Taking in a Braves Game

Ronald Acuna, Jr. draws a walk to load the bases.  The Braves didn't score this time.  The crowd gravitated toward the parts of the stadium that were in the shade.  It was a really hot, humid afternoon.

My daughter and I took in a Braves game yesterday.  She had asked about going to one several weeks ago.  We have always connected on baseball and softball, among other things.  It was a fun time for both of us and the game was definitely a good one to watch.

The Braves beat the Miami Marlins 4-3 in what ended up being a tense game.  We lucked up and got to see the recently signed free agent Dallas Keuchel pitch a decent game.  It was 4-0 when he left after throwing 7.1 innings.  He scattered five hits while striking out 4 against only one walk.  That walk is what took him out of the game, bringing in the wobbly Braves bullpen to make the game closer than it ever should have been.

What impresses me most about Keuchel is he throws strikes.  He rarely pitches behind in the count.  He is able to locate his pitches well.  He doesn't have that many deep counts, which keeps the ball in play (if he doesn't strike the batter out) and that always helps the defense play better.  Although he doesn't have the numbers to indicate it compared with some of the other Braves starters, I feel his stats will still be impressive by the end of the season.  He is essentally the Braves ace after starting only four games thus far.

Avery (so named after former Braves pitcher Steve Avery) and I arrived at the game a few minutes before the gates opened.  It rained on us a little bit but we managed to get to our seats remaining dry.  The first order of business was hot dogs and beers.  Hefty foot-longs were a mere $10.50 each.  Regular size beers were $7 each.  But a big part of seeing a ball game is having hot dogs and beer so I shrugged off the price and we enjoyed ourselves as the crowd slowly started to filter in.

I made sure to get tickets on the first base side because that part of the stadium gets shade in the daytime and is also under the partial roof.  Which turned out to be a good thing, not only because we were out of the sun on an afternoon when the heat index approached 100 degrees but also because the start of the game was delayed 25 minutes due to rain.  We stayed in the dry and had a great view looking down on home plate as shown in the photo above. 

Avery and me just before the game started.

In addition to Keuchel's good start, we got to see the power of Josh Donaldson, who hit a two-run homer to right-center field.  It was Donaldson's 200th career home run.  So congratulations to him.  He started the season slowly offensively but has picked his game up a couple of notches in the past month.  I expect solid production from him from here on out.  He is also an very good defensive 3rd baseman, so he can help on both sides of the ball.

By far, the biggest play of the game was not a batting or pitching achievement.  It was a fielding play made by Charlie Culberson in the 9th inning to preserve the win.  Luke Jackson entered the 9th to nail down a save for Keuchel's effort.  Not entirely due to his own doing, the Marlins nevertheless loaded the bases with nobody out.  It looked as if they would certainly tie the game, if not go ahead of the Braves.  It would have really sucked to have led for so long and to see Keuchel's good pitching wasted by our inconsistent so-called closer. 

But that's not what happened.   The Marlins brought in a pinch-hitter who lifted the ball out to Culberson in left field.  (Culberson had entered the game as a defensive substitution in the 8th inning.)  It was deep enough to tie the game.  The runner would tag at third on the catch and run toward home plate.  Culberson's was positioned properly, he was running toward the plate as he caught the ball.  He then threw toward the plate with everything he had, falling to the field after his throw.  The ball zipped toward Braves catcher Brian McCann.  It was a perfect throw and the Marlin runner was tagged out at the plate by the slimmest of margins.  A double play.

The crowd went wild.  McCann roared from the plate, walking up the 3rd base line and pointing his mitt at Culberson.  That's the loudest I've yelled at a ballgame in several years, just a fantastic play.  Jackson managed to get the final out and preserve the win but the "save" should have really gone to Culberson, not Jackson.  The Braves need to find a true closing pitcher.  That is probably the weakest part of their team.

At any rate it was a good game and a fun day to spend with my daughter.  We both enjoyed ourselves. 

The Braves are 54-37 as we go into the All-Star Break, the second best record in the National League.  Even though they have some weaknesses, it is hard to complain about that kind of record.  I'm hoping they can keep it up over the season's final 71 games.  A long way to go yet.

You can see Donaldson's homer, Keuchel's pitching effort, and Culberson's outstanding defensive play on videos here.

As you approach the stadium from parking lots 9 and 11 the first statue you come to is one of Warren Spahn, who pitched for the Braves in Boston and Milwaukee and won more games than any other leftie in major league history.

You gotta have a hot dog and a beer at the ball game.  These foot-longs were hefty and tasty and, like most Braves concessions, expensive.