Game 53 recap - Take it and run

This has been one of the weirdest series I can remember.  Four days, two countries, and an excess of runs, pitchers, and errors.  I’m sure both teams are glad to be done with it, but things don’t get any easier for the Blue Jays with game on the west coast tomorrow night.  The news is better for the Braves, who see six games against a beat up Washington club and everyone’s Cinderella, the Pittsburgh Pirates.

As far as I can tell, tonight was karmic retribution for last night’s game.  Seemingly every grounder, blooper, and line drive seemed to find a hole for the Braves.  Mike Minor looked fantastic, much better than his line suggests.  His changeup had a lot of fade, and he was changing levels effectively with his fastball, consistently touching 91.  Had Andrelton Simmons not committed his second error of the series in the sixth inning, Minor may have worked deeper in the game.  He is establishing himself as the best pitcher on the staff, and one of the best young lefties in the league. 

Walden and Wood finished it up, with Walden dominating the eighth, and Wood getting the benefit of an eight run lead on a team that has to fly to San Diego in three hours to close it out.  He looks intriguing, and I am 

excited to see him in a more meaningful situation.

These types of series always seem to give the Braves trouble, so a split is nice to see going in to a big series against a scuffling Washington team.  The Nationals are a .500 team at the one-third point of their season, something that even the most skeptical fan could not have possibly predicted.  I do think they are capable of playing better, both immediately and long-term, but if the Braves can win two of three and go 6.5 games up, it’s means they have to be seven games better than the Braves in ~100 games.  That may prove difficult.