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Winning Uggla

The Washington Nationals won a 13 inning, rain delayed game against the Braves Monday night, walking off with a 5-4 win. They didn’t get the ball out of the infield in the final inning:

Ian Desmond led off the 13th with an infield single off Cristhian Martinez (5-3) before Espinosa tried to bunt and hit into a forceout. Kurt Suzuki then hit a slow roller for an infield hit, allowing Espinosa to take third.

With the infield in, Tracy hit a ball to Braves second baseman Dan Uggla, who appeared confused and instead of either trying to get Espinosa at the plate or attempting to turn a double play, he fumbled it, and Espinosa scored the game-winner.

Uggla was initially given an error before it was changed to a single for Tracy.

Espinosa going first to third on an infield single (I assume he was running on the pitch) turned out to be the biggest play in the inning.

The Nationals now lead the NL East by six games, and the league by 2 1/2 games as Cincinnati lost to Philadelphia 12-5. Finishing with the best record in the league would give Washington home field throughout the playoffs, and would mean they play the wild card team in the first round. With the extra wild card game, that should be a big first-round advantage.

And That Happened: Monday’s scores and highlights

Nationals 5, Braves 4: I suppose you can yell at Dan Uggla for messing up the play with the infield in and a runner on third in the 13th inning which allowed the winning run to score. But perhaps it’s also worth noting that the Braves played perhaps their most important game to date, in…

Braves Sign Lyle Overbay

The Braves signed first baseman Lyle Overbay to a minor league contract, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (on Twitter). Overbay, who was released by the Diamondbacks earlier this month, will report to Triple-A Gwinnett for now and join the Braves when rosters expand in September.

Overbay earns $1MM this year, but he’ll only cost the Braves a pro-rated portion of the MLB minimum salary. The 35-year-old posted a .292/.367/.448 batting line in 110 plate appearances with Arizona this year. Manager Kirk Gibson made sure to limit Overbay’s exposure to left-handed pitching (95 plate appearances vs. RHP, 15 plate appearances vs. LHP).

Quick Hits: Red Sox, Cardinals, Giolito

Four teams have at least a 98% chance of reaching the postseason this year, according to Baseball Prospectus’ Playoff Odds Report. The Yankees, Rangers, Nationals and Reds look like playoff teams now, but they all saw what happened to the Braves and Red Sox last year, so I doubt any contending teams intend on coasting from this point on. Here are today’s links…

The Red Sox “weren’t trying very hard” to trade Josh Beckett before the non-waiver trade deadline, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. The Rangers and Braves are believed to be among the teams that spoke to Boston’s executives about Beckett, Heyman writes. One unnamed GM said “Boston’s first priority has to be to trade Josh Beckett” this August. Another executive suggested the Rangers could make sense for Beckett, who would have to be placed on waivers to be traded this month.
The Cardinals signed 16-year-old right-hander Ronald Medrano, Ben Badler of Baseball America reports. Medrano has touched 90-91 mph with his fastball and has shown good feel for his secondary pitches. He had been considered one of the top Nicaraguan prospects available, according to Badler.
Nationals first rounder Lucas Giolito re-injured his pitching elbow and will be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum, ESPN.com’s Keith Law reports. Giolito, who was at one point a candidate to be selected first overall, signed for $2.925MM after the Nationals drafted him 16th overall in June.

Chipper Jones calls Curt Schilling “a shock jock”

Fun times on talk radio: Curt Schilling suggested that Chipper Jones may not really want to retire and that he’d possibly come back with an AL team and DH next year. Chipper Jones went on 790 The Zone in Atlanta and shot that down rather sharply: Curt Schilling has thrown out the concept of you…

Fitting the Bill

Chad Billingsley pitches seven shutout innings against the Braves as the Dodgers win easily 5-0 Sunday afternoon. Chad stays on a roll, allowing one run or less in five of his last six starts, including three short shutouts. A Pittsburgh loss would put the Dodgers in the wild card second slot, and a Giants loss would give them the NL West lead.

Luis Cruz hit his fourth home run of the season in the fifth, the only run the Dodgers needed. He’s slugging .474 for the season in his limited time, giving the Dodgers a solid utility man on the infield.

Cafardo On Ellsbury, Bourn, Ross, Cook, Millwood

In today’s column, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes that despite the perception that Jacoby Ellsbury would like to leave Boston down the line, a source says that he would actually like to stay if at all possible. Neither side has asked the other to consider a long-term deal, but that could certainly change in the offseason. Here’s more from Cafardo..

In last week’s column, Cafardo wrote that Braves officials thought Michael Bourn would not re-sign when he becomes a free agent due to a less-than-stellar track record with Scott Boras clients. However, Boras told Cafardo that he has had an excellent relationship with General Manager Frank Wren and the club as a whole. The agent says he is not ruling out Atlanta at all and added that Bourn enjoys playing there.
The Red Sox are very interested in pursuing a new deal with Cody Ross, who will be coming off of a one-year, $3MM pact this winter. With many teams in need of a righthanded bat, he could likely net a Josh Willingham-type three-year, $21MM deal.
The Orioles, Nationals, and Dodgers may be among teams looking at Red Sox pitcher Aaron Cook now that he is on trade waivers.
Mariners pitcher Kevin Millwood has not been placed on trade waivers yet but he could be one of the more sought-after pitchers once he is. “He’s got ice water in his veins and he knows how to get big outs,” said a veteran scout. “A guy like that isn’t going to do the Mariners any good going forward but he could solidify a rotation.”
Cubs personnel are disappointed that Alfonso Soriano won’t waive his 10-and-5 rights to go to the Giants. The outfielder doesn’t want to play in a colder climate that could adversely affect his hitting.

Jair Jurrjens hospitalized for dehydration at Triple-A

Jair Jurrjens left his latest Triple-A start with dizziness and Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Braves right-hander was hospitalized overnight for dehydration. Jurrjens is at Triple-A rehabbing a groin injury as the Braves try to figure out what to do with him down the stretch. He threw 43 pitches before…

Chipper Jones is going out with a bang

You gotta go back to Will Clark, I guess, for the last time a guy had as good a final season as Chipper Jones is having. At least when he knew it was his final season beforehand. Jones hit two homers last night — the second of which was his 2,700th career hit — passing…

Shades of the 1990s

Kris Medlen of the Braves pitches a shutout Thursday evening, helping beat the Padres 6-0. He was in complete control during the game, giving up just five hits and no walks, while recording five strikeouts.

The Braves rotation is now on a 23-game run in which the they pitched outstanding baseball. Their record stands at 14-6 with a 2.33 ERA, walking just 34 while striking out 109. They’re averaging 6 1/3 innings a game, so the bullpen stays fresh. As a group they’ve allowed just 121 hits. They’re pretty much the equal of the Washington staff at this point.

It was Chipper Jones bobble head night, and Chipper hit two home runs. That gives him 466 for hits career, and he moves one past Dave Winfield for 32nd all time.

How will Melky Cabrera fare in free agency?

Now this is going to be extremely interesting. Melky Cabrera spent two-thirds of the 2012 season as one of the NL’s 10-best players. Although he’s going to miss the final 46 games after testing positive for enhanced testosterone levels, he has a decent chance of winning the batting title given his current .346 average, with…

And That Happened: Tuesday’s scores and highlights

It was shutout Tuesday, apparently. Let’s tally the goose eggs: Yankees 3, Rangers 0: Hiroki Kuroda with the two-hit shutout. He was masterful, but man, there were a lot of ill-advised Texas swings in the parts of this one I watched. Either Kuroda had them more fooled than someone on the foolingest day of his life [...]

And That Happened: Tuesday’s scores and highlights

It was shutout Tuesday, apparently. Let’s tally the goose eggs: Yankees 3, Rangers 0: Hiroki Kuroda with the two-hit shutout. He was masterful, but man, there were a lot of ill-advised Texas swings in the parts of this one I watched. Either Kuroda had them more fooled than someone on the foolingest day of his life [...]

Matt Diaz to undergo season-ending thumb surgery

Matt Diaz has been on the disabled list since mid-July with a right thumb injury and the Braves announced that the veteran outfielder will undergo season-ending surgery. Diaz told Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution that “we’ve given it pretty much every way to rest possible” before deciding on surgery, which carries a two-month…

The Slippery Slope

The Braves will go with a six man rotation for two weeks:

Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Monday he’ll pick the best five starters at the end of August. The Braves are in a stretch of playing 20 consecutive days before a day off on Aug. 30.

“After that, we’re going with five,” Gonzalez said. “Somebody is going to have to go to the bullpen and that’s just the way it is.”

Sure, that’s the way it starts. I’ll just do it for two weeks, then it becomes two months, then the entire league is using a six-man rotation. It’s best not to start. :-)

The Braves are going to a six-man rotation for a while

Lots of rotation weirdness this year. Six mans, four mans. Here’s another six-man: the Atlanta Braves. With Tommy Hanson coming off the disabled list, Fredi Gonzalez had to figure out who to bump. The most likely choices were Kris Medlen or Mike Minor, but given that everyone has pitched fairly well, Gonzalez has decided to…

Extension Candidate: Martin Prado

The Braves currently sit atop the NL Wild Card race thanks in large part to the impact and versatility of Martin Prado. The 28-year-old is hitting .295/.357/.416 with 30 doubles and 14 steals (in 16 attempts) while playing left field (88 games), third base (18 games), second base (four games), first base (three games), and shortstop (two games). Quite a bargain for $4.75MM.

Uspw_6380054 Last month we heard that the Braves want to sign Prado to a multiyear contract extension because they believe he is their long-term replacement for Chipper Jones at third base. The two sides have yet to start serious negotiations, however. Prado will be arbitration-eligible for the third and final time this offseason and is due to become a free agent following the 2013 campaign.

Given his unique career, it’s very tough to pin down Prado’s value relative to his peers. The best comparison may be Alex Gordon, who has also spent significant time at third base and in left field. He’s a career .268/.348/.437 hitter with 77 homers in over 2,800 plate appearances, and signed a four-year, $37.5MM extension (with a $12.5MM player option for a fifth year) back in Spring Training. He was due to become a free agent after 2013 as well.

Prado is a .294/.344/.431 career hitter with 47 homers in just over 2,600 career plate appearances, so he matches up well with Gordon in the OBP and SLG departments. Gordon had his big breakout season a year ago while Prado has been a bit more consistent, posting a 108 OPS+ four times in the last five seasons. Gordon has done it three times in his five-year career, but he’s also been demoted to the minors on a few occasions.

Because he's closer to free agency and has an All-Star Game nomination to his credit, Prado and his representatives at Peter E. Greenberg & Associates should have no problem asking for something north of Gordon's deal. Perhaps four years and $40-45MM makes sense for both parties, especially the team since it's easy to see him eclipsing that guarantee on the open market 15-16 months from now.

The Braves have shown a willingness to sign players to extensions in the middle of the season, most notably with Chipper years ago and David Ross back in 2010. Prado’s upcoming arbitration case figures to bump his salary up into the $7-8MM range next year, if not even higher. Given the impending free agency of Michael Bourn, Atlanta may want to act quickly to avoid potentially losing two core offensive pieces in back-to-back winters.

Photo courtesy of US Presswire.

And That Happened: Sunday’s scores and highlights

Blue Jays 10, Yankees 7: Holy frijole, did you see Rajai Davis’ catch, robbing Casey McGehee of a home run in the seventh? The guy is like 5”9″ and the wall is like ten feet and he went Spud Webb on that bad boy. Or Spiderman. Or something. Just wow. Otherwise, the Jays beat the tar out…

Close, But No Cigar

That had to be one of the most painful ninth innings I’ve seen. The Braves put five men on base by a walk or hit by pitch, cutting the Mets lead to 6-3. A double made it 6-5 before a dropped third strike led to a throw to first that barely got Jason Heyward for the third out.

Jonathon Niese pitched eight strong innings, throwing 106 pitches. The way things ended up, I bet Terry Collins wishes he had left Niese in for the ninth.

The Braves fail to capitalize on the end of the Nationals winning streak, and remain 4 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East.

Braves unlikely to re-sign center fielder Michael Bourn

Braves outfielder Michael Bourn has registered an impressive .291/.352/.424 slash line with 29 stolen bases and a career-high nine home runs over 524 plate appearances this season. But the impending free agent probably won’t be back in Atlanta in 2013. According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Braves “aren’t holding out much hope that they can…