Running Thoughts: Hammel vs. Lowe

Here I was all prepared for a 6:05 CT first pitch only to discover the Braves are doing the 35 after first pitch.  I'd like to say that's annoying but I can only imagine how annoyed fans are by the Rockies 40 after first pitch time.  Of course nothing tops the White Sox 7:11 start times.

Now I have to find something productive to do with my next 30 minutes... like laundry, or exercise.

Bleh.

Oh, and there is some good news on the injury/flu front.  Brad Hawpe and Todd Helton are both in the lineup in their customary spots.  Carlos Gonzalez is available for pinch-hit duty and could start a game in this series.  All very positive things.  Now hopefully yesterday's debacle served as a wake-up call and we see a whole different team out there tonight.

Update: My only productive activity in the last half hour was getting the mail.  Now it's time for baseball in Atlanta!

1st Inning

• No fistings tonight in Atlanta.  Chip has the night off.  Joe Simpson and John Smoltz on the call.  
• Dexter rips a lead-off double from the left side.  Exactly what he needed.  
• Todd Helton looked like a guy with the flu that AB... or at least it made me ill.  
• Rockies kill their own rally with a couple strikeouts and a caught stealing.  That's costly against Lowe, who tends to get better as the game goes along.  
• Hammel loads the bases with one out.  I believe Mets loaded the bases all nine innings yesterday.  
• Hammel makes a CLUTCH 3-2 pitch to get the inning ending DP.  

2nd Inning

• Alanna Rizzo makes her first appearance of the inning.  Big fan.  
• Lowe really settled down in the second.  That's bad news.  
• If you're getting your first look at Jason Heyward, you're going to be impressed, and then you're going to get really nervous about facing this guy for the next 18 years.  
• Ho-hum.  Three straight singles to start Atlanta's second.  Braves on the board first.  
• If three ball counts meant anything good then Hammel would be rolling right now.  Unfortunately, three ball counts suck and lead to Matt Belisle in about the 4th inning Manny Corpas in the 2nd inning.  
• Bases loaded.  Duh.  
• When you have a three ball count on every fricking batter, some plays won't get made.  
• Bases reloaded.  Five in for the Braves.  
• One more knock scores two more.  I lost track of who was batting.  Braves send 1,000 men to the plate, bat for 35 minutes, score a touchdown.  @#&@)&$
• Braves 7, Rockies 0

3rd Inning

• Eight in a row for Lowe.  Let's see how many innings we can keep that rhyme alive.
• Drew and George now discussing John Smoltz's golf handicap.  Only six innings to go.  
• We need an impromptu email the booth night.  
• Rockies intentionally walk Chipper Jones to load the bases down 7-0.  My head hurts.  
• Braves only get one!  
• Braves 8, Rockies 0

4th Inning

• On the BOARD.  Brad Hawpe doubles home Tulo!  Too bad for the Helton GIDP... and the eight runs Atlanta has.  
• Corpas retires Heyward.  Drops his average to .667 against Colorado.  
• Nice 1-2-3-4 inning by Corpas.  Melky Cabrera reached on a "dropped" third strike by Iannetta.  
• Braves 8, Rockies 1

5th Inning

• Seth Smith pinch hits for Manny Corpas... hits a three-run bomb to right.  Sweet piece of pinch-hitting.  
• PS: Awesome job overall by Manny.  
• Joe Beimel debuts, but can't back up the three spot with a zero.  Chipper flips to the right and hits one out to left.  
• Braves 9, Rockies 4

6th Inning 

• Derek Lowe exits at 100 pitches with one out in the sixth.  He wasn't awesome, but he's in line for a win barring a Rockie miracle.  
• Clint Barmes draws his second walk of the game.  Even Drew Goodman points out how odd this is.  
• Mora down on three pitches with two runners on.  Good chance that was the last real gasp of life we'll see.  
• Braves limited to one baserunner each of the last three innings.  Rockies bullpen, for the second day in a row, keeping an embarrassing game from becoming historically pathetic.  

7th Inning

• Rockies putting up a very admirable effort tonight.  Hammel sucked, yes, but it's not a team wide suckage.  Tulo doubles home a run to get it within four again.  
• Matt Belisle puts a couple more on base, for comfort reasons I'm sure, and escapes the inning without a dent.
• Braves 9, Rockies 5

8th Inning

• Rockies can't touch Kris Medlen in the top half.  
• Randy Flores matches in the bottom.  Fastest inning of the game by a country mile.

9th Inning

• CarGo returns to pinch-hit.  This means he must be healthy now.  If not, one tweak and you've lost your retroactive DL date.  
• Spilborghs with his third hit.  The reward?  A likely return to the bench tomorrow night.  
• Nothing doing here.  Rockies drop this one and fall to 5-5 on the early season, which is exactly where they belong.  
• Final: Braves 9, Rockies 5
• Another unhappy recap to follow.