Since being traded to Texas, Cliff Lee has 25 Ks and 1 walk. Since being traded to Seattle, Justin Smoak has 22 Ks and 1 walk.

OK

But will Smoak be in the playoffs? No. Will Lee? All sources point to yes...at this moment. While that stat is interesting, it'll mean nothing if he can perform in the post-season, which is why they got him.

No, this is a good Cliff Lee stat. See, he's a pitcher, and Smoak is a hitter. Ergo, the paradox.

4-0 with 1.56 ERA in only playoff appearance. i think this dude can deliver.

yeah...you can see how much I pay attention to who you wrote there. I just saw Cliff Lee and just typed Smoak out of repetition. The Bobbo I know would normally be ready to deep 6 'em, so I figured you were making that point.

haha, yeah i knew he was a hitter but seeing that FT posted those two stats i second guessed my own knowledge.

And isn't Ozzie a good example of errors being one of those misleading stats? Pat Burrell didn't have a lot of errors because he didn't cover a lot of ground and didn't take a lot of chances.

Gotdamnit Braves.

Don't do this to me again.

I'm going to tomorrow's game.

2/3

man, cliff lee really sucked ass today

How does a complete game allowing 4 ER equal sucked ass? The Rangers offense only being able to manage 5 hits and 1 unearned run was the problem, not Lee's pitching. Weaver's a pretty good pitcher himself though.

The Rangers should really file for divorce from you. You're the worst fair weather fan I've ever seen.

giants sweep the fucking dodgers. pretty good position for a playoff spot. should be a good stretch run.

four runs is not a quality start

ok, he went the distance, and didn't really suck ass, but i was really hoping we'd be getting more wins from him than a bunch of complete game no-decisions/losses

In other breaking news, Mel Gibson may have just a hint of a temper.

Why do you hold it against Lee that the Rangers forget how to hit when he pitches? They've scored a grand total of 10 runs in the five starts he made and he still won two of the games. Since when is allowing 4 runs across a complete game a bad start? Only 27 starters in the AL have an ERA below 4.00. So if that is a bad start for Lee, he's a pretty great pitcher. With the exception of his stinker against the Orioles, Lee has pitched well for the Rangers. He probably should be 5-1 for the Rangers. Its not his fault.

Meh. Great series where all 3 games could've gone either way. Definite playoff vibe to them but we didn't send out either of our top 2 pitchers. Our hitting with runners in scoring position was atrocious and we made two horrible errors that helped give 2 games away. Props to the Reds for making the plays we didn't.

So, congrats on winning a series in July?

I'm still not sold on the Reds being a legit contender. Their starting pitching isn't there. Then again, if the Braves bats continue to fail them, the Braves aren't a legit contender either.

Heading down to the Ted tonight to see us start a much needed home stand against the Mets.

i wouldn't worry about this too much.

The Reds starting pitching has been pretty consistent of late. It's the bullpen that I fear. It was weird being at a sold out Reds game in July. The last sold out game I attended was in '90 when we played the Pirates in the post season. I never bother trying to score opening day tickets. The problem with the Reds is that their bats can go cold, and we have Dusty Baker. I still don't know why he starts Stubbs in CF or leads off with Phillips, but I'm a numbers guy.

cliff lee's had some great starts as a ranger, but yesterday - complete game or not - wasn't one of them

no, he didn't get any run support, but he also put the team in an early hole and didn't really hold the line after that

he's piling up a lot of great stats, but wins ain't one of 'em

I didn't say it was a great start but the loss is more on the Rangers offense than him. They average 5 runs per game overall but just 2 runs per game in the games Lee starts. No pitcher is going to have a winning record when the offense doesn't score more than 2 runs per game. Wins is the most important TEAM stat but its a terrible stat for analyzing the contribution of a pitcher.

The Astros are playing much better ball since they dumped the two nameplates of the franchise.

I take nothing for granted. Hell, they're only 6.5 back and I've watched the Braves fall apart the last two years.

Hudson vs Santana tonight. Should be good.