastball, but it had just enough giddy-up to get out. A three-run homer, notching Beltre’s 24th of the season and 89th, 90th, and 91st RBI. With a 9-5 lead, the Red Sox dugout exploded, as everyone slapped hands vehemently with all three who scored.

Then they were similarly congratulatory when closer Jonathan Papelbon collected the final out of the ninth for a 9-6 win that was made even more pivotal with victories posted by the Yankees and Rays. In recent memory, Boston hasn’t given up until the fat lady has sung. She hasn’t yet, Berthiaume and Boone.

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St. Louis Cardinals fans, dust off your sirens, prepare your white flags, and clutch your shiny red buttons.

For the first time since 2003, it’s panic time.

After sweeping the Reds in Cincinnati to take a one game lead in the division and looking like prime pennant contenders in the National League, the Cardinals have been, well, terrible.

Against mediocre competition (their opponents over that span are a combined 355-443), St. Louis has gone 5-12, getting swept by Houston, and losing series to last place Washington and Pittsburgh, as well as the Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers.

Meanwhile, the Reds have beaten down on a weak schedule of their own, going 13-4 and taking a commanding eight game lead in the National League Central. St. Louis also trails Philadelphia by five games in the Wild Card race.

So how did it get this way, and who’s to blame?

The biggest blame can be placed on the offense. Since the Reds series, the Cardinals have averaged 4.2 runs, gone deep 0.9 times, and struck out 6.4 times per game. They have scored three runs or less in 10 of their 12 losses. They’ve made fourth and fifth starters look like aces. In fact, two of their wins came against former Cy Young winners Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. However, they’ve been handled by John Lannan, J.A. Happ, Madison Bumgarner, and Dave Bush, among others.

The pitching, which has been shouldering the team most of the season, has snapped under all that weight. Staff ace Adam Wainwright has lost three straight starts for the first time in his career. Co-ace Chris Carpenter has been roughed up as well, losing his past two starts. The only bright spot on the staff has been Jaime Garcia, who has gone given up just five runs in his three starts since Cincinnati, going 2-1 over that span.

Maybe some of the blame can be placed on the front office. After all, they traded Ryan Ludwick in an effort to acquire Jake Westbrook, basically swapping a slugging outfielder for a starting pitcher, something they already have a plethora of. They traded a need for a luxury. In fact, this trade may be the root of the problem. Granted, Ludwick has cooled off considerably since moving to PetCo Park, a notorious pitchers’ haven. His average has dropped to .221, and he his OPS has dropped to .649, well below his .280/.350/.512 line from 2007-09 with the Cardinals. Conversely, Westbrook is 1-3 with a 4.03 ERA. However, his WHIP, H/9, BB/9, and HR/9 are all lower than they’ve ever been, while his strikeout rates are also career bests. While Westbrook has been good, he just hasn’t helped the Cardinals win.

The final piece to this trade is not a player who departed or arrived, but Jon Jay, who took over for Ludwick in right field. Since the trade, Jay has batted .266, with just one home run. Now that his abnormal .440+ BAbip has mellowed to .308 for the month, we have a truer sense of what type of player Jay is: a backup outfielder, one that the organization placed too much faith in by trading their regular starter because they though Jay could handle the job.

However, here’s the real kicker. In their 17 game slump, St. Louis has won games by three, four, nine, eight, and two runs. However, only one of their losses has been by more than three runs. That gives them a Pythagorean Win-Loss Record of 9-8 over that span, a far cry from their actual 5-12 record. All this shows us is that they’ve lost several close games.

In fact, they’ve left 7.6 runners on base each game, as opposed to a 7.1 number for the rest of the season (which includes the 20-inning game in which the Cardinals left 22 runners on). Here’s where it gets bad. Ryan Ludwick bats .389 with runners in scoring position, and .308 with two outs, and an amazing .429 with two outs and RISP. Jon Jay, by comparison, bats .356 with runners in scoring position. Jay also bats .189 with two strikes. The difference was never more visible than today, when Jay grounded out to the pitcher with the bases loaded to end the Cardinals’ scoring threat.

Can we say that Ludwick would’ve gotten a hit there? Not for sure. But with Ryan Ludwick, the Cardinals would not be leaving 7.6 men on base each game. Whether you blame the front office, the offense, Jay in particular, or Tony LaRussa, whose lack of a consistent lineup card and insistence to keep Colby Rasmus out of the lineup has infuriated Cardinals fans and writers, one thing is clear: if they don’t turn this around soon, they’ll be watching the playoffs from their couches.

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The Cincinnati Reds are the hottest team in baseball.  They are playing well and getting contributions from everyone on the roster, in addition to have the National League’s best player in Joey Votto.  They entered the final day of August with a six-game lead in the NL Central.

And now they welcome a new member to the bullpen who consistently sends the radar gun into triple digits…

The long-awaited Major League debut of Aroldis Chapman took place last night at Great American Ball Park.  Ironically, fire alarms were sounded at the stadium shortly after he arrived.  Expectations were high and the man dubbed the “Cuban Missile” did not disappoint.

Chapman entered the game in the eighth inning with the Reds holding an 8-3 lead over the Brewers.  The first pitch he threw was a fastball clocked at 98 mph.  He topped out at 102 mph and retired the side in order.

Chapman throws as hard as anyone I have ever seen.  However, the actual velocity of his pitches is not the most impressive thing to me.  His off-speed stuff was flat nasty.  After seeing a fastball north of 100 mph, a breaking pitch that bites that much is almost impossible to hit.

Though Chapman admitted after the game to being nervous, you couldn’t tell during his time on the mound.  He threw eight pitches, seven for strikes.

Baseball can be a very humbling game.  It is important that Reds fans remember that this is a 22-year old kid.  However, he is as talented as anyone I have ever seen.

Read more at Reds Country.

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In a much publicized battle of the aces, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Dan Haren matched Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez pitch for pitch. Neither backed down.

After the two aces hit the showers, Seattle capitalized, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Angels, 3-1.

For seven innings, Haren and Hernandez gave the crowd at Safeco Field an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel, tossing goose eggs until both tired after seven innings. Haren scattered seven hits and struck out eight, throwing 110 pitches, while Hernandez threw a gem of his own, giving up just three hits and striking out eight, throwing 103 pitches.

In the top of the eighth, the Angels scratched across a run. After Peter Bourjos struck out swinging, Alberto Callaspo doubled to left. Howie Kendrick then laced a double to left field, the ball bouncing into the stands for a ground-rule double, plating Callaspo with the game’s first run.

Bobby Abreu was then intentionally walked, putting runners on first and second. Torii Hunter ended the threat, grounding into a double play to end the inning.

Seattle answered in the bottom of the frame, and then some. Kevin Jepsen (2-4) replaced Haren on the mound. After Franklin Guitierrez struck out swinging, Russell Branyan walked. Matt Tuiasosopo pinch ran for Branyan, and was moved to third on a Jose Lopez single to center.

Casey Kotchman then walked, loading the bases for Michael Saunders. Saunders delivered with a single to center, scoring Tuiasosopo and evening the game at 1-1. Adam Moore followed with a broken bat single just over the reach of Howie Kendrick, scoring Lopez, and Josh Wilson followed suit, singling to center to score Kotchman.

Mariners closer David Aardsma came on to put down the Angels in the top of the ninth, earning his 26th save of the season.

Brandon League (9-6) got the win, despite giving up the first and only run to the Angels.

The Angels will look to take the rubber match of the three-game series on Wednesday night, sending Trevor Bell (1-4, 5.07 ERA) to the hill versus the Mariners’ Jason Vargas (9-7, 3.53 ERA).

You can contact Doug on Twitter, @desertdesperado.

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Hindsight is 20/20.

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For the past few weeks or so, the Giants starting pitching has been the subject of much criticism. The blame for the Giants’ dismal 12-15 August record has been placed upon this quintet.

The hitting was doing fine: Sanchez, Sandoval, and Torres were heating up, and Guillen, Burrell, Huff, and Uribe were providing jolts of offense here and there. But on Monday, the hitting fell silent. The Giants managed to get just four hits, and nine different Giants struck out at least once.

Jonathan Sanchez pitched the Giants’ second quality start in a row, going eight innings and giving up just one earned run, while striking out six. His control was spectacular (two walks). He came out to pitch the ninth, with a 1-0 lead, and promptly walked Dexter Fowler.

Bruce Bochy then put Wilson in the game. Carlos Gonzalez hit a fly ball that appeared to be playable by Cody Ross, but he took a quick first step, and failed to recover from it as the ball sailed over his head.

Fowler rounded the bases scoring easily, and Gonzalez dug for three. Ross relayed the ball to Freddy Sanchez, who threw a two-hopper to Pablo Sandoval. As Carlos Gonzalez was sliding into third, he slid into the ball, causing it to roll into the stands, and giving him a free pass home.

The Giants would not recover  from the 2-1 deficit, although Posey smoked a ball back at the pitcher, and Huff hit a deep fly ball to the warning track in the bottom of the ninth.

The Giants just can’t seem to get things going at the same time: when their pitching is great, their hitting fails to support it; and vice versa.

It’s going to take a decent hot streak to get this Giants team back in the playoff race.

Tomorrow: Bumgarner will get the start. He should do fine. They’ll face Esmil Rogers, whose ERA is 5.66; if the Giants lose this game…it’s totally over. But they can’t lose that game. There’s no way they are that bad.

The big question is what Tim Lincecum does in his start against the Rockies. If Lincecum can’t prove that he’s capable of performing for this Giants’ team, the Giants are skating on thin ice.

The facts are, though, that the Giants remain just 1.5 games back in the NL Wild Card. It’s a completely manageable deficit. The Padres have lost five in a row, so now’s where the Giants need to take advantage. They have all of the tools to succeed, they just need to get them all working at the same time.

There is still hope; but the Giants need to play like they did in July; not like they have played in August.

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