Braves Rally, Can’t Beat ‘Stros

Written by Colin on March 19, 2008 – 11:55 pm

Jo-Jo Reyes started for the Braves today hoping to overcome some recent struggles.  Unfortunately for Reyes and the Braves, he pitched four innings and gave up five runs, six hits, and walked four.  The Braves scored five runs in the 8th, thanks to two errors by the Astros, but gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth to seal the loss.

Rafael Soriano, a more key part of the pitching staff than Reyes, gave up two runs in the sixth inning on a two run homer.  We’ll hope he can pull his stuff together as the preseason wraps up here soon - we need him to be lights out in the bullpen to have a strong relief staff.

Offensively, Gregor Blanco went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Yunel Escobar went 1-3 with a run scored as his preseason batting average is now at .462.  Anderson, Diaz, and Schafer also added an RBI.  Schafer came in as a pinch runner, scored two runs, and went 1-1.  Diaz was 1-1 as well, continuing his strong preseason.  A five run eighth tied the Braves for the lead, but Buddy Carlyle got the loss after hitting a batter and facing five batters in the bottom of the eighth.

Whether or not Reyes remains with the team through the second round of cuts (planned for Friday) is yet to be seen.  I’d guess he gets cut as he’s going to start the season at AAA Richmond.

Next up, Tim Hudson gets the start tomorrow night against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers at 7:05pm.

Tags: buddy carlyle, Gregor Blanco, Jo-Jo Reyes, Matt Diaz, Preseason, Rafael Soriano
Posted in Game Analysis |