Braves Report

The Braves finally put an end to another losing streak that they were on and prevented themselves from being swept on Wednesday night. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the offense that overcame its adversaries, but the Nationals’ bullpen doing itself in.

Jair Jurrjens started the game and had a very strong performance: 7 and 2/3rds innings, 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Gonzalez relieved him, struck out the only batter he saw, and would later be credited with the win. Soriano came in to save the game, which he did, flawlessly, while striking out two.

The offense wasn’t too productive with hitting, as they did not plate a single run by the power of the bat. What made the difference, however, was their patience. Kelly Johnson walked with the bases loaded to push across the only run on the night. Three Braves walked in a row, which is almost unheard of from this team. Very good. Other news coming from the offense was from Francoeur, who had two hits and raised his batting average to .317. Johnson, McCann, Diaz, and Kotchman also all had one.

Braves win, 1 – 0.

Next game: Friday @ Reds.

7:10 PM EST. Vazquez vs. Volquez. Too many V’s.

The rain continues to keep on pouring and the Braves continue to keep on losing.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

These one-run losses are getting to be a bit of annoyance. What’s especially frustrating is this team has lost the first two games of this series against the Nationals. They should easily be able to beat up on these otherwise weak teams, but for the second night in a row, in a rain-delayed game, they weren’t able to keep them in check.

Kenshin Kawakami started this game and would eventually be the pitcher of losing record. He probably shouldn’t have lost, because his night wasn’t especially terrible, but the defense behind him was lacking. He lasted 5 innings: 7 hits, 4 runs (2 earned), 3 walks, and 2 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

He would eventually be pulled in the 6th inning, after back-to-back errors by Chipper and Diaz (later ruled a hit) would lead to a tie game. Bennett relieved him, but allowed one of Kiwi’s inherited runners to score, while giving up two hits. Moylan and Gonzalez would pitch the next two innings, each only giving up a walk. I must note, however hard McDowell has been whipping the bullpen seems to be working. They’ve been fairly decent since the departure of Blaine Boyer.

Still, in addition to the questionable defense, it was the offense’s inability to score in opportune situations that did them in. As far as hitting is concerned, the team did pretty well. Chipper, Kotchman, and Schafer all had two hits each. Chipper’s batting average is now .353, which gives credence to how tremendous a hitter he is. The 3 runs that the Braves did score all came in the first inning. Kotchman doubled in a run and Jeff Francoeur would single in 2, with the help of a throwing error. Other than that, the bats weren’t able to plate any more. Particularly disheartening was the 9th inning, whereby the Braves had runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out, yet failed to tie the game with a single hit or sacrifice fly. Unfortunately, that’s just how the ball seems to bounce.

Braves lose on a dark and stormy night, 4 – 3.

Series finale: Wednesday @ Nationals.

7:05 PM EST. Jurrjens vs. Lannan. Jair will try to prevent this team from getting swept.

I’m more upset with the weather than I am actually with the way this game turned out. Sure, the Braves lost a 1-run game to a team that had a 1-10 record, but thunderstorms in the cold weather? Oh well, I guess that’s not for me to decide. This game had two rain delays in it, which tends to happen when it rains a lot. Fortunately, they were able to play all 9 innings. Unfortunately, their offensive woes continue and they lost.

Derek Lowe pitched this game and wasn’t his usual spectacular self. He had a mediocre outing: 6 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts. O’Flaherty and Soriano followed him with an inning each, while creating no drama. Overall, not really that bad of a day (I don’t have much else to say). They just didn’t have the offense’s support.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

The offense managed to have 6 hits on the night, but they only scored two runs. Matt Diaz was responsible for these runs, with a 2-run shot in the 4th inning. He also had a double in the 2nd inning. Kelly Johnson, Chipper, Kotchman, and Ross all each had a hit, but nothing ever came of it.

Braves lose one by 1, 3 – 2.

Next game: Tuesday @ Nationals.

Kawakami vs. Martis.

It’s about time. That’s all I can really say about this win. Well, not really, but it still felt warranted. Everything was working for the Braves today, who returned to a .500 record. The starter didn’t put the game out of reach, the bullpen didn’t follow suit, and the offense rejoined the club today. This combination prevented an embarrassing sweep by the Pirates and ended a 5-game losing streak. Onto the game.

Javier Vazquez. I didn’t know what to expect of him when he became a Brave over the winter. To be honest, I still don’t know what to think of him. He did, however, pitch a very good game today: 6 innings, 5 hits, no runs, a walk, and 8 strikeouts. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the pitching staff must’ve figured out how to strike people out. Moylan followed him and pitched an inning perfectly while striking out one. Bennett came into the game in the 8th inning and did the exact same thing. Parr pitched the 9th and gave up a run on 2 hits and a walk. Overall, a very impressive and nearly flawless outing from the pitching staff.

The offense didn’t want to be shown up by the pitching staff, and they weren’t. Finally arriving at PNC Park, they came through in fine fashion. Every single position player (starter or not) had a hit. Francoeur continued his good season, with 3 RBIs coming off a single and a double, raising his average to .333. Martin Prado, who has been doing an incredible job filling in for people (never thought I’d say that), had two hits on the day, including a 3-run homer in the 4th. David Ross hit his first home run as a Brave, a solo shot, in the 7th inning. Kotchman singled in a run in the 1st inning. For the 11th run of the day, Matt Diaz had a sacrifice fly in the 8th inning. Chipper also returned to the lineup today, getting a single and scoring twice. Jordan Schafer may be coming out of his slump by having 3 hits on the day.

Have more games like this, please.

Braves win, 11 – 1.

Next game: Braves @ Nationals.

7:05 PM EST. Lowe vs. Zimmermann.

I thought the Braves got over this last season. I thought that the offense problem wouldn’t be an issue after the way the season started. I thought this team was done losing 5 in a row to mediocre teams. I thought this team was finished with playing below .500. Apparently, I was wrong. This game was the epitome of last season. The starting pitching had a meltdown, the bullpen matched the starter’s effort, and the offense was nowhere to be found. It’s been 22 innings since the Braves have scored a run. Let’s get on with this.

Reyes, who was 3-11 last season, came up to make a start because of a delay in the return of Tom Glavine. Reyes had an okay outing, until the 6th inning, where all hope of winning was seemingly abandoned. Not a good day: 5 and 2/3rds, 7 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, and 4 K’s. Carlyle came into the game in the 6th inning to relieve him and got him out of a jam. Unfortunately, the next inning Buddy surrendered 4 runs of his own on 4 hits. Parr came into the game to pitch the 8th, and also let up a run. Not a great day for the pitching staff.

The offense didn’t do too well today, either. Infante, who is playing for an injured Escobar, had two hits. Prado and Kotchman eachalso had a hit . Not much else was going on other than that.

Braves get shutout, again, 10 – 0.

Next game: Sunday @ the Pirates.

1:35 PM EST. Vazquez vs. Duke. Hopefully Vazquez does well and the offense manifests itself in some form and they can get over this skid.