Braves Report

All good things must come to an end. Pardon the cliché, but that’s what happened to the Braves as they attempted to sweep the Cubs on Thursday night. For them, this loss meant an end to their longest winning streak of the season, 2. They still managed to win the first series of the year, however, but perhaps what is disappointing about this game is the manner in which they did it. So let’s go.

Sophomore Tommy Hanson was on the mound and he was pretty good. He only made two mistakes in the form of solo shots from Colvin and Byrd, but each was enough to cost him the game. Other than that, his line was fairly solid: 5.1 IP, 2 earned runs, 4 hits, 3 walks, and 7 strikeouts. Eric O’Flaherty relieved him and was perfect in his inning and 2/3rds of work. Jesse Chavez, who the Braves picked up over the winter for Rafael Soriano, was also perfect in 2 innings of work, while recording 2 strikeouts. Once again, the bullpen looked great, and the only blemish (not really) can be attributed to the starter.

Annoyingly, the offense that we saw opening day seems to have once again disappeared. Overall, the team recorded twice as many hits as the Cubs (8), but they just couldn’t get them in. Contributing to this was three double plays, which seemed to erase rallies whenever they tried creeping up. Notable performances were by Prado, who went 3-for-4 with a double. Troy Glaus also had a pair of singles, redeeming himself from yesterday’s sour performance. Other than that, Chipper injured himself on his right side after a swing in the third inning. Hopefully he can rebound, like I’m sure this team will.

Braves lose, 2-0.

Tomorrow’s game @ Giants, 4:35 PM EST on Fox Sports South/MLB Network.

Hudson vs. Sanchez.