 |
Winning at the Ted is Nice, but Braves Have to Start Winning on the Road as WellMay 30th, 2008
|
With two months of the 2008 season almost in the books, two important factors have become abundantly clear: the Braves play extremely well at Turner Field and generally stink when they play on the road. They find themselves sitting on a 28-24 record and 2 ½ games out of first place in the NL East. They just finished an 8-3 home stand, taking 2 out of 3 from the Oakland Athletics, a four-game sweep of the division rival New York Mets and a four-game split with the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks.
During that stretch, the Braves were able to beat Brandon Webb, Johan Santana and the resurgent Randy Johnson. Not an easy task by any team. Webb – the best pitcher in the National League and arguably all of baseball – was dealt just his second loss of the year. Santana – the Mets’ high priced acquisition this past off-season – hasn’t been able to shut down the Braves yet. And Johnson, who once threw a no-hitter against the Braves in his prime, pitched brilliantly, but one mistake proved to be one too many.
The Braves are 22-7 at the Ted this season, which is good for the best home record in the NL and second best in the major leagues, only to the Boston Red Sox (21-5). However, they are 6-17 on the road, which is the worst in all of baseball. If the Braves hope to win the NL East this season and make any noise in the playoffs, they have to find a way to win a lot more games on the road. They started a six-game road trip yesterday against the Milwaukee Brewers and lost the first game of that three-game series 3-2. The Brewers were able to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning off a sacrifice fly. It was a crushing loss for the Braves, who led 2-1 in the eighth inning, behind the usually stellar Tim Hudson.
The Braves have lost 13 of 14 one-run games and are a pathetic 0-10 in one-run games on the road this season. Third baseman Chipper Jones (.365) is the only Brave hitting over .300 away from Turner Field. So, what’s the problem? “I’m lobbying for us to take our white [home uniform] jerseys on the road and hang them up in the lockers even if we don’t wear them,” right fielder Jeff Francoeur joked to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. “In all seriousness, we’ve got to get playing better on the road. We don’t want to keep building momentum at home and then go 2-4 on the road.”
Well said, but easier said than done if the Braves wish to turn their road woes into some quality road wins. Here’s a look at some of the numbers: the Braves are hitting .306 at home and .251 on the road. At home, they have scored a collective 156 runs, while only plating 85 runs on the road. They have 151 RBI’s at the Ted and 79 RBI’s on the road. Every Braves hitter – regardless of position – is hitting lower on the road than at home. The disparity between these statistics is alarming. Having good mojo and consistency at home is one of the many things that every team – professional or collegiate – strives for.
Teams are expected to protect their home turf, not allow opponents to come into their territory and outplay them. One of the advantages to this philosophy is that other teams don’t think that they can go into another city and come out with a sweep. No team strives to be a pushover. The Braves have shown that they can handle opponents and excellent pitching at Turner Field. That being said, during the course of a long season, the Braves have got to start taking the same mentality they use at home on the road with them. If they manage to make the playoffs, they have to show other teams that they can be a force to reckon with on the road. Sometimes, they have just been unlucky – like last night. However, no matter what the issues are away from Atlanta, the Braves will look a lot scarier if they don’t end every road trip with a sour taste in their mouths.
**CORRECTION** - There was an incorrect statement I made in the article titled “Chipper Jones is Healthy & Blistering Hot.” At the end of the sixth paragraph, I wrote that once Jones reaches 400 homers, he would be the all-time league leader in that category for a switch-hitter. That was a huge mistake. Mickey Mantle had 536 homers and Eddie Murray had 504 homers. I was thinking of active switch-hitters when I wrote that sentence. My apologies to the Braves Nation and I’ll try to not let it happen again.
Related Posts
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.