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BRAVES NEWS
Despite positive start from Ryan Weber, Braves get blanked
Ryan Weber pitched just about as well as you could hope for when it comes to a guy making his major league debut. Weber only gave up two runs over six innings of work, which is extremely solid considering the expecations. With that being said, this was one of those "lol no" nights for the Braves offense, as Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola absolutely dominated the Braves' bats, and the Phillies ended up winning 5-0.
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Fredi has reportedly "lost the clubhouse"
Despite the fact that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez recently inked a contract extension, it appears that if things keep on going the way they are (and things are getting really, really ugly), he may not be able to enjoy the benefits of said extension. According to a report from Ken Rosenthal, team confidence in Fredi is waning to the point where he's "lost the clubhouse" at this point. Does this mean that a managerial change is coming soon? Or will a certain legendary former manager come in to save the day again for Fredi? We'll have to see.
Braves have a shot at making a bit of ugly history
The second half of this season has been extremely ugly for our Braves. However, it could end up being historically ugly if things continue to get worse. If the Braves end up losing 100 games by the end of the season, they'll be the first team to accomplish this feat of futility despite having been at .500 (42-42) so late into the season. It's nasty history, but it's history!
To their discredit, these Braves have positioned themselves to make a special memory. They could become the first team in baseball history to lose 100 games after being .500 more than halfway through a season.
We say again: The first team in baseball history.
Credit reader Jimmy Smith for posing the question. After two hours of clicking around on Baseball Reference, I had the answer. The Braves were 42-42 through July 7. No 100-game loser – I checked the game-by-game results of each, dating back to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, the first team to crack triple figures in L’s – has been anywhere close to .500 so deep into a season.
Only one 100-game loser was within even eight games of .500 with 84 played – the 1961 Washington Senators, technically an expansion team because the incumbent Senators moved to Minnesota, were 38-46. They finished 61-100.
Braves will open 2016 season vs. Nats, end it vs. Tigers
Baseball released its tentative schedule for 2016 (and isn't it refreshing that they just released the schedule instead of wasting 1-2 hours of television time with a superfluous schedule show?), and the Braves will kick off their final season at Turner Field against the Washington Nationals. That'll be the start of what has the potential to be a rough opening month for the Braves. Meanwhile, they'll close the Ted with an interleague series against the Detroit Tigers.
MLB NEWS
Mets come back from being down 7-1 to stun Nationals
Last night in Washington, the Nationals were having a merry ol' time against the Mets as they were nursing a 7-1 lead heading into the seventh inning of this particular game. That was when the wheels came off big time for the Nats, and the division-leading Mets pulled off an improbable comeback. By the end of that frame, the Mets had scored six runs to tie it up, and by the end of the top of the eighth inning, a home run by Kirk Nieuwenhuis (of all people) put the Mets in the lead for good. New York is now six games ahead of the Nationals in the standing, as they're beginning to make up some of the ground that they conceded to Washington over the weekend.
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Huddy shuts down the Diamondbacks and hits a dinger as Giants win
Tim Hudson is currently in the midst of his final month as a major league ballplayer, but judging by his performance on Tuesday night against Arizona, you'd think that he'd have a little bit more left in the tank. Huddy only gave up one run over six innings of work, and he also did something that we know he loves very, very dearly: He smashed a dinger.
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