Braves Report

Sometimes it’s hard to understand this team. On Monday afternoon, a game in which had the dumbest start time, the Braves got their asses handed to them by the pitcher who has the most losses in the Major League, Barry Zito. This second loss in a row to a team with a worse record was a fitting end to wrap up the homestand, which had the lackluster record of 1 -7.

Jorge Campillo started this game, and was less than his usual dominant self. He went 6 and 2/3 innings, while allowing 7 hits, 5 earned runs, a walk, and striking out two. Ohman relieved him, and did so with a strikeout. Boyer and Nunez followed, each perfect. Boyer had two strikeouts. Nice job, bullpen.

There’s not much to say about this offense. They had 7 hits, but couldn’t push a single run against the losingest pitcher in the Majors. So instead of talking about how they managed a bunch of singles, I’m going to complain about the start time of this game.

4:30 PM EST? C’mon, why such a weird time? Attendance was said to be 18,000+, but in the beginning of the game, there looked to be about 400. If the west coast teams can’t cater to the east coast teams whenever they come into town (I’m looking at you, 10:10 PM EST starts), then I don’t see why the east should do the west any favors.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Brian McCann gazes in disbelief at the crappy start time

I mean, has being nice ever gotten anybody anywhere? It has? Dammit.

Braves lose, 5 - 0.

Luckily [?], I had to miss most of this game to stain a fence. The good news is the fence looks great and it was such a pleasant evening tonight. The bad news is that it wasn’t such a pleasant day for the Braves. For whatever reason, this team consistently gets beaten up by the seemingly inferior Giants. Tim Lincecum put the hurt on Atlanta, again, and recorded his 13th win of the season.

Charlie Morton faced him, and unfortunately, earned the loss, because he had a pretty solid outing. The Hunterdon County native has been a bit inconsistent in his past few starts, but today, he proved to be more Dr. Jekyll than Mr. Hyde. 6 innings pitched (111 pitches, 69 strikes), 7 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. That’s a pretty decent line, but he simply didn’t receive enough run support.

[Pictured: Not actually Charlie Morton]

Tavarez relieved him and went 2 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out 2. Our Buddy in the bullpen threw the 9th, he walked two batters, but didn’t allow any to score.

As has been the case in so many games this year, the offense simply didn’t get it done.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Blanco: Not getting it done

They struck out 12 times and recorded a paltry 4 hits. Leading this offensive charge was Mark Kotsay, who singled in the team’s only run. Escobar had a double, and Chipper and KJ each had a single. The team tried their late-inning comeback, but that failed, as it usually does. Weak.

Although, to be honest, this game could’ve been worse. The Braves could’ve been perfect game’d by a Little Leaguer named Jesus Sauceda, who struck out every batter he faced, went three for three, hit a grand slam, and got 6 RBIs. Oh, wait, that’s on schedule for tomorrow.

Braves lose in the manner how I hope this series won’t turn out, 3 - 1.

Tomorrow’s game, at 4:30 PM EST, not nationally televised.

When it rains, it pours. That seems to be how this season has been going for the Braves. Either they beat the shit out of the other team, or they get their heads kicked in. Fortunately, Saturday night’s game against the Giants was the former, and it allowed them to snap their 5 game losing streak.

Mike Hampton got the nod, and how fun has it been to watch him pitch? I never really know what to expect, but either way, I can expect it to be good. Hampton did have his good stuff, and provided a decent outings for the Braves. He went 6 innings, gave up 7 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and stuck out 4. Not too bad, not too bad at all. My favorite shouldn’t be in the bullpen pitcher, Buddy Carlyle, pitched the 6th and his only blemish was a hit. Matt DeSalvo, who was called up from Richmond after Glavine was placed on the DL, pitched the 8th, and let up 3 hits and a run. Nunez started the 9th, and for whatever reason just didn’t have it. He only recorded an out, but allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, and 2 walks. Bennett had to relieve him, threw one pitch, and induced the game-ending double play. Nice.

As I said, when it rains, it pours. The offense that didn’t do anything the night before just laid it on the Giants’ rookie pitcher, who was making his Major League debut. Francoeur probably had his best game of the year, going 4 for 5 and doubling and singling in a pair of runs. Keep it up, Jeff, please.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

These runs amounted to the first lead the Braves have had in nearly a week. From there, they kept on going. Omar Infante, who I’m now convinced simply cannot be stopped, doubled in a run and had two RBIs on the day. Gotay came off the bench to pinch-hit and doubled in a run. Norton hit a long home run to left field. McCann and Escobar had two hits each, and Blanco had one. Hell, even Mike Hampton, power hitter, singled in a run. Kelly Johnson did, too, and Chipper had an RBI of his own. Truly an offensive pounding. Good.

Braves take game two, 11 - 5.

Sorry for the delay, but sometimes real life doesn’t allow me to write these posts in as timely a manner as I’d like. With that being said, the Braves kicked off their series against the Giants, a team that is more than 15 games under .500, on Friday night in disappointing fashion. It also marked their fifth consecutive loss.

Jurrjens got the start, and he was phenomenal, as usual. 7 innings pitched, 8 hits, only 2 earned runs, no walks, and 9 strikeouts. It’s been really fun watching him pitch this year, and he’s definitely proven himself to be one of the highlights of the season.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Ohman followed, stunk, and gave up two runs while not getting anybody out. Bennett finished the inning while allowing two hits, a walk, and recording a strikeout. Tavarez pitched the 9th and let up a run.

While the starting pitching in this game was superb and the bullpen could’ve been better, the offense just chose to be its anemic-self once again. They only scored 1 run, which came off of a single by Chipper, and only had 5 other hits. Blanco, McCann, KJ all had one hit a piece, and Kotsay had two, raising his average up to .303. Not too much else to note.

Braves lose, 5 - 1.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that the Braves got beaten again, badly, in the season finale against the Cubs. But, you know what? It doesn’t even really matter. As a fan, I’m going to keep watching this team until the end of the season. But realistically, this game ended what little hope I had for this team of making the postseason. It sucks, but maybe once this team realizes it has no chance, they’ll start playing for shits and giggles, and maybe they’ll actually win a few ballgames. Right now, they seem like they’re trying too hard. There’s been a ton of stupid errors (e.g. Kotsay letting the ball drop in center today, McCann’s throw to center field yesterday), everybody seems like they’re playing angry. I mean, Escobar almost charged the mound after getting hit by Lilly today. Bueno threw at Soriano’s head yesterday. What the hell is going on?

As far as today was concerned, however, it was a day of records. The Cubs completed their first season sweep against the Braves. Ever. But more importantly, Mark Kotsay hit for the second cycle in Atlanta Braves’ history, the first since Albert Hall did it in 1987.

[Taken from MLB.com]

This is a stupid title.

However, the series itself, as already mentioned, did not turn out so well. The Braves got outscored 29-9, and looked pretty pathetic while doing so. The crowd at the Ted seemed to cheer more for the Cubs than the Braves, which makes this non-Atlantan fan sad. And the pitching, well, the pitching was downright horrible.

Glavine, who apparently still plays for the Braves, started this game for the first time since early June. He didn’t prove to be so great, only lasting 4 innings. He let up 7 hits, 7 runs (1:1 hit:run [!]), 4 walks, and struck out 3. My favorite bullpen pitcher, Carlyle, followed with an mediocre inning of work: 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk. Tavarez pitched the 6th and was perfect with a strikeout. Boyer went next, and was ineffective while allowing 2 runs. Nunez and Ohman each pitched an inning, neither let up a run. Overall, not a great day for the pitching staff.

Offensively, this game seemed to be a bit like a roller coaster. They were unable to capitalize with the bases loaded early on in the game, but tried to make a comeback late in the game. Leading the offensive charge, of course, was Mark Kotsay. He went 5 for 5, with a cycle and a single, and two RBIs.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Francoeur followed his example, with a pair of singles and a three-run shot in the 7th. Every other position player, except Clint Sammons, had a hit, and Prado had two. All told, they scored 7 runs on 14 hits, but it simply wasn’t enough.

Braves drop my dreams and the finale, 11 - 7.

Tomorrow’s game, at 7:30 PM EST against the Giants, is not nationally televised.