Braves Report

Kenshin Kawakami. That’s basically who this game was about, even though it looked like he was going to have a rocky major league debut in the first few innings. But the Japanese-native turned that around and the offense had has back, so all was right in the world in helping the Braves’ record improve to 4-1. Here we go.

Kawakami started this game and it looked like it was going to be a long, long game. That’s because he walked two batters in the first inning, one of whom later scored. Zimmerman also hit a 2-run shot off of him in the 3rd inning, giving the Nationals a quick 3-0 lead. Fortunately, that’s where things just about ended. Kawakami settled down and did his thing and his line through the end was impressive: 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 4 BB’s, and 8 K’s.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

While that walk total is a little high, it only really affected him in the first inning. Moylan followed him and struck out the side, bringing his ERA down to a mere 45. Soriano and Gonzalez each pitched an inning, with Gonzalez finally picking up his first save of the season.

The bats had it going once again tonight. I’m beginning to like how they can rely on the bats if the pitching lets up more than 2 runs. All the runs that were batted in came from the 1-2-3 guys. KJ had another solo home run and would later double in a pair of runs in the Braves’ productive 4th inning. Chipper would then single in the go-ahead, which essentially put the game in the bag for the Braves. Escobar also singled in a run in the 8th as insurance. Other notables in the offense were Jordan Schafer, who went 3-for-4 and is now batting .421. What a great start he has been off to.

Braves put this one in the bag, 5 – 3.

Series finale: Sunday vs. the Nationals.

1:30 PM EST. Jurrjens vs. Olsen.

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Coming off a bit of an embarrassing loss against the Phillies on Thursday, the Braves were able to rebound and take out the Nationals in their home opener in an extra-inning show. Although it wasn’t as clean a win as a Braves’ fan could hope, they certainly got the job done, despite a thunderstorm being thrown into the mix.

Lowe started this game and, based on the little I’ve seen from him, he’s demonstrating himself to be an excellent pitcher. Although his night was cut short by the rain, he managed in 3 innings: 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. Nice. Then the bullpen had to do its own thing. Buddy Carlyle relieved him once they pulled the tarp off the field, and he went 2 and 2/3rds and wasn’t particularly impressive, giving up 2 earned runs, walks, strikeouts, and allowing 4 hits. Moylan relieved him for one batter, and gave up an RBI double, keeping his ERA at the mass of a neutron star. O’Flaherty followed, gave up a single to Adam Dunn and the lead, but then got the next batter out. After that, Bennett and Soriano each worked an inning without incident. Gonzo came in the game in the 9th, and blew another lead that the Braves had regained. Finally, Campillo would eventually be charged with the win by pitching the 10th whilst only giving up a walk. Not a particularly great night from the bullpen, and I hope they can get their act a little bit together. I suppose we’ll see, as it is still early.

Now, last year, problems that persisted in the bullpen were compounded by the fact that this team had an anemic offense. Fortunately, that isn’t the case this year, and the bats were once again in “On” mode. Escobar (World’s Greatest Cuban – WGC) hit a three run shot to retake the lead early in the game. McCann would plate a run a few innings later with a sacrifice fly. While the bullpen was doing their thing, Francoeur was regaining the lead with an RBI single. Even though he’s only hitting .222 this season, things have really seemed to turn around for him. Finally, in the 10th inning, Kelly Johnson hit the walk-off single to score Jordan Schafer and then proceeded to be clobbered by his teammates. Nice job, Kelly. All told, WGC, KJ, McCann, and Schafer were responsible for 11 of the Braves’ hits, but, at the end of the day, they got the job done.

Braves win in 10, 6 – 5.

Next game: Saturday vs. the Nationals.

7:00 PM EST. Kawakami vs. Lannan. We’ll get to see Kawakami make his major league debut, I’m excited for it.

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Just when we thought everything was going well, the problems of last year began to rear their ugly head again. What was it this time? Well, stated eloquently, the fustercluck of a bullpen that this team has. There really is no good reason why the Braves should’ve lost this game, their first one of the year. A late comeback was also ineffective, already starting the 1-run loss total early in the season. So, off we go.

I’ll start with the positive (the offense). They were very good, banging out 11 runs. Schafer, McCann, and Matt Diaz all homered. The last two in that list each drove in 3 runs. Francoeur also singled in a pair of runs. Infante walked with the bases loaded, making it look like the Braves offense had put this game in the bag. Sadly, however, that wasn’t meant to be.

Vazquez, on the whole, was like the Campillo of last year. What I mean by that is he didn’t exactly give a stellar performance in his debut for the Braves, but he didn’t exactly lose the game, either. His line was through 6 innings: 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, but 5 K’s. The main figure that stands out there the number of walks, but, the bullpen’s number dwarfs that.

Ah, the bullpen. What else more is there to say? How about this: if a team gives up 10 walks in a game, they’re probably not going to win. They were handed a 7-run lead in the 7th inning, but were unable to hold onto it. O’Flaherty quickly recorded an out, then gave up a single and beaned Ryan Howard. He was relieved and would later be charged with 2 runs by Moylan, who gave up 2 walks and 2 hits, getting tagged for 4 earned runs. Boyer followed, threw 9 pitches, 8 were balls, giving up 2 walks and 2 runs. He would eventually be given the loss. Campillo tried to extinguish the fire, but gave up a single and walked in another run before finally ending the inning. All told, 8 runs crossed the plates. In the 8th, the Phillies managed to push another run across the plate on a sacrifice fly, giving them 12 and enough for the win. Bennett finished the game pretty tame compared to everyone else: a hit.

Well, at least this game wasn’t boring.

Braves lose, 12 – 11.

Next game: Friday vs. the Nationals. It’s the Braves’ home opener.

7:30 PM EST. Lowe vs. Martis. Let’s see another great performance from Lowe.

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Let me first start off by saying that I’m very happy with the way the season (2 games) has been going. The offense strikes early, the starting pitching holds the other team in check, and the bullpen does a pretty good job at not losing. Yeah, I’d have to say that this is completely unlike last season. So, onto tonight.

Jurrjens was on the mound and looked pretty solid. 5 and 2/3 innings pitched, 0 runs, 4 hits, 2 K’s, and 3 BB’s. The only thing troubling was some of the walks, but he always managed to work himself out of them. Eric O’Flaherty, a lefty specialist, relieved him after Bennett gave up a hit, and he went on another inning without any drama. Soriano and Gonzo each pitched an inning of their own, nearly perfectly. Overall, a quiet night for the pitching staff, which indicates some stability that this team sorely lacked last year.

As far as the offense is concerned, they were on the ball again tonight (bad pun). Kelly Johnson drove the first pitch of the game into the right field seats. Later that inning, Chipper scored on a fielding error by Chase Utley, and cleanly slid past home for the second run of the game. In the 4th, KJ singled in Francoeur. To follow his lead, Chipper hit the first pitch of the 5th inning over the left field fence. On the whole, the offense managed 8 hits, which isn’t too shabby at all.

Braves win, 4 – 0.

Series finale: Wednesday @ Phillies.

3:05 PM EST. Vazquez vs. Blanton, where they’ll try and complete the sweep. It should be a good one.

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A new year, a new forum, a new team, and new hope for a season to remember. I do not know where to begin. What a great way to begin the season. A victory over the defending world champion Phillies. The bats started out with a bang, having hit a trio of home runs by the time the second inning had ended. But as loudly as the bats began the game, they were the polar opposite the rest of the way. All four of the runs that the Braves scored were scored in the first two innings.

Wife beatin’ Brett Myers started the game off well, retiring the first two batters he faced. Chipper then singled. McCann would make Myers pay for leaving one up in the zone by blasting one out of the park, for the first home run of the 2009 season. To start the second inning, on the first pitch, Frenchy with his new and (hopefully) improved stance took Myers deep to make it 3 – 0, Braves. Rookie Jordan Schafer would be the next to join in the festivities. In his first Major League at-bat, Schafer went deep, becoming the 99^th player in MLB history to hit a home run in their first MLB AB. He is the first Brave to do so since Jermaine Dye did it on May 17^th, 1996. The Braves would get 4 more hits the remainder of the game. Chipper and Yunel would each add a double. Anderson would get his first hit in the National League, and Schafer would add to his great debut by adding a base knock on top of his home run.

Derek Lowe looked like the investment of the decade tonight. In a time where investments are dealing nothing but heartbreak, Derek Lowe far exceeded expectations. He went 8 extremely strong innings. He allowed just 2 base runners, a double and a single. He did not allow a run and struck out 4 on the night. Mike Gonzalez came into finish the game off. While he was able to close the door, he had a flair for the dramatic. He allowed a lead off double, followed by a sac fly, then proceeded to let the next two batters reach base. Allowing Ryan Howard to come up to the plate as the tying run. He shut the door on the Phils emphatically by striking out Howard and Raul Ibanez to end the game.

Braves win, 4 – 1.

Next game: Tuesday @ Phillies

7:05PM EDT. Jurrjens vs. Moyer.

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