Latest news with #RaiselIglesias
Reuters
3 days ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Orioles reacquire well-traveled RHP Scott Blewett
June 7 - It did not take long for right-handed reliever Scott Blewett to find a new home. Perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to it as a previous, short-term home. One day after he was designated for assignment by the Braves, the Baltimore Orioles reacquired Blewett for cash considerations on Friday. Blewett, who is 2-0 with a 3.91 ERA in 15 relief appearances this season, has been DFA'ed and acquired three times this spring. He pitched in a pair of April games for Minnesota, then was designated on April 11 when the Twins recalled Kody Funderburk. The Orioles picked him up on waivers two days later. The 29-year-old Blewett threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings for Baltimore, but he was designated when the team needed a starter and recalled right-hander Brandon Young on April 19. The Braves acquired Blewett on April 20 and he did not allow an earned run in eight of 11 outings. Unfortunately for the well-traveled hurler, he was a major part of the Braves' bullpen meltdown on Thursday, when they surrendered a 10-4 ninth inning lead and fell 11-10 to the Diamondbacks. He allowed five earned runs in 1 1/3 innings before closer Raisel Iglesias could not hold a 10-8 advantage. Coincidentally, the Braves on Friday recalled veteran closer Craig Kimbrel, who struggled in Baltimore and was released a season ago. As of Friday evening, Blewett had not reported to the Orioles, who are in Sacramento this weekend to take on the Athletics this weekend. Another member of the Baltimore bullpen is expected to be designated when Blewett is placed on the active roster. In a related maneuver, the Orioles recalled outfielder Ramon Laureano (sprained left ankle) from the injured list and designated outfielder Jordyn Adams for assignment, opening a spot on the 40-man roster for Blewett. In parts of four seasons with the Kansas City Royals (2020-21), Twins (2024-25, Braves (2025) and Orioles (2025), Blewett is 3-1 with a 3.02 ERA in 66 games (two starts) since the Royals drafted him in the second round in 2014. --Field Level Media
Forbes
3 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
The Braves Gave Up A 10-4 Lead In The Ninth, Is This Rock Bottom?
When the ninth inning of Thursday's game in Atlanta began, the Braves, holding a 10-4 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks, had a 99.77% chance to win. If you had logged on to FanDuel before the first pitch of the ninth, you would have had to have wagered nearly $44,000 to win $1 betting on the Braves. Scott Blewett then struck out Eugenio Suárez leading off the frame. At that moment, the Braves' chances of winning the game went up to 99.96%. So, you are saying there is a chance. The above wager then increased to nearly $227,000. The next batter, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., homered on a 1-0 pitch, making the score 10-5. No matter, the chances still sat at 99.94%. Tim Tawa then walked and advanced to second on defensive indifference. Alex Thomas then laced a homer to right, making the score 10-7. Now things were getting interesting. And yet, even with the fans at Truist Park beginning to hold their collective breath, Atlanta still had better than a 99% chance to win. The next batter, Jose Herrera, walked, and that was that for Blewett (who hadn't quite yet). Corbin Carroll greeted the new pitcher, Raisel Iglesias, with a double, bringing the tying run to the plate. Reminder, there is still only one out. Shockingly, even with all of this activity, the Braves still win this game nearly 93 times out of 100. Ketel Marte followed Carroll's double with an infield single, scoring one run, and putting the tying runs on base. For consistency, at this moment, the win percentage was down to 85.2%. Geraldo Perdomo, having a great season, slashing .275/.373/.422, with 2.1 bWAR about a third of the way through the year, and 1-for-4 on the day with a double and an RBI, popped out to short for the second out. This unproductive at-bat felt like an omen…so close, but just not going to happen. When that second out was recorded, Atlanta moved back above 93% in their chances of winning this game. Just a week after sprinting out of the dugout and colliding with his teammate rounding third to potentially score the winning run in a Triple-A game in Reno, Nevada, Ildemaro Vargas found himself in the batter's box representing the lead run in a wild game. On an 0-1 pitch, Vargas softly lined his first hit of the season into center field, scoring Carroll to make it a one-run game. And yet, Atlanta still had better an almost 87% chance to win. Eugenio Suárez, who you will recall led off this frame with a strike out, stepped to the plate. The tying run was in scoring position, and the lead run, Vargas – no one's great base runner – on first. When the count ran to 2-and-2, the Braves had better than a 9-in-10 chance to win. That dropped to 86.4% when the count went full, as the runners (especially the not-fleet-of-foot Vargas at first) would be running on the pitch. Suárez swung at what appeared to be ball four, an 89 MPH changeup on the inner half, but too close to take. He lined it down the left field line, allowing both runners to score, giving the Diamondbacks an 11-10 lead. Eugenio Suarez may have swung at ball four. -DFF After a walk to Gurriel Jr., Tawa lined out to end the carnage. The Braves got the tying run aboard in the bottom of the ninth (a Matt Olson walk), but the game ended when Marcell Ozuna grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. The Braves had been on a 766-game winning streak in games that they led by at least six runs going into the ninth inning. The Diamondbacks, in their franchise's history, had never won a game in which they trailed by six runs or more going into the ninth inning (0-419). That all changed Thursday after at Truist Park. Atlanta started the season losing their first six games. They have battled to get back into contention, getting over .500 (24-23) about two weeks ago. Since then, they are 3-11, including Thursday's ignominious defeat. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, and the Braves cannot play a lot worse than they have at various times this season. The Phillies have faltered. The Mets are not a juggernaut. Atlanta can still make the playoffs. In the aftermath of their loss to Arizona, former Brave (and potential future Hall of Famer) Craig Kimbrell was called up from Triple-A to (hopefully) improve the bullpen, which currently has a 3.90 ERA and has converted only 10 of 21 save opportunities. After Thursday's game, Hall of Famer and Brave broadcaster said, 'If you were looking for rock bottom, this might be it.' Well, if so, there is nowhere else to go but up.
Forbes
3 days ago
- Sport
- Forbes
Braves Seek To Aid Battered Bullpen By Promoting Kimbrel
During his first stint with the Braves, Craig Kimbrel had many happy moments on the mound. (Photo ... More by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Once in a blue moon, an established star whose best days are behind him agrees to play in the minor leagues with the hope of a last hurrah in the majors. That is the case with Craig Kimbrel, National League Rookie of the Year with the Atlanta Braves in 2011 and owner of 440 career saves, fifth on the lifetime list. At age 37, Kimbrel had no takers when he tried free agency last fall until his old team agreed to give him one last try. Now that Atlanta's bullpen is in desperate straits, Kimbrel got called up Thursday – almost immediately after struggling closer Raisel Iglesias yielded ninth-running runs to suffer his fifth loss of the season. Those runs capped a seven-run, ninth-inning uprising that turned a 10-4 laugher into an 11-10 setback. Kimbrel, once referred to as a right-handed version of 2025 Hall of Fame electee Billy Wagner, is a compact pitcher known for his big wingspan. When he peers at the catcher for his sign, he resembles a human DeLorean. Poised to pounce, Craig Kimbrel resembles a human DeLorean in his trademark mound presence while ... More peering in for a sign. (Photo by) At 37, he doesn't have the velocity of his youth but he does have the determination. At Triple-A Gwinnett, Atlanta's top farm club, he carved a 2.00 earned run average over 18 innings after starting with no spring training. Should manager Brian Snitker decide to deploy Kimbrel as closer, the veteran right-hander could inch toward 500 saves and a virtually certain ticket to Cooperstown, home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. He'll just need to be more stingy with walks and home runs than he was before. Last year, he had a strong first half with the Baltimore Orioles but was beat up so badly in the second that the Birds released him after signing him as a free agent. A nine-time All-Star, Kimbrel began his career by beating Freddie Freeman in the race for NL Rookie of the Year. That was the first of his five 40-save seasons, including 50 in 2013, when he finished fourth in the voting for the National League's Cy Young Award. In his first five seasons, all with the Braves, he had a 1.43 ERA. In his 15-year career, which also includes stops in San Diego, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago (Cubs and White Sox) plus Philadelphia, he has averaged 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings. At the same time, he's allowed nearly four walks per nine frames pitched. Craig Kimbrel has been an All-Star nine times. Even without his erstwhile power-pitching ability, Kimbrel hopes to compensate with experience. He certainly can't do much worse than Iglesias, who begins this weekend with an ERA of 6.75 and seven home runs allowed – after giving up four in all of 2024. In addition to the Iglesias issue, Atlanta has lost a myriad of one-run games because fellow relievers Rafael Montero, Scott Blewett, Dylan Lee, and Daysbel Hernandez have been erratic at best. The Braves start a series in San Francisco tonight mired in fourth place in the National League East with a 27-34 record, 11 games behind the high-flying New York Mets, their arch-rival. Atlanta has been victimized by a struggling offense – even after the return of former league MVP Ronald Acuna, Jr. just weeks ago. When the Braves break through with an offensive burst, as they did in their three-homer game Thursday, their bullpen blows the lead. When they get great pitching, such as the one-run, 10-strikeout effort by Chris Sale Wednesday, they don't generate enough support. Even with AJ Smith-Shawver sidelined with elbow issues, Reynaldo Lopez also likely out for the season, and Spencer Strider still rusty after recovering from his own, the rotation of Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach, Grant Holmes, and Bryce Elder has been respectable. In the bullpen, however, health has not been the issue. Performance has. Enter Kimbrel, albeit without his old 98 mph fastball. He did fan 33 per cent of rival hitters at Gwinnett but they were not major-leaguers. He and lefty Dylan Lee were promoted from Triple-A for the West Coast trip with the walk-prone Hernandez (numbness in his finger) sent to the injured list. Kimbrel will be paid a pro-rated version of $2 million, the amount to which he agreed if his minor-league work merited promotion to the majors. His peak previous salary was $16,000,000 with the Chicago Cubs and White Sox from 2020-22. 'We're going to mix and match, and guys are going to get a lot more opportunities,' Snitker said of his bullpen after the Thursday fiasco in Atlanta. 'We're going to have to make it work, because it's what we got.' The Braves went 1-5 on their just-completed homestand against two other struggling clubs, the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks. The bullpen was a bigger culprit than the offense. In fact, the pen's performance was offensive to Atlanta fans who booed their team off the field after the ninth inning at Truist Park Thursday. The Braves had entered this season as favorites to win the NL East title and reach the playoffs for their seventh consecutive seasons. No team has done that after opening a season with seven straight losses, however. Atlanta went 0-7 on its opening road trip to San Diego and Los Angeles.
Fox News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Braves drop game with historic ninth-inning meltdown; Diamondbacks secure series sweep
Most 2025 preseason MLB rankings had the Atlanta Braves slotted somewhere in the top 5. Many baseball analysts cited the talent the Braves had on their roster entering the season. So far, though, the team's 2025 campaign has been a disappointment. Atlanta entered Thursday's matinée affair against the Arizona Diamondbacks on a three-game losing streak. The Braves built a 6-0 lead in the early innings, but the D-Backs plated seven runs in the ninth to complete the comeback. The 11-10 victory also secured a series sweep for Arizona and pushed Atlanta's losing streak to four games. Atlanta has now dropped 11 of 14 games. Relief pitcher Scott Blewett gave up five runs, four of which he surrendered in the final inning. Braves closer Raisel Iglesias entered in the ninth with one out and gave up three earned runs. Iglesias was the losing pitcher, while Kendall Graveman earned the win for the D-Backs. Baseball Hall of Famer and Braves analyst Tom Glavine weighed in on the team's collapse. "If you were looking for a rock bottom, this might be it," the former Braves pitcher said Thursday. While some key players such as pitcher Max Fried and others departed after last season, the Braves' core group remained largely intact. Stellar defensive outfielder Michael Harris, the 2022 MLB rookie of the year; three-time All-Star Ozzie Albies; power-hitting third baseman Austin Riley; slugging first baseman Matt Olson; Gold Glove catcher Sean Murphy; and Cy Young winner Chris Sale all returned to the Braves and were expected to continue to produce. All of those players, except for Sale, have had a disappointing season so far. Ronald Acuna Jr., the 2023 MLB MVP, recently returned to the lineup after he missed the start of the season while recovering from a 2024 knee injury. Acuna seems to have quickly returned to his MVP form, hitting four home runs and batting .333 through 12 games. In late May, he crushed a home run to deep left field off the first pitch he saw in his first game back with the Braves. Brian Snitker has worked in the Braves organization in some capacity for nearly half a century. He is credited with helping the Braves win the World Series in 2021. But the Braves manager's decision-making has been scrutinized this season. Snitker's contract with the Braves expires at the end of the 2025 season. He has not publicly revealed whether he wants to retire after this year. The Braves travel cross country to open a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants Friday. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Diamondbacks savor the 'magical moment' of their 7-run rally in the 9th to stun Braves
ATLANTA (AP) — Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo's thoughts drifted to a different level of baseball as he watched Arizona put together a shocking, seven-run rally in the ninth inning to beat the Atlanta Braves 11-10 on Thursday. 'I was like a proud dad, right? Just watching a bunch of Little Leaguers go out there and have some fun and get the job done,' he said. 'That's what I can honestly say I felt in the dugout.' Third baseman Eugenio Suárez completed the D-backs' comeback, lacing a two-out, two-run double to left field against struggling Braves closer Raisel Iglesias that made it 11-10. Arizona entered the inning trailing 10-4, and when the Braves went ahead by that score in the eighth, ESPN put Atlanta's win probability at 99.9%. The Diamondbacks swept the three-game series and won their fourth straight overall. 'You have 27 outs, you have to play 27 outs hard,' Suárez said. 'I mean, that ninth inning tells how we play this game today. We're never gonna give up.' Suárez began the inning by striking out against Scott Blewett. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with a homer, Tim Tawa walked and Alek Thomas also homered to cut the lead to 10-7. When Jose Herrera also walked — prompting Braves manager Brian Snitker to yank Blewett and bring in Iglesias — Suárez felt like he might get another opportunity. 'That was when I say, 'OK, we might have a chance over here,'' he said. 'Because we got Corbin (Carroll), we got (Ketel) Martin and (Geraldo) Perdomo behind him. And I know they've had really good at-bats. ... And I was right.' Carroll doubled off Iglesias, who has given up a run in eight of his last 11 appearances, and Marte followed with a run-scoring infield single. Perdomo popped up for the second out, but Ildemaro Vargas extended the game with an RBI single that cut the lead to 10-9, bringing up Suárez. 'All of a sudden, you've got Geno, one of our top run producers, in the box with with tying run on base, and he comes through,' Lovullo said. 'So it was a magical moment for this team.' After losing 9 of 10 in late May, the Diamondbacks entered June with a 27-31 record. Thursday's rally put them back at .500 — still disappointing for a team with playoff aspirations. But Arizona has reason for optimism. 'It's really cool, just to see how much work and time we put in, in the cage and on the on the field, and for it to show up when it matters is really special,' Thomas said. 'And it just shows how much we care and how much we want to win.' ___ AP MLB:
