Braves Report

Reyes proved me wrong. Man, did he ever make me eat my words. For a long time in this game, it looked like he was finally going to give a very strong performance with no results, but the offense was able to overcome and win the game on a single hit. Nice going.

As I mentioned, Reyes started this game. Despite still not having won a game since June 13th, 2008, he was on the ball tonight. He had a very, very good line: 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 7 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Very nice going, Jo-Jo. Moylan relieved him for an inning and would end up getting the win, whilst striking out 1. Gonzalez came on in the 9th inning for an opportunity at his 3rd save, which he achieved by striking out the side. Very strong effort from the pitchers today.

Once again, it looked like the offense was going to falter while the pitching staff worked their hearts out. They only managed 6 hits in this game, but Matt Diaz made one count and came through when he needed to. In the bottom of the 8th inning, with 2 outs and the bases loaded, he singled into center, plating 2. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for the win. Other notables were Jordan Schafer, who had a pair of singles. Ross also had a single, placing his average at a torrid .360. Infante and Escobar each had a hit. Overall, not too impressive, but timely and enough.

Another thing I want to mention is Chipper being walked 4 times in a game. Apparently the Cardinals mentioned in a pre-series discussion that they weren’t going to be beaten by him. If this is the case, I’m a little annoyed. Bobby has always had his pitchers pitch to people that beat up on them: Barry Bonds, Carlos Beltran, and Albert Pujols. If the Cardinals don’t feel that way, all the more power to them, but it feels wrong to me. Oh, by the way, guess who was the winning run tonight?

Braves destroy the Cardinals by one, 2 – 1.

Series finale: Wednesday vs. Cardinals.

7:00 PM EST. Vazquez vs. ?. Win another series, please.

Let me start out by saying that I dislike the Cardinals. I don’t know what it is about them as an institution: Tony La Russa, David Eckstein, whoever their new shortstop is, Blaine Boyer, and ESPN’s love-fest with Pujols, but I don’t like them. I also don’t like the fact that they always beat up on the Braves. Last night was just such an occasion and proved to be frustrating to watch at times. It was a 1-run loss that put them below .500 in a game where the offense struggled to mightily to do much of anything. I’m going to chart a graph of how the Braves seem to always stay at the .500 line.

Jair Jurrjens started the game and gave a pretty good effort: 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. 6′s and 2′s. Unfortunately, he hardly got any run support, which caused him to get his second loss of the season, despite having a 1.72 ERA. Moylan followed him in the 7th inning, giving up a walk to the opposing pitcher, who would later score on a single (Ben rant: I also hate walks from the bullpen. I think they should be fined whenever they do it). That run would be the difference in the game. Soriano pitched the next inning, with 2 strikeouts and a walk (!). Bennett, O’Flaherty, and Buddy all got an out in the 9th, with Bennett giving up a hit. Not a terrible night for the pitching staff, but a few blemishes that the offense wasn’t able to overcome.

Ah, the offense. They lacked plate discipline in this game. Facing sinker-baller Joel Pineiro, they could hardly get anything going. Whenever they did, it would be erased by a double play. Of the 18 outs Pineiro recorded, 13 were from ground balls. Furthermore, he worked 6 innings, yet he only threw 76 pitches, 50 for strikes. He was just on top of the game and they couldn’t get anything going off of him. One player who did get something was David Ross, who is playing extraordinarily well. He doubled in a run in the 2nd inning. Francoeur also had a sacrifice fly in the 7th, for the Braves second and final run of the game.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Casey Kotchman also had three hits on the day, including a pair of doubles, but couldn’t get anybody in with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 8th. Oh well. Escobar, Chipper, Schafer, and Infante also each had a hit, just not at the right times.

Braves lose game one by 1, 3 – 2.

Next game: Tuesday vs. Cardinals.

7:00 PM. Lohse vs. Reyes. Prove me wrong, Reyes, so that I don’t have to say that they should’ve started Buddy.

You can’t win them all. The Braves should just be happy with themselves that they were able to rebound after a weak series against the Nationals. After two wins to begin the series, they just couldn’t complete the sweep, and got roughed up pretty bad in the process.

Kenshin Kawakami, a pitcher I still don’t really know too much about, but who is now 1-3 on the season with an ERA over 7. Am I beginning to get worried? Not really. I’m beginning to believe he’ll be a decent pitcher with a high-ish ERA, probably around 4 or 5. His record would be better if he could just get some more run support. In this game, however, that wouldn’t have helped. He was cruising along until the 5th inning, where he imploded, giving up 6 runs and hit after hit. He only lasted 4 and 2/3rds innings, allowed 8 hits, 8 runs, a walk, and a strikeout in that time period. Not the best outing he’s had. Buddy relieved him and did so effectively. He would pitch the next inning, give up a hit, but nothing would ever come of it. Parr would pitch the 7th and the 8th, letting up 2 hits, but nothing else. All in all, a good day for the bullpen, a rough day for Kiwi.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

As far as the offense is concerned, the hits were there, but the runs weren’t. David Ross was able to hit a solo shot in the 7th inning for the Braves’ first run of the game. Brandon Jones would later add an RBI single in the 8th, his second hit of the day. Chipper had three hits in the game: a pair of singles and a double. Yunel Escobar managed a couple of singles. Finally, Kelly Johnson and Matt Diaz each singled. 10 hits, but only 2 runs. Not enough.

Braves drop the finale, 8 – 2.

Next game: Monday vs. Cardinals.

7:00 PM EST. Jurrjens vs. Pineiro. This game is on ESPN!

I mentioned yesterday that I thought that today’s game was going to be a pitching duel. Well, apparently I was only half right, as Lowe came to pitch, but the Braves absolutely teed off of Arroyo. The end result was the start of a winning streak and a record above .500. Hopefully they can keep this momentum going. Onto the game.

As I already stated, Lowe essentially dominated this game. He had a very impressive line: 7 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Had he not allowed a 2-run homer to Alex Gonzalez in the 2nd inning, he would have been nearly impeccable.

[Image: Yahoo Sports!]

(Pictured above: the face of a killer)

O’Flaherty would come into the game in the 8th inning and record two strikeouts. Bennett pitched the 9th inning, giving up two hits, but nothing ever came of it. Overall, a very good day for the pitching staff.

The offense tried to move the spotlight off of Lowe with a hitting performance that recently has been sorely missed. They jumped out to an early lead, scoring 6 runs in the first two innings, and never looked back. Leading this offensive charge were Escobar and Chipper, who each drove in 4 runs. Escobar had three hits on the day, including a single, a double, and a 2-run homer. Chipper had an RBI single and a 3-run shot in the 2nd inning.

[Image: Yahoo Sports!]

This was an improvement over yesterday’s 0-for-5 appearance, and allowed him to raise his batting average to .298. Other notables on the day were David Ross, McCann’s replacement while he goes to the DL for his vision problems, who had two hits and doubled in a run. He’s now batting .375. Casey Kotchman, a player I usually like to rag on, gave me no material today, as he also had two hits. Finally, Greg Norton had a pinch-hit double where he plated a run. Good game.

Braves win big, 10 – 2.

Series finale: Sunday @ Reds.

1:10 PM EST. Kawakami vs. Oswings. Watch as the Braves go for the sweep.

The reason why the Braves won against the Nationals on Wednesday night was because they walked in the only run of the game. The Braves won tonight for a similar reason: patience at the plate. Once again, the Braves were aided by the opposing pitchers walking in runs. The result was a win in game one of the series and a record back at .500.

Vazquez started this game and I think I’m beginning to understand more and more of what he’s capable of. He was fantastic: 6 innings, 2 runs (1 earned), a walk, and, count ‘em, 9 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Rock on, Javier. Moylan followed him in the 7th inning and was spotless except for a walk. In the next inning, Soriano allowed a lead off double, which led to a run. Gonzalez came in for the save and was perfect with 2 strikeouts, earning him his second save of the season.

Once again, the offense’s strength was demonstrated through their patience. The opposing pitcher, Edinson Volquez, ended up walking 7 batters in 5 innings. 5 of these came in the 4th inning, whereby the Braves were able to score two runs without even recording a hit. Vazquez and Kelly Johnson would be given back-to-back RBIs because of this. In the 5th inning, Jeff Francoeur punched a shot over the center field fence, his second of the year. The Braves would keep the lead for good with the help of a Matt Diaz RBI single in the 8th. Other than that, the bats were relatively quiet. Johnson and Kotchman had the only other hits for the Braves in the game: 4 in total. Oh well, a win is a win. I’m just glad to see that where their plate discipline would not have permitted this type of outcome last year, it did tonight.

Braves win game one by 1, 4 – 3.

Next game: Saturday @ Reds.

1:10 PM EST. Lowe vs. Arroyo. It should be a pitching duel.