Braves Report

I really don’t know where to begin with this game. Do you lead with Chipper? But, that wouldn’t be fair to Smoltz. Of course, if you lead with Smoltz, it’s not fair to Chipper. So, the story of this game was the two ROCKS of the Braves organization. Chipper/Smoltz, Smoltz/Chipper? It really doesn’t matter. If two Braves players are going to carry the team, it’s probably going to be those two.

A rare pre-game meeting was called by Bobby Cox. Whatever he said, and it probably wasn’t much, worked. Chipper had one of the best games of his career. He went 4 for 4 with a double, 2 home runs, a walk, 3 runs and 3 RBI. He also cooked a souffle and helped an old woman to her seat. He is now batting .443 on the year. And the scary part, in the post game interview he said he is “starting” to get comfortable. A few other Braves had pretty good games too. In fact, every position playing starter had a hit tonight. KJ, 1 hit (a home run) and a walk. Escobar had a first inning double and came around to score. Tex launched a long ball, as did McCann. Chipper, Tex and McCann went back to back to back. McCann also chipped in with a double. Frenchy had 2 hits. His average is sitting at .290 and he hasn’t really gotten hot yet. Kotsay, 2 hits, one was a triple. Quite a night for the bats.

Smoltz, hurting badly, only threw 81 pitches. But they were 81 amazing pitches, 54 were for strikes. He allowed 3 hits, struck out TEN. Leaving him just 4 short of a major milestone. He was pulled after 5 innings, at that point it was clear the game was well in hand. (Of course, you never can tell with our pen). But, tonight the pen was good. In fact, not a single Braves reliever allowed a hit. Ohman, Resop, Acosta, and Carlyle each went an inning.

Great game, Atlanta.

Tomorrow’s game, 7:35 PM. Not nationally televised.

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