Major League Baseball

More sloppy defense for Atlanta in opener

Published Oct. 9, 2010 11:10 a.m. ET

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SAN FRANCISCO --- With so much attention focused on the botched call by umpire Paul Emmel that went against the Braves in Thursday's National League Division Series opener, a subsequent misplay by Omar Infante was overshadowed.

Though Cody Ross was credited with an RBI single on the grounder that skipped under the glove of third baseman Infante in the fourth inning of the 1-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants, most observers viewed it as a play that should have been made.

Ross drove in Buster Posey, the beneficiary of Emmel's mistake when Emmel called Posey safe on a stolen base that replays showed should have been an out after Posey was tagged by second baseman Brooks Conrad.

Manager Bobby Cox was surprised to learn after the game that Ross was credited with a hit, and the manager went so far as to call it an error.

"We kicked a ball at second, we kicked a ball at third," he said, referring to the Infante play and a Conrad third-inning error.

Even with Ross credited with a hit, the Braves had two errors --- Conrad's and a sixth-inning leadoff double by Posey that center fielder Rick Ankiel misplayed off the wall, allowing the runner to reach third.

Derek Lowe's strikeout of Pat Burrell and a double-play grounder induced by reliever Jonny Venters against Pablo Sandoval allowed the Braves to escape the sixth unscathed.

Still, errors keep piling up for the Braves, who already are putting too much pressure on their pitchers because of their mediocre offense.

The Braves' 126 errors in the regular season tied for third-most in the majors, better than only Pittsburgh and Washington (127 apiece).

Among the eight playoff teams, the only two with more than 85 errors during the season were Texas (105) and the Braves. The Giants had 73.

The Braves have been sloppy since the All-Star break, in part because season-ending injuries to Chipper Jones and Martin Prado caused Cox to shuffle things and move Infante and then Conrad into regular roles.

Outfielders Melky Cabrera and Nate McLouth also have been less-than-stellar on defense.

Prado struggled on defense after returning from a broken pinkie and moving from second base to third. He's out with a torn oblique muscle.

Conrad made errors in five consecutive games through Thursday, and Cox was asked Friday if he was concerned about Conrad's confidence.

"We're doing the best we can in trying to build him up," Cox said. "We wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Brooksy getting clutch hits late in games. He's won us a ton of games, and you stay with him."

Prado didn't make the trip to San Francisco because of a doctor's recommendation that he stay in Atlanta and continue resting. Prado might have been able to talk some to Conrad, Cox said.

"But Brooksy has always been a good defensive player," Cox said. "It's just recently that he threw a couple of balls away --- important balls. We were going down the stretch, and they get magnified, of course."

Glaus available

Cox mentioned that Troy Glaus was available to play first base and third base, but it seems clear the Braves are concerned about using him at either corner because of the bad knees that diminished his power and mobility after mid-June.

Cox stuck with Infante at third base Friday, and Derrek Lee took over first base after coming over in an Aug. 18 trade from the Cubs.

Glaus carried the Braves on offense in May and early June, but after June 21 he hit .183 with two homers, 16 RBIs and a .291 on-base percentage and .266 slugging percentage in 58 games.

At AT&T Park, Glaus was 13-for-80 (.163) with one homer, and he was 1-for-10 against Friday's Giants starter, right-hander Matt Cain.

Eric Hinske can play the infield and outfield corners, but isn't strong on offense and is viewed as a bench player and pinch-hitter. He hit .183 (31-for-169) with two homers and 16 RBIs in 58 games since June 22.

Gonzalez slump

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez entered Friday mired in 2-for-40 skid with no RBIs in 10 of his past 11 games. He was 0-for-9 with four strikeouts against Cain before facing him in Game 2 on Friday.

Gonzalez is remembered for a big walkoff homer against the Yankees in the 2003 World Series, but in his postseason career he was just 11-for-71 (.155) with one homer, six RBIs and a .178 OBP before Friday.

Late Thursday: Game 1: Giants 1, Braves 0

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO AVG.

O.Infante 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250

Heyward rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .000

D.Lee 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .000

McCann c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .333

Ale.Gonzalez ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000

M.Diaz lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Conrad 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Ankiel cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000

D.Lowe p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Venters p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Hinske ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Moylan p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

M.Dunn p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Kimbrel p 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Totals 29 0 2 0 1 14

San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO AVG.

A.Torres cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .250

F.Sanchez 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000

A.Huff 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .333

Posey c 4 1 2 0 0 1 .500

Burrell lf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Schierholtz rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---

Uribe ss 2 0 0 0 1 1 .000

Sandoval 3b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .000

C.Ross rf-lf 2 0 1 1 1 0 .500

Lincecum p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .000

Totals 26 1 5 1 4 9

Atlanta 000 000 000 --- 0 2 2

San Fran. 000 100 00x --- 1 5 0

E: Ankiel (1), Conrad (1). LOB: Atlanta 3, San Fran. 6. 2B: O.Infante (1), McCann (1), Posey (1). RBIs: C.Ross (1). SB: Posey (1). CS: A.Huff (1). S: Lincecum.

DP: Atlanta 2.

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO ERA

D.Lowe L, 0-1 5 fl 4 1 1 4 6 1.69

Venters 1 (TM) 0 0 0 0 2 0.00

Moylan fl 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

M.Dunn 0 1 0 0 0 0 -

Kimbrel (TM) 0 0 0 0 1 0.00

San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Lincecum W, 1-0 9 2 0 0 1 14 0.00

M.Dunn pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

T: 2:26. A: 43,936 (41,915).

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