Braves Report

Finally, a win. The last game the Braves had won was last Friday, but it had just been mediocre performance since then. Well, they rebounded last night, not because the pitching staff was great, but, surprise, the offense found its way to the ballpark.

Derek Lowe started the game and didn’t quite give the performance that we’ve become accustomed to. Not a great outing, but enough for the win: 5 innings, 7 hits, 6 earned runs, 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

It didn’t really matter, though, because the offense was good, and so was the rest of the bullpen. Buddy would follow him and would finagle himself out of a runners-on-the-corners jam that he put himself into. He gave up 2 hits and had a strikeout on the night. Moylan would come into the game into the 7th, pitching perfectly. Soriano pitched the 8th, giving up a hit while recording two strikeouts. Gonzalez came in for his 4th save, which he converted successfully, while also striking out two. Overall, a great night for the bullpen, not too great for Lowe.

The offense, after seemingly being gone for the past week, finally showed up again. Oddly enough, our “cleanup hitter” was leading the charge. This person was Garret Anderson, who was only 1-for-4 on the night, but managed to drive in 3 runs. These came in the form of a 2-RBI single and a ground out. Chipper Jones, rebounding from yesterday, had 2 hits, a double and a single, and drove in a pair of runs. Omar Infante also had 2 hits and drove in 2 runs. Finally, Yunel Escobar singled in a run in the 2nd inning. Other notables were Jeff Francoeur, who had 2 hits, raising his average to .287. David Ross also had a hit in the game. On the whole, a great night for the offense. 8 runs on 9 hits. That’s usually unheard of for this team.

Braves win, 8 – 6.

Next game: Thursday @ Marlins.

12:10 PM EST. Jurrjens vs. Sanchez.

As I mentioned for yesterday’s game, writing about a team that always loses gets tiresome. Fortunately in tonight’s game, even though they lost, they did provide some excitement at the end. It wasn’t enough to win, but it’s a good reminder of why I’m in this for the long hall.

Kenshin Kawakami, or ‘Kiwi,’ started this game and from early on it was apparent that it was going to be a weird start. For one thing, he was throwing a ton of pitches in only a few innings. He was also striking out a lot of guys. He did end up getting pulled early because of his pitch count, though: 5 innings, 8 hits, 2 ER, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

A ton of hits, but he pretty much kept the game within reach. O’Flaherty would pitch the next 2 innings, only allowing a hit. Soriano followed, with an inning of his own, striking out 1. Gonzalez would pitch the 9th, not recording a single out, and allowing 2 hits and a walk. After an error by Chipper, 2 runs would score (1 earned). This would prove to be the difference in the game. Buddy would come in afterward to pour some water on the flames, which he did very effectively. Unfortunately, 4 runs would score over the course of the night, which was just one too many for the offense.

The offense didn’t really do too much in this game until the end. They scored their first run in the 7th inning off of a Martin Prado pinch-hit double. Then, nothing really happened until the 9th. That’s where things got interesting. With two outs, it looked like the game would end on an Omar Infante pop-up to Delgado. Well, Delgado dropped it, and a run scored. Immediately after that, Escobar would single in a run, putting the tying run on third for Chipper. However, he would fly out to right to end the game. An exciting end, but just not the right result.

Other offensive notables were Escobar, who had 3 hits in the game. David Ross continued his good hitting, with a double. It’s going to be interesting seeing him get replaced by McCann, probably on Friday. Kotchman continued his good hitting, with two hits tonight, one a double. Infante and Francoeur also each had a hit.

I guess Chipper could be considered the goat in this game, seeing as he gave up an error which led to the go-ahead run scoring. He also made the last out of the game. Additionally, he lined out into a double play with the bases loaded earlier in the game. Not the greatest night he’s ever had, but I’m sure he’ll acknowledge this tomorrow. Oh well, can’t win them all (or most of them).

Braves drop another series, 4 – 3.

Next game: Wednesday @ Florida.

7:10 PM EST. Lowe vs. Taylor. End this streak already.

You know, these recaps aren’t much fun to write when the Braves are losing. They lost their third game in a row last night, and now have a 11-14 record. What’s worse, I know how I mentioned that Bobby pitches to pretty much every hitter, no matter how much they’ve beat up on the Braves in the past. I named Carlos Beltran as one of those players, and he’s beginning to make me question Bobby’s decision making. Beltran knocked the Braves around last night, but I’ll get to that in a second. Let’s start with the pitching.

Javier Vazquez was having a good night yesterday until the 6th inning. Then things unraveled pretty quickly. Carlos Beltran and then David Wright each hit 2-run homers, giving the Mets the lead. In the next inning, Beltran would do it again. O’Flaherty would relieve Vazquez and end the inning without incident. Vazquez’s night was okay until that point, where his line was: 6 and 2/3rds innings, 7 hits, 6 runs, 3 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Of the 110 pitches he threw, 73 were strikes. Had he not allowed those homers, he would be looking at a pretty stellar night. Unfortunately, this isn’t a fairy tale. Moylan and Bennett would pitch the next two innings, without incident.

The offense probably should’ve done more than it did, but it didn’t. They scored 4 runs on 5 hits, even though Maine walked 6 people.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Almost sadly, the first two runs of the game came from a Javier Vazquez ground out, which actually scored 2 due a throwing error. After that, Escobar would single in a run. Chipper, continuing his tradition of beating up on the Mets, had a solo shot in the 9th. Other than that, Kotchman, Francoeur, and Brandon Jones had singles. Kelly Johnson went 0-4, lowering his average close to the Mendoza line, at .208. Maybe he shouldn’t be batting lead off? Also, this team needs a real power hitter.

Braves lose 3 in a row, 6 – 4.

Next game: Tuesday vs. Mets.

7:00 PM EST. Kawakami vs. Hernandez. Time to turn this streak around.

I wanted Jo-Jo Reyes to have a solid second come-back start. Apparently, it wasn’t meant to be. Once again, the Braves lose a series to a sub-.500 team and have lost their second series in a low. Let’s get on with this.

Reyes started this game and wasn’t too impressive: 5 and 1/3rd innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

Bennett relieved him for 2 outs and was perfect. I don’t know about you, but I had pretty much forgotten about Jeff. Well, his ERA is an impressive 0.77. Keep up the good work. Moylan would pitch the next inning, give up 2 hits, 2 runs, 2 free passes, a strikeout, and be charged with the loss. After that, Soriano and Gonzalez each pitched an inning, both giving up a hit. Soriano also allowed a run. Overall, 7 runs, so not a spectacular day for the pitching staff.

The offense was pretty good, but as always, even with 11 hits, they just didn’t score enough. David Ross plated the first run of the game, with an RBI single. The next run was given to the Braves in the form of a balk. Then, Francoeur would hit a sacrifice fly to score their third run. He’d also have a hit on the day. Norton and Diaz would both later single in runs. Three Braves players had 2 hits: Diaz, Infante, and Escobar. However, as I mentioned, it just wasn’t enough.

Braves lose, 7 – 5.

Next game: Monday vs. Mets.

7:00 PM EST. Vazquez vs. Maine.

It seems no matter what this team does, they can never get over that .500 hurdle. I have a feeling that once they’re finally able to surpass it, they’ll take off. But, until then, we have to sit through games like these. Oh, and I hope it stops raining. Rain delays aren’t much fun.

Jair Jurrjens started this game and had a very short outing due to the weather: 2 innings, 4 hits, 1 run. Surprisingly, however, of the 36 pitches he threw, 29 were strikes.

[Image: Yahoo! Sports]

After the rain was done falling, Buddy came in and would eventually be tagged with the loss. He lasted 3 innings, allowed 4 hits, 3 runs (1 earned), and struck out 2. The 2 unearned runs came courtesy of a Chipper error in the 4th inning. D’oh. O’Flaherty and Parr would follow with 2 innings each, both giving up 2 hits. Parr would also let a run score, striking out 1 in the process. All in all, not too bad of a day for the pitching staff, but it would’ve looked better without that error.

The offense, once again, had trouble scoring. Their only run came courtesy of a Greg Norton bases-loaded walk in the 2nd inning. After that, they were pretty quiet. Jordan Schafer, who was in the lead off spot today, had a double and a single. Ironically, Kelly Johnson, who batted 6th, did the same exact thing. Frenchy continues to hit well and had a double today. Casey Kotchman and Brandon Jones each had a single. That was about it for the offense.

Braves lose on a wet day, 5 – 1.

Series finale: Sunday vs. Astros.

1:30 PM EST. Reyes vs. Rodriguez. Let’s hope Jo-Jo can have another good outing.