Braves Report

First to worst to first. If the season ended today, the Braves would finish their no-post-season drought. But obviously, it won’t, but this does give some real hope toward making a run for Bobby’s last season. This team had an incredible May, let’s see them keep it up. But first, let’s look at how they got there.

Tommy Hanson got the nod today and he gets my nod for the day. He pitched pretty damn well: 6 and 2/3rds innings, 3 hits, a run, 3 walks, and a pair of strikeouts. Moylan relieved him, but had some trouble, as he gave up 3 hits and 2 runs and had to be relieved by Jonny Venters before recording an out. Venters pitched another inning without incident. Jesse Chavez came in the 9th and gave up a walk before ending the game. Overall, good.

The story of the day really has be more about the offense, who have averaged 6 runs/game in May. They started early and didn’t look back, with Chipper awkwardly knocking a shot over the right field fence in the 1st.

Hey, it works.

Troy Glaus hit a 3-run shot in the 7th, his 8th of the season. Other than that, Eric Hinske drove in 2 runs on a single and a fielder’s choice. Yunel Escobar also drove in a pair of runs on a single. In total, 9 runs on 11 hits. It was a good day. Now, stay in first.

Braves win, 9 – 3.

Next game, 7:10 PM EST vs. the Phillies on Peachtree TV and ESPN.

Tim Hudson (5 – 1, 2.24) vs. Cole Hamels (5 – 3, 3.82).

A lot has happened in a month. The Braves moved from first place to last, and now they’re trying to make a run at first again. They’re 0.5 games behind the Phillies, who have been shutout in 5 of their past 8 games, who face the Braves on Memorial Day. On Sunday, the Braves were trying to complete a sweep of the Pirates. Let’s see how it went.

Kris Medlen, who has replaced Jair Jurrjens while he’s been on the DL, pitched this game and was pretty solid. He went 6 and 2/3rds innings, gave up 4 hits, 2 runs, a pair of walks, and struck out 2. Not perfect, but enough to keep the Braves in the game. O’Flaherty relieved him and struck out the only batter he faced. Saito followed and struck out 2, earning his first win of the season. Wagner came on in the 9th, struck out 1, and got his 7th save of the year.

The offense was lacking in the beginning of the game, but when the time came, they stepped up. Troy Glaus started off the game with a sacrifice fly in the first. In his next at-bat, he hit his 7th homer of the year. After that, the bats remained silent until the 8th inning. With 2 outs and runners on first and second, pinch-hitting Chipper Jones hit a bloop towards left field.

It dropped.

This gave the Braves a 3-2 lead. Then Jason Heyward came up to the plate and drove in McCann and Chipper with a triple, his 37th and 38th RBI of the year. Who expected this from him at the beginning of the year? All I can say is I’m very happy with the way this team has been playing.

Braves break out the brooms, 5 – 2.

Next game, 1:05 PM EST vs. the Phillies on Sports South.

Tommy Hanson (4 – 3, 4.06) vs. Joe Blanton (1 – 3, 5.63).

Wow! Where do we even begin with this one? Congratulations to Timmy Hudson who recorded his 150th win of his career! The Braves completely dominated the game today, leaving me to wonder where the hell this team had been the week before.

Tim Hudson commanded the mound for 6.2 innings giving up 5 hits, with only 1 run (earned) and striking out 1. Moylan closed out the 7th with a K and O’Flahrety and Venters each pitched an inning with no issues.

The offense really exploded today, and surprisingly enough Troy Glaus was the center of it all. Going into the game Glaus was batting .194 and within 5 at bats had improved to .221 thanks to 3 hits and 4 RBIs. In the bottom of the 7th Jason Heyward hit his 7th HR of the season with a fly ball to center field. This is the 3rd straight game in which Heyward has hit a home run. Infante and Prado both had 3 hits as well. Combined the Braves has a season high 15 hits this game.

Braves win 10-1. Let’s see how long we can keep this win streak alive. Go Braves!

Next game: Norris vs. Lowe

Tommy Hanson pitched 8 solid innings tonight only allowing 4 hits and 2 runs (both earned) and struck out 7 leading the way for Billy Wagner in the 9th. With a little help by turning a double play, it was 3 up, 3 down for the Astros and game over.

Offensively this game was a pleasure to watch after the last 9 that we have endured. Nate McLouth began the game by hitting a solo shot to center field for his 2nd HR of the season. Martin Prado was also able to score thanks to Troy Glaus reaching on a fielding error by the Astros.  In the bottom of the 3rd Jason Heyward landed his 6th HR of the season with a 2 run shot to center field. Additional highlights include McLouth stealing a base in the 2nd inning, he tried this again in the 4th and was unsuccessful.

It’s about damn time. The Braves win this game 4-2 sparing Bobby Cox from what would be only his 2nd 10-game losing streak of his career.

Next game: Rodriguez vs. Hudson

Tonight marked the end of the worst Braves trip in 61 years. As the skid has moved on to 9 games now I keep asking myself the question, “You can’t lose forever, right?” Where did we go wrong tonight? Let’s start with the pitching.

Jurrjens (who is 0-3 on the season) left the game after the first with a strained left hamstring. He had already given up a 3 run homer to the Cardinals 3rd baseman David Freese, with a little help from the right field foul pole. Kris Medlen was brought in and kept things close by only allowing 2 hits and 1 run in 3 innings of work. Pretty solid in my opinion, and left the Braves with hopes of coming back and taking it. After all, we seemed to have a knack for being the comeback kids early on this season. All of that changed with Chavez though who, on 4 two-out hits, gave up 4 runs including a 3 run double from Freese.

Offensively this team is becoming more and more frustrating to me. Add 2 more innings ended with double plays this time. Prado in the 1st, Infante in the 6th. The highlights of our offense this game would be Escobar, who had two singles and a run scored in his three at-bats, but was removed from the game in the eighth due to a strained left adductor. Heyward provided his 5th home run of the year with a solo shot in the top if the 7th. It just wasn’t enough though. The bats really need to step up if we want to have any chance of winning.

Braves lose 10-4.

Next series is at home against the Houston Astros.