Glavine Pulls In First Win Of Year

Written by Colin on May 15, 2008 – 9:08 am

Tom Glavine finally got some run support last night as the Braves held off the Phillies 8-6 for his first win of the year.  Yunel Escobar led off the game with a home run and Chipper followed with a homer of his own later in the first to put the Braves up early.   Glavine didn’t have a great outing, but he held his own against the Phillies’ offense - giving up four earned runs in five and two-thirds innings.  He struck out four, walked two, and gave up a two-run homer to Chase Utley.  But thanks to the offense, the Braves stayed out front.   Some extremely rare clutch hitting on the road came from Brian McCann (who had 3 RBIs), Gregor Blanco (2 RBIs), and Kelly Johnson, who added a home run of his own in the second.

Of course, the win couldn’t come without some late drama, courtesy of Blaine Boyer - who already blew two saves when Glavine was in line to get the win.  Blaine came in for the last out of the eighth and then stayed on to try for the save in the ninth.  After retiring the first two batters, he gave up a run on three back-to-back singles before getting the third out on a long fly ball to Jeff Francoeur that made it to the warning track.

The Braves walked out with a win on the road - but they’re still just 6-15.  That mark has to improve for the Braves to compete in the East - despite some recent great play, they’re still 2.5 games out in fourth place.  Tonight we’ll look forward to Chuck James (2-2) taking on the Phillies’ ace, Cole Hamels (4-3).  If the Braves can score some runs, we’ve got a chance.  We desperately need another road win.

Tags: Blaine Boyer, Brian McCann, Philadelphia Phillies, Tom Glavine
Posted in Game Analysis |