Tigers Fell Braves 9-6

Written by Colin on March 7, 2008 – 4:29 pm

The Braves lost to the Detroit Tigers today 9-6, in a game that saw doubt cast on Mike Hampton’s healthy return.  Hampton left after pitching 1 1/3 innings today after he apparently slightly strained his right groin.   Acosta, Ohman, and Campillo combined to give up six earned runs, and 2 errors by Chipper and Escobar contributed to the other three unearned runs.  Matt DeSalvo pitched two perfect innings - he continues to impress.

Despite the error, Yunel Escobar continued his strong offensive start by going 2-3 and scoring a run.  He’s now batting .526 in the preseason - so those of you who say he won’t match Edgar Renteria’s offensive output may need to reconsider.  He’s looking mighty strong.

Offensively Chipper is doing well also - He was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.   Over at PhilliesFlow, Erik wrote that he doesn’t think Chipper/Yunel will be the most potent SS/3B combo in the East, and I think he’s wrong.  Wright and Reyes are good, but Yunel is legit.  Earlier today I likened Yunel replacing Edgar Renteria to Chipper replacing Terry Pendleton back in the day - it was a seamless transition.

So back on the horse tomorrow again for a set of split squad games - one against the Reds and another against the Astros.  We’re playing the Astros’ split squad, but the full Reds team - which is probably a bit more of a fair matchup against our split squad.  Look for Buddy Carlyle and Jo-Jo Reyes to make the starts for the Braves tomorrow.

In other news, Soriano and Moylan are feeling good - Soriano pitched a 32 pitch bullpen session and Moylan is resting for precautionary reasons so he can stay healthy all season.  That bodes well for our bullpen.

Tags: Chipper Jones, Matt DeSalvo, Mike Hampton, Peter Moylan, Preseason, Rafael Soriano, Will Ohman, Yunel Escobar
Posted in Game Analysis |