Extra, Extra

 2  1  F/10

What a waste.

The Bucs need Paul Maholm to go a long way and give them a big outing. He did all of that and more. Maholm went 7 IP, giving up 1 ER on 9H, 0 BB and 8 K. He was absolutely awesome, pitching out of jams by making huge pitches all night. But, as has oft been the case, he got no help. The Bucs were too interested in trying to steal a base every time we had a man on to notice what Maholm was doing. It was really a frustrating spectacle to watch.

While the defense committed no errors, I wouldn't call their overall performance stellar. My (least) favorite player, Xavier Paul, bobbled a single to left and then kicked the ball towards the infield, allowing Martin Prado to score from second uncontested. That should have never happened, though, as Kdro was unable to come up with a dribbler that should have been a routine double play ball. Steve Pearce, one of the internal reinforcements who was projected to help lead the offensive resurrection, almost killed Maholm when he was covering 1st on a grounder. Walker attempted to help Maholm up, but he brushed Neil off, glaring at Pearce the entire team.

While the defense was mediocre, the offense was indescribable. Walker notched a 2 out single in the 1st and Cutch followed with a walk, bringing up Kdro with 2 on and 2 out. After taking a ball, Alvarez swung at two pitches out of the zone, only to watch a very hittable strike three sail past him. Pearce started off the 2nd with a fly ball to right that was dropped, allowing him to reach 2nd base with 0 outs. Brandon Wood struck out, failing to advance the runner, Eric Fryer flied out to right, and Maholm struck out on a called strike 3 that he was not given when he was on the mound. Xavier Paul lead off the 3rd with an IF single, only to be quickly nabbed trying to predictably steal second. The Braves were so confident he was going that they pitched out. Unreal.

Kdro actually drew a 1 out walk in the 4th and moved from 1st to third on a Pearce single to right. Brandon Wood hit a fly to left that wasn't very deep, but Alvarez tagged up and was thrown out at the plate on a close  play to end the inning. Honestly, I agree with going to it there, he forced Prado to make a play and unfortunately it blew up on us. But with the backup catcher due up with 2 outs, that was our best chance to score there.

In the 6th inning, the Bucs looked like they were about to break through. GI Jones lead of with a no-doubt-about-it bomb to right center to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. Walker followed with a single, but was caught stealing. Cutch then grounded out before Kdro hit a double. Too bad he can't do that with men on base; EVER. The Braves tied it in the bottom of the 6th and that was about all the offense we saw until the 10th inning.

After Brandon Wood lined out, Eric Fryer single to left. With the Pitcher's spot due up, Overpaid was called upon to put the Bucs ahead. Overpaid took a mighty cut, but lined it directly to Freddie Freeman, who snagged the hotshot and stepped on 1B for an inning ending double play. The Braves then scored in the bottom of the 10th to record their umpteenth last at-bat soul crushing win over the Bucs. Final Count, Bravos 2, Bucs 1.

Player of the Game:  Paul Maholm gave a true, gritty, veteran performance, putting the team on his back and pitching one HELL of a ball game. But, same as the fans, Maholm gets kicked square in the nuts.

Head Scratcher of the Game: 2 caught stealing last night. Either the Braves stole our signs, like Pucks suggested to me, or we are just predictable. I say it's a little bit of column A, little bit of column B.  Xavier Paul thinks he's the fastest man in the world and when he does actually manage to  get on base, which isn't all that often, he is going to try and steal. Man, I just can't lay off of Paul and .287 his OBP for a leadoff man who has 43 K to 7 BB on the year.

Face Palm of the Night: There were many candidates: Kdro's 7th K in 3 games, Paul kicking the ball, Pearce nearly killing Maholm, running ourselves out of innings, no offense whatsoever, Cutch only having like 3 hits since the All-Star Break, Walker getting 5 hits the last 2 nights but never coming up with people on base, the injuries leading us to bat a guy with a .287 OBP 1st and a guy hitting .233 2nd., Alvarez's refusal to try and hit an outside pitch so he will force pitchers to throw inside on him, lack of offense, lack of offense, and lack of offense. Did I mention we are lacking offense?

Maybe I will just go with John Wehner refusing to shut up about instant replay all night. He must have said it every inning, he commented on how he is a baseball purist, talks about his playing days, says replay would ruin the integrity of the game. Well, #1, Wehner played 461 games in 11 seasons, 86 being the most, 52 being the second most. He was a career .249 hitter with 4 whopping home runs and 54 RBI. He had a total  200 career hits, 2.5% of which came in one 5 hit game during his rookie year. He is not a baseball authority. I think they call him the Rock because that is what is between his ears.

The Bucs will send Correia out tonight against Derek Lowe. Correia has been a road warrior his entire career and we need his best again tonight. However, I am not making any promises that he will get help. He could pitch 9 shutout innings and still get a no decision.

With Beltran to the Giants, I guess we can stop that discussion, although I don't know If anyone really believed there was a chance in hell he was coming here in the first place. I know that I didn't.  But there have still got to be bats out there that can be had. We are still within striking distance of the division lead and need to land a player ASAP. The internal saviors aren't going to cut it.