Horacio 7-25
1st inning
-Jamey Carroll~ 2 pitches, got ahead in the count and Gary made a fabulous catch
-Jose Vidro~ got strike one again, I think he knows he can't be working behind, since he's so aggressive so far. 3rd pitch, 1-3 putout
-Orlando Cabrera~ another strike one, 0-2.. Horacio looks great so far!! 6-1 on the 3rd pitch.
Umm.. Ok, Welcome back Horacio! He looked GREAT, 8 pitch first, went 0-2 on Cabrera, Carroll swung and got out on strike 2, great way to bounce back. The inning lasted about a minute, very Maddux-esque. Oh, and the 'spos, though they swung early, the only pitches they swung at were their out pitches. I thought that was pretty cool. The took all the strikes.
2nd Inning
-Vladimir Guerrerro~ of course Vlady swung at the first pitch, foul. And on the second pitch, he hits a home run. There goes the no-no. hehe Vlady even had a Sosa like hop! Of course he went and got that pitch, I don't think he's ever had success with pitchers mistakes, he hits THEIR pitch.
-Wil Cordero~first pitch got a double. The pitch caught more of the plate than Horacio probably wanted.
-Brad Wilkerson~ also aggressive, swung and missed, to make it 0-1.. foul bunt, 0-2.. struck out swinging on a nasty slider. [haha I said that before Joe Simpson did]
-Jose Macias~ ball one. I wouldn't know how sharp Horacio has been this inning since the freakin Expos are jumpin so early in the count. Foul ball, 1-1. 5-3 no advancement by Cordero.
-Michael Barrett~ 2 balls to start off the count, to the walk him intentionally.
-Claudio Vargas~ ook Horacio this is the pitcher who is 0 for the season.. and you're not being aggressive! Ok, on the 6th pitch he lined out to Marcus.
Well, Horacio honey, I'm not quite sure what to say. It didn't seem like he pitched badly, Vladimir will hit a home run on a ball that has bounced in the first twice, so he can't possibly feel bad about that. He just looked like those 2 quick hits really got to him. Nice pitching though to get the strike out and the 2 outs.
3rd inning
-Jamey Carroll~ ball 1, I don't know if Horacio has the 'stuff' or confidence yet to be pitching behind in the count. 3 straight low balls.. BB on 4 straight, you can't do that with guys like Vidro, Cabrera, and Vlady coming up.
-Jose Vidro~ 2 straight pick off attempts, I hope he isn't distracted too much by Carroll to make good pitches to Vidro. Ball one, in the same place as the first 3 to Jamey. [Horacio, you have the most gorgeous eyes I have ever seen. Now throw a strike] 3-1 finally throws the first strike of the inning. Ball 4. dork.
-Orlando Cabrera~ Ok, so you walk the 1-2 guys just to get to their number 3 hitter? Please get a strike one Horacio.. thanks ;-) DUBBA PLAY BABY! Hehe! Go Horacio! Hello, momentum, welcome to the Braves! Good pitch to get the double play.
-Vladimir Guerrero~ ok there's no way to pitch around Vlady, are ya gonna go for it? 3-0 buddy. Not cool. Base on balls, third in the inning. Rami, baby, let me introduce you to the strike zone.
-Wil Cordero~ good, strike one =D Very exciting Horacio, to start off a hitter in this inning with strike one. Woo hoo! Uh oh, right down the middle, gives up one, but a 9-4-2 play gets Vlady out at home. 2-1 Expos lead.
Well that could have been horrible, and it wasn't. That's something to build on, obviously. Only one run and 3 walks?! That's whatcha call good luck and that is the sound of momentum switching sides ;-)
4th inning
-Brad Wilkerson~ Is Horacio back? He's working faster, he seems to slow down in the stretch. 1-3 Horacio u da bomb!
-Jose Macias~ Quick strike 1. Swing & a miss on a beautiful breaking ball. 4-3 on 3 pitches, thassmahboy!
-Michael Barrett~ base hit, not hit hard just through the positioning of Vinny & Furcal.
-Claudio Vargas~full count, rather tedious at bat. Horacio are you scared of Mr. Vargas? Base on balls for a hitter who is 0 for the season. That's his first walk this season, go figure.
-Jamey Carroll~ one of Horacios 5 walks, starts him of with a ball. Geez Rami, you looked so impressive to Wilkerson and Macias, a strike, and the crowd goes wild! F-9 hard hit.
That was confusing. Barrett gets a bad luck hit, and Horacio crumbles! It's like one little mistake and boom, bad Horacio. Pitchers need to be confidant, to be able to think 'psh, he can't hit me!' Horacio is just very up and down tonight.
5th inning
-Jose Vidro~ first pitch 1-3 woo hoo Horacio!
-Orlando Cabrera~ suddenly the home plate umpires strike zone got itsy bitsy. NICE strike one (after a 3-0 count) full count now. L-5 Go Horacio!
-Vladimir Guerrero~ He's got a FILTHY helmet. I'm talking nasty! 3-1.. Rami don't go back to yo old ways! F-9 YAY!!
Nice quick easy inning for Ramirez through the heart of their order. How come 2-3-4, with 2 all stars, is so simple, but 5-6-7-8-9-1 are difficult?! Oh well, nice inning lefty.
6th inning
-Wil Cordero~ strike one, woo. Gotta get ahead in the count! P-2 on the third pitch.
-Brad Wilkerson~ nice offspead pitch for strike 1. Weak 4-3 on the also on the third pitch.
-Jose Macias~ Was Jose always this bulky? Don't know why but I remember a scrawny guy. 1-2 again ahead in the count. Looks like he got away with a pitch on a foul ball b/c he got really riled up after it. Macias is taking his sweet time.. all good and well for a K! Second strike out for Horacio I believe.
Great inning! He was ahead of all 3 hitters when they got out. I hope this means he settling down. Now, let Los Bravos get some runs and reward Horacio for one heckuva battle through a few innings, and pure dominance through the remaining innings. Man it seems every time the Braves play Montreal it's a tight, exciting, well played game. Woo! Vinny got a home run! Yay! [And Furcal got a triple!]
7th inning
-Michael Barrett~ well I got a phone call that apparently couldn't wait, so all I saw was the last swing and a miss for a K.
-Henry Mateo~ pinch hitting for the pitcher, 6-3, I missed the bulk of this AB too. =X
-Jamey Carroll~ 5-3 on the third pitch.
Wow, Horacio got his groove back! He's looking more like the lefty I love! More comfortable, and confident.
8th inning
-Jose Vidro~ 2-0 c'mon don't get tired on me now! Ok, a called strike, 3-1. He's so quick when theres no one on base. F-9, not hit too hard.
-Orlando Cabrera~ double on the first pitch.
Horacio got taken out, so he couldn't pitch to Vlady. Ole reliable came in [hah] Kevin Gryboski. Ok, bud, you're 1-2 in saving Horacios bacon, can ya do it this time?! Haha! He made Vlady look U-G-L-Y on the first pitch!
Horacio finished STRONG, he looked absolutely swell :D After the rough innings, which he so spendidly got out of, he bounced back with some authority, retiring the last 11 until the Cabrera double. Nice outing, lets get a W.
KEVIN YOU SUCK! Gave up Horacios last run.
Ok, Skip said, barring a complete and total demise of our bullpen, Horacio would get the W. Well, there was a complete and total demise. I'm not happy.