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Archives Division Series: Saturday, October 4th, 2003

Atlanta Braves at Chicago Cubs, 4 PM ET (Game 4)

Russ Ortiz against Matt Clement is the most favourable pitching match-up for the Braves in this series. Even if the Braves win, Mike Hampton against Kerry Wood isn't a matchup Bobby Cox should like. When the Braves chose Hampton to start game 2 instead of Maddux, it decreased the number of potential righthanded starters the Cubs will have to face this series.



Matt Clement (2002/2003)
versusABHHRTBWKHBPSBCSOBPSLGK pctW pct
right79816821268662211688.284.336.251.076
left7001631926198165442.330.373.206.123

Matt Clement is a solid pitcher, but doesn't have quite the stuff the other 3 have. That difference might be just enough to allow the Braves hitters, particulaly Larry (Chipper) Jones to make solid contact.



Atlanta Braves versus Righthanded Pitchers (2002/2003)
PlayerABH2B3BHRWKSBCSHBPavgobpslg
R Furcal10312994616177614845156.290.342.415
M Giles59518154320659413511.304.383.506
L Jones87927757347162139743.315.423.547
J Lopez63917931341471190211.280.340.531
A Jones9432595025810421411414.275.355.516
J Franco179548151743300.302.362.441
V Castilla88522345527341345310.252.287.406
D Bragg3007418232775621.247.311.350
pitcher

notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.

Gary Sheffield's hand must have swollen up overnight. He's out of the starting lineup and that's a huge blow to the Braves chances. Julio Franco starts his first game, which means one fewer lefthanded batter.

The Braves offence has to break out this game. Two of the four division series pitted great offenses against great pitching; right now it looks like the pitching will go 2 and 0.

Russ Ortiz (2002/2003)
versusABHHRTBWKHBPSBCSOBPSLGK pctW pct
right82217321281 921678199.296.342.181.101
left763195112771041190103.345.363.137.120

Ortiz had an off game in the opener and I think he'll be much more effective this time around. In game 1, he faced 27 batters, struck out 7 and walked 3, Of the 17 balls in play, 3 became double plays, but 8 others fell in for hits. I don't imagine that that will repeat itself. He'll be the first starter to work on 3 days' rest in the playoffs.

Chicago Cubs versus Righthanded Pitchers (2002/2003)
PlayerABH2B3BHRWKSBCSHBPavgobpslg
K Lofton8352414912221019553141.289.366.455
M Grudzielanek8072324519271259212.287.320.379
S Sosa86723235171111240208.268.356.556
M Alou80721041029841041016.260.334.419
A Ramirez86821645226561534216.249.306.395
E Karros6471652511937103325.255.300.385
A Gonzalez8111934932962211449.238.299.413
P Bako3678818 443980031.240.314.343
pitcher                

notes: OBP is calculated without including sac flies (H+W+HBP)/(AB+W+HBP); player in red indicates the batter is at a platoon disadvantage.

Would it be Simon or Karros at first base? Karros doesn't hit righthanders well but got 2 hits in game 1; Simon's defence is significantly worse and BAker may decide to go with run prevention, counting on his bullpen to win the game late. Not starting Simon allows Baker to use him as a pinch-hitter in a possible game-breaking sitaution.

Posted by robertdudek on Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 04:06 AM EDT.
Division Series: Saturday, October 4th, 2003 | 11 comments | Create New Account
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 04:59 PM EDT (#89134) #
Agreed that Simon is more useful as a pinch-hitter than wearing a glove, but Dusty probably is aware that Karros, a long-time divisional rival, is 10-for-27 off Ortiz. Grudzielanek is 11-for-28, and Aramis Ramirez, who popped out on a 3-2 to end the first, was 4-for-10 with two doubles and a homer.
[ Reply to This ]
_A - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 05:21 PM EDT (#89135) #
The strike zone this afternoon is brutal. I was sure we were seeing Cuzzi but the boxscore says it's Larry Young. From the first pitch the zone has been inconsistent at best but luckly we're seeing great discipline from the hitters and the pitchers.

Nice toss by Bocco and a heads up play by Gonzalez to get a stranded Ortiz at 2nd for the 2-6 pick off.
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 05:26 PM EDT (#89136) #
Russ Ortiz has to be embarrassed; great call by the Cubs to put on the second-base pickoff play if Giles missed the bunt attempt. The Braves, after Marcus' deep fly to right, would have had runners on first and third with one out, instead of on first with two away.

Clement, who was obviously limping after covering first base, is all over the place this inning and may not last long. he does have excellent stuff, but his command is sporadic.
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 05:39 PM EDT (#89137) #
Larry played that two-out Alou RBI double like the wall was covered with poison ivy. Ball four to Sosa looked pretty good, I must admit, but the run counts.
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 06:46 PM EDT (#89138) #
It's been all Atlanta since the fourth; they've scored four times (two on a L. Jones HR) and left several other men on base. But the Cubbies have a dozen outs left, and Ortiz may not be able to get his team into Smoltz time, so it's still interesting.
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 06:59 PM EDT (#89139) #
About a minute after that last post, Karros ripped a hanger for a solo HR and then Ortiz walked Alex Gonzalez (that's not easy) so he's done. However, the Braves' bullpen did a nice job against Dusty's pinch-hitters to keep it at 4-2 through six.
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 07:36 PM EDT (#89140) #
What a classless play by Robert Fick. Was he ejected? He should have been. Hell, he should be suspended. You don't run into first basemen with intent to injure; accidental collisions happen over there, but that was deliberate.
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Dave Till - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 07:45 PM EDT (#89141) #
I agree entirely. It was a classless play and a dumb one. After all, he plays first base, so revenge will be easy to exact, if desired.
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Coach - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 08:27 PM EDT (#89142) #
The Braves won the battle, but they may have lost the war. John Smoltz, obviously suffering with every pitch, gave up two doubles and a warning-track shot to Sosa for the final out, then was in too much pain to celebrate or even shake hands. There's no way he's available to pitch tomorrow night.
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_Donkit R.K. - Saturday, October 04 2003 @ 11:19 PM EDT (#89143) #
I gotta admire John Smoltz for that performance, but I also gotta question it. If the Braves move on the the LCS, Hopefully Smoltz sits until the Braves are on the brink of elimination and they really need to pull out all the stops. Not that I'd be cheering for the Braves, but I'd hate to see Smoltz's guts get in the way of the rest of his career.
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_snellville jone - Sunday, October 05 2003 @ 12:10 PM EDT (#89144) #
This is just a guess here, but I have a feeling that Smoltz's arm is damaged beyond repair at this point. I think the good doctor in Alabama told him so, and like a man dying of lung cancer, he's gonna smoke until that final day. He's been very philosophical about this playoff run, saying, "If we do not win it all, this team is going to change greater than it's ever changed." We won't know for sure until after the season, but we may look back at this as being one of the most courageous act performed in all of baseball.
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Division Series: Saturday, October 4th, 2003 | 11 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.