Hampton, Braves Beat Astros

Written by Colin on March 24, 2008 – 11:57 am

The second, and unfortunately the last, stop on our spring training tour was Sunday’s Braves vs. Astros matchup at Champion Stadium in Disney’s Wide World of Sports.  Firstly, the facility there is very impressive - a great place to watch baseball.  I felt like I was watching a college game, except all the big league players were there.

Despite Jonathan’s mantra of “watch this next pitch carefully, it might be Hampton’s last,” Mike did us proud, giving up two runs in six innings.  In the sixth, it looked like he thought he was pitching batting practice, as he gave up back-to-back solo home runs.  Before that though, he looked good, striking out four and giving up six hits.  If he stays healthy, and I’m beginning to build confidence that he can for a period of time, he’ll be a valuable addition to our rotation this spring.

The Braves struck early, with Tex knocking in two in the first before scoring on Gregor Blanco’s triple.  Blanco continues to impress, as he went 3-3 yesterday after starting and finished the game playing in right field.  Brian McCann didn’t start, but he came into the game late and absolutely destroyed a ball into the Braves’ bullpen.

Chris Resop, Royce Ring, and Manny Acosta all looked good in their outings as well.  I expect we’ll see Ring and Acosta in the ‘pen to start the year, but not 100% sold on Resop yet.  It’s possible he sticks around, however.

Loved the game, loved the facility, and loved the trip.  We’ll wrap it up in our upcoming trip recap.  All of us are highly dissatisfied to be back in Atlanta at work and in classes.  It’s far too cold here.

Until next year, Florida.

Tags: Gregor Blanco, Houston Astros, Mark Teixeira, Mike Hampton, Preseason
Posted in Game Analysis |