Braves Report

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Will the real Atlanta Braves please stand up? This is getting really old (yes, I know I have said that before, but it remains true). One night, we look great… The next we can’t buy a hit. But, tomorrow is a new day… I guess.

Morton didn’t do too badly, walks came back to bite him a little bit. He really only made one mistake, giving up a three run shot to Jacobs. He went 5.2 innings, only giving up two hits. He did walk four, giving up four earned runs. Ring was totally ineffective, he failed to get a batter out, giving up one hit and two walks. Boyer bailed him out. Soriano pitched a solid inning, one hit and two strikeouts. Tavarez ended the game with a perfect inning.

Um… The only hit was by Chipper (of course).

Braves lose, 0 – 4.

Tomorrow’s game 7:10 PM. Not nationally televised.

(Image: Yahoo! Sports)

The Braves breezed to an easy victory, getting some good news along the way, Soriano has been activated! Tonight we had pitching, we had timely hitting, we were even able to “add on” as the game moved on.

The bats weren’t amazing tonight, only nine hits, but they got the job done. We still have some big holes in the top of our order. Blanco batting .260 and KJ batting .267. They were a combined one for nine in the top two spots. But, on the the good stuff. Tex is swinging a much hotter bat, going two for four with an RBI and a run scored. His average is creeping up there, .281. Kotsay also had two hits, an RBI and a run scored. The other runs were driven in by Chipper and Prado.

Campy was brilliant tonight. He baffled the Fish for seven innings, limiting them to two hits. He struck out six along the way, while only walking one. Like I said, brilliant. The pen completely shut them down. Ohman pitched a perfect inning, as did Gonzo.

Tomorrow’s game, 7:10 PM. Not nationally televised.

In the past few years, there’s been two teams that the Braves should be readily able to beat, but somehow always seemingly find a way to lose. When these two teams, the Reds, and the last place Nationals, play the Braves, the game no longer becomes enjoyable. It becomes frustrating, aggravating, and all the things that a baseball game shouldn’t constantly be. Sunday afternoon’s game was one of those games, and the Braves subsequently lowered their record against the Nationals to 4-6. During a time where it seems like every single other team in the division is winning, the future is beginning to look a little bleak.

Pitching lost this game before it really started. The Braves got a lead in the first inning, and Jo-Jo immediately squandered it. He was less than perfect. Actually, he was terrible. 2 and 1/3, 7 hits, 6 runs, 4 BB’s (including walking in a run), and 1 K. Great. Buddy relieved him, and after one batter, walked in one of Reyes’ runners. After this, he stepped off the mound and started turning towards first base, slightly lifting up his hands as if to say, “What the hell?” This led to the ump, Chris Guccione, pulling off his mask, and start walking towards Carlyle, as if he was going to charge him or something. Bobby steps out of the dugout, and immediately gets career ejection 141. Now, the pitch probably wasn’t a strike, as seen below, but either from the frustration of constantly losing, or, more likely, the fact that this umpire was a jackass looking for a fight, Bobby was really yelling at the guy.

[Click for larger image]

(Probably not a strike, but this ump was inconsistent all day)

He stayed out there for a while, and I don’t think he’s been this animated all season.

(Image: Yahoo! Sports)

As a result from this incident, Carlyle got to stay in the game, but he was rather ineffective, too. 1 and 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 6 runs, and one walk. Nunenz followed with three innings of his own, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and a strikeout. Julian Tavarez came in for an inning and was perfect. Ring pitched the 9th and was perfect with a strikeout. All told, the pitching staff let up 17 hits and 15 runs. Not their greatest performance of the season. Reyes’ record also dropped to 3 – 9, and perhaps it’s time to find another starter (I still would like to see Buddy given a chance, despite the debacle today).

The bats weren’t too bad, but they certainly weren’t enough. Blanco had a single to start off the game, and later scored on a Teixeira single. He went 3 for 4, with two solo shots. Kelly Johnson had a single, and was doubled in by Chipper. Kotsay had a pair of singles, and Corky Miller, filling in for McCann, had a single of his own. Prado had a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the 4th. Francoeur also had a single. 11 hits, 6 runs. As I said, not enough.

Another thing to note is that this team had 4 errors. Half the infield (Johnson, Lillibridge, and Corky) committed them, and so did Francoeur. Disheartening, to say the least.

Braves lose big, 15 – 6.

Tonight’s game, at 7:10 PM EST, in Miami. Probably a ‘must-win’, at least to keep hope alive.

Well, all good things must come to an end, right? The Braves snapped their 3-game winning streak with a loss on Saturday night against the Nationals. This came as a result of the pitching staff’s poor performance and the failure on part of the offense to get more than a few runs to cross the plate. The outcome is a series that is tied at one game each.

Jurrjens started tonight but wasn’t his usual phenomenal self. To me, he’s become a staple of the rotation, one of the most consistent starters the Braves have. That said, he’s human, and tonight, he just didn’t have his normal, great stuff. He went 6 1/3 while allowing 8 hits, 5 runs, 1 walk, and 5 K’s. These stats were bad enough to earn him a loss. Carlyle relieved him in the 7th inning, and allowed one of his runs to cross the plate. He also allowed three hits, but got out of the inning with a strikeout. Ring came in the 8th, but only lasted 1/3 of an inning. Ring followed, he struck out the first batter he saw, walked the next, and then allowed a pair of singles which plated a run. Nunez came in to cool the flames, but he gave up a single and a sacrifice fly, which amounted to three runs being charged to Ring. Tavarez pitched the 9th, he was perfect and struck out one. The pitching staff dug a pretty deep hole for the offense to climb out of, 8 runs, and they were unable to do so.

Leading the offense for the day was Gregor Blanco, who singled three times, but never got passed third base. Chipper’s only hit was an RBI single in the 5th, which actually lowered his average to .374. Teixeira, McCann, and Francoeur all had singles of their own. Norton hit a solo shot in the 9th, but by that point, it was too little, too late. The inability to plate more than two runs was helped by the fact that runners were stranded in scoring position in three of the innings. In two of those innings, they were left standing on third.

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As a matter of fact, the only player that managed to score without the help of the long ball was Jair Jurrjens. A little disheartening, but sometimes bad days just happen.

Braves lose by three-fourths, 8 – 2.

Tomorrow’s rubber game, at 1:30 PM EST, not nationally televised.

Chalk up another win to the board, the Braves have won three straight with their victory over the Nationals on Friday night. That may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but the last time it happened was a little under two months ago. Even more rare, although it’s probably just coincidence, but they actually won a one-run game. Perhaps this is a sign of things to come? I friggin’ hope so.

So, onto the game. Hudson started this one, and his performance was nothing to write home about. He went 6 2/3 innings, tossed 88 pitched, allowed 5 runs to cross the plate, struck out two, walked one. Not great, not even too good, but it was enough for the win. Boyer finished the 6th for him and pitched another 2/3 of an inning, while being perfect and striking out one. Ohman came in after him and struck out the only batter he faced. Gonzales came in a save-situation and allowed 2 hits and a run to cross the plate. Not usually what we see from him, but he didn’t blow the game, and ultimately recorded the save.

Hopefully the Braves’ offense is here to stay, because I’m getting accustomed to seeing more than 3 hits per game. With that in mind, here’s what happened. Lillibridge scored two in the second with a double, and also had a single in the game. In the third, McCann, who is starting to get hot, had a bases-loaded-clearing double.

(Image: Yahoo! Sports)

Kotsay singled him in. Kelly Johnson also had an RBI single. Teixeira had a double, and Chipper had a single. All told, the Braves only had 8 hits, but they managed to plate 7 runs, which was enough for the win.

Braves win the opener, 7 – 6.

Tonight’s game, at 7:00 PM EST (right now), not nationally televised.