Braves Report

There were a few fundamental problems with the Braves last year that seem to be resurfacing again, in part, during this season. I’m speaking mainly of the bullpen and the offense. Although the starting pitching wasn’t necessarily consistent last year, they seem to be doing pretty well now. Unfortunately, it’s the other problems that still plague the Braves.

Javier Vazquez started this game and gave what I can only describe as a pretty solid outing: 6 innings, 5 hits, 3 earned runs, a walk, and an astonishing 12 strikeouts. The 3 runs came from one “bad” inning, but it was enough for him to be tagged with the loss.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Moylan relieved him and was perfect in an inning of working, halving his ERA to nearly my age. After that, the bullpen problems started. Bennett was mostly ineffective, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs (1 earned) while only recording an out. O’Flaherty followed and got an inning ending double play. Boyer pitched the 9th inning without incident.

The bats weren’t really prevalent in this game, which is disappointing because of the way they have been all season long. Unfortunately, they only managed one run, which came from a Kelly Johnson homer. Francoeur, Schafer, and Prado were the only other men to reach base by the power of the bat. In the end, the 4 hits just weren’t enough.

Braves lose, 5 – 1.

Next game: Wednesday vs. the Marlins.

7:00 PM EST. Lowe vs. Miller.