Braves Report

Some nights, you are just outclassed. That was the case in tonight’s affair between the Braves and Phils.

As usual, Doc Halladay was surgical on the mound tonight.  He cut through the Braves line-up tonight with ease. Halladay threw another complete game shut-out.  He struck out seven Braves while scattering five hits. The only real trouble he encountered was in the seventh. After back to back singles by Chipper and McCann to lead off the frame, he struck Glaus out. He then proceeded to walk Heyward to load the bases with only one out. Yunel would sharply hit one up the middle that would go off the mound right into Utley’s glove, enabling the Phils to turn two and end the threat.

Hudson was his old self tonight. He lasted six innings, allowing only a pair of runs to score. He battled his way out of quite a few jams and was enabled to minimize the damage.  Jonny Venters relieved him in for the seventh inning. Venters continues to impress. Venters pitched two innings facing the minimum batters.  Saito came in to pitch the ninth. After allowing a double to Ruiz, he got Halladay and Victorino to keep the lead to two.

Braves fall to the Phillies, 2-0. Rubber game of the series is tomorrow.

Next game, Thursday @ 7:10 PM EST on Peachtree TV.

Lowe (3 – 0, 4.67) vs. Moyer (1 – 1, 7.50)

As the old adage goes, you can never have too much pitching. That is the philosphpy the Braves took into the draft on Tuesday. Holding the 7th overall pick, the highest since the team took Roberto Kelly second overall in 1991, the Braves hoped to select local product Zach Wheeler but he was snatched away by the Giants with the pick before. The Braves selected Vanderbilt lefty Mike Minor with the pick.
Minor profiles as a guy with little upside. He currently projects as a number 4 starter. Minor’s stuff is average, he gets by with pitch ability. His fastball sits anywhere from 86 MPH to 89 MPH. His best pitch is a plus change up.  He has  solid curve and uses a slider for his primary breaking ball. The slider does have good depth on it. His pick off move is probably the best in this year’s draft.  Minor is a low risk, low reward guy. What you see is basically what you get.  The Braves in my opinion would have been better suited  taking a high upside guy here rather than selecting Minor.
The only other pick the Braves had today was the 87th pick. With that pick they turned their attention to the Ivy League and selected Princeton’s David Hale. Hale projects as a power reliever in the pros.  His fastball routinely sits at 92-93 but he can dial it up a notch to 95-96 when he needs to and has topped out at 97. He has flashed a plus slider at times and has shown some feel for a change up. He played two ways at Princeton so having him focus on pitching should help him progress more.
The Braves hold the 7th pick in each round the rest of the way. I expect the Braves to return more towards their roots and start to pick more high school kids with high upsides. A few names to keep an eye on for Wedsnday’s rounds: Austin Adams, Luke Bailey, Colton Cain, Brody Colvin, Matt Grahm, David Nick, Jonathan Singleton, and Zach Von Rosenburg. I will have a write up on the draft when it is complete.

The Braves completed a sweep of the winless Nationals. The Braves have come out the gate as if they are Friesian Fire. Starting the year off at 5-1 for the first time since 2007, when the team started off 7-1. The hitting was the star today.

The offense was led by Jeff Francoeur, who went two for four with a pair of triples, a pair of runs and a RBI. Omar Infante, who started in place of Kelly Johnson, also had a big day, going two for three with a pair of runs. Chipper also had a good day, with a pair of base knocks and RBIs. Escobar, McCann, Diaz, Prado, and Kotchman each added a hit.

Jair Jurrjens got his second start of the year. It was an average one at best. He went five and a third, struck out only one, and gave free passes to five Nationals. He gave up 5 hits, 4 runs, 3 of which were earned. Bennett came into to relieve Jurrjens. He went one and two-thirds, he allowed three hits, struck out a pair, while allowing no one to score. Then O’Flaherty came in. He struggled, walking one, giving up a hit and a run only in a third of an inning. Carlyle came in to clean up O’Flaherty’s mess and was successful. Pitching two-thirds, allowing a hit and striking out one. Soriano came in for the save in the ninth. He nailed the game down flawlessly. Striking out two in the ninth including getting Josh Bard looking to end the game.

Braves win 8 – 5.

Next game: Tuesday vs. the Marlins.

7:00 PM EST. Vazquez vs. Volstad.

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.

Feel free to join in the discussion of the game with us on our new forums.

The Braves have acquired veteran starting pitcher Javier Vazquez along Boone Logan, a left handed reliever from the White Sox in exchange for  Brent Lillibridge, Jon Gilmore, Santos Rodriguez, and Tyler Flowers.

Stay tuned to Braves-Report.com for continuing coverage of this breaking news and all your off-season needs.