Home Dominance: Reds Swept

The Braves are 11-4 at home so far this season (now if only we weren’t 4-11 on the road) and it was a much needed 3-game sweep of the Reds after we had dropped 4 straight on the road.  We’ve been pretty lax about getting game recaps up lately, so I’m going to do my best to give a quick recap of the Reds series:

Game 1 - Friday - Braves 2, Reds 0
Friday night’s game was an absolute gem for Tim Hudson.  We’ve been a bit worried about Hud lately with his visible lack of speed and inability to get deep into a game.  But Friday night, he looked like the Tim Hudson we expect to see on the mound.  He threw a complete game, 3-hit shutout of the Reds, while striking out 10 and not issuing a walk.  The offense didn’t really provide much support outside of a two-run home run for Brian McCann in the bottom of the 4th, but who needs it when you have a pitching outing like that.  Hudson only seems to be doing well in every other start however, so we’ll see how he looks next time out.

Game 2 - Saturday - Braves 9, Reds 1
I’m not going to lie.  I was worried going into the game on Saturday with Jo-Jo Reyes making his first big league start for the Braves this season.  Jo-Jo has tended to pitch amazingly well in the minors and then not been up to snuff when he made his appearances in the bigs.  For 5 innings on Saturday, however, he looked decent.  His control fell apart in the top of the 6th and Bobby Cox wisely got him out of the game.  This was definitely the right decision for the team as a whole and for Jo-Jo’s confidence in his ability to pitch.  Through 5 1/3 innings, Reyes issued 4 hits and only gave up 1 run while striking out 5.  He gave up three walks as well, all in the top of the 6th.  The offense helped seal up the win for Jo-Jo with a 6-run bottom of the 7th.  The Braves had 7 doubles on the day.

Game 3 - Sunday - Braves 14, Reds 7
Yesterday’s game can best be described as a slug-fest with the teams putting up a combined 30 hits and 21 runs.  Tom Glavine didn’t have his best stuff for the game, going only 4 2/3 innings and giving up 6 runs.  Royce Ring came in to finish off the 5th inning, and, by throwing one pitch, gained the win on the day.  The offense looked stellar yesterday however, bolstered by 3 doubles from Kelly Johnson (which gave him 5 doubles in two games) and home runs from Chipper Jones and Mark Kotsay.  Chipper had a total of 5 RBIs on the day.

Overall, I know the Reds aren’t really a great team in the league this season, but the sweep was just what the Braves needed at this point.  They’re back to .500 baseball again with a record of 15-15 and have an off-day today before a three-game set at home against the Padres.

Braves Knock Out Fish 7-4

The offense has two positions - on and off.  They tore out of the gate yesterday - scoring five runs in the first inning while batting through the order.  That included a 2 RBI double from Francoeur and a massive fly ball from Chuck James - had he not gotten under it, we would have seen the first hit from a Braves pitcher be a home run.  Chipper added his own touch on his birthday, hitting his seventh bomb of the year in the second.  Francoeur knocked in McCann in the eighth with a sacrifice fly.  McCann had just tripled (with the most awkward slide in history into third) - had everyone laughing.  That’s right, McCann tripled - may be the only time in his career.

James pitched a good five innings of ball - he was solid, but not lights out.  Gave up four runs, struck out three, but walked five.  Campillo and Acosta each pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game out.  Great to see some solid relief out of the bullpen.  James got sent down to Richmond after the game in exchange for a fresh bullpen arm - we’ll find out who today.  Good to see the 7-4 win over the Marlins, who are at the top of the division.

Some great defense in center field yesterday for Gregor Blanco, who started in place of Mark Kotsay.  He had a great catch against the wall and made a second interesting catch going back towards the wall.  He’s fast - there were a couple he got to simply because of his speed.  He ran out a groundball at first base - and beat it out too.  Great to have him in the lineup.

It’s a good thing the offense was firing yesterday - we have to score runs as long as James and Bennett are starting - but can’t we get Smoltzie just a couple runs next time, fellas?

Smoltz Gets 3000 K’s, Braves Fall

Tonight was a special night for John Smoltz (3-1), who unfortunately got the loss after striking out 10 in seven innings of one-run ball.  In the third, he struck out the 3000th batter of his career, joining only 15 other pitchers in baseball.  Smoltz’s stuff looked good all night - his nasty slider and shoulder intact through all seven innings.

Unfortunately, the bats were non-existent tonight when it mattered.  Braves hitters combined to leave 12 batters on base, and Smoltz got pinned with the loss - even though he only gave up one of the six runs.  There were opportunities - but nobody could convert.  At least it wasn’t a one-run loss.  Going into the ninth, it was 1-0 Nationals.  But Jorge Campillo and Chris Resop combined to give up five runs (only one earned) in the top of the ninth.

Great to see Smoltz get 3000 strikeouts - he deserved the win tonight but didn’t get it.  Chipper’s 13 game hitting streak came to an end as did the five game winning streak.  We’ll try and start another one tomorrow against the Marlins as they come into town.  Overall, I’ll take 1-2 from the Nats.  We’re heading in the right direction as a team.

And Mr. Smoltz, congratulations.  Quite an accomplishment that I’m glad I was on hand to see.

Dodgers Swept Out Of Atlanta

Jair Jurrjens and the Braves completed the sweep of the Dodgers yesterday afternoon. The series score was 24-3 in the Braves favor, giving them 32 runs scored to only 3 allowed in their last 4 games. For an offense that has struggled to find their stride so far this season, this has been a welcome change. Mark Teixeira added 3 more RBIs and a home run to his season stats yesterday; is this a glimmer of hope that his slow start is starting to fade?

The downer on the day was Chipper Jones coming up gimp on a slide into second and promptly leaving the game in the next inning to be replaced by Martin Prado. He’s listed as day-to-day after reaggravating his injured quads. We’ll see how he comes along and hopefully he doesn’t miss any time as he has the best bat in the league right now.

Jurrjens looked strong and finally got the run support he needed to extend his record to 2-2. He pitched 7 solid innings, only giving up 1 run on 3 hits. He also struck out 8 batters. His one run came on a solo home run to Russell Martin in the 4th inning. The Braves look to continue their hot hitting and solid defense tonight against the Nationals.

Braves Win 3rd Straight

It was a great afternoon for baseball as the Braves faced off against the Dodgers in the second game of the three-game series.  Chuck James took the hill for the Braves in place of Tom Glavine, who finds himself on the disabled llist for the first time in his 22-year career.  After a not so stellar first appearance of the season, James didn’t look bad at all today.  He threw for 5 innings, giving up 4 hits and 1 run.  That run came on an Andruw Jones solo home run that landed deep in the left field seats.  This also amounted to all of the run production to Dodgers would have on the day.

The Braves’ offense was held pretty stagnant with the exception of the 5th inning when they beat up on Chad Billingsley, who struck out 9 batters through 5 innings.  Johnson,  Escobar, Chipper and Teixeira all came across the plate to create a 4-run 5th inning, and enough offense for the Braves to win 4-1.

The Braves face off against the Dodgers in the final game of the series tomorrow afternoon, looking for their first true sweep of the season and to get back to .500 on the season.  Jair Jurrjens will be up against Hiroki Kuroda for the Dodgers.

Smoltz K’s 10, Braves Shut Out Fish

Here are a couple numbers to consider:

Firstly: 4 plate appearances, translating into two homeruns, a double, and a walk. Bringing the average for the season up to .440
Secondly: 5 scoreless innings pitched, 10 strikeouts, bringing the total career K-count to 2996.

Yes, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz, the elder statesmen of the team, combined for a masterpiece of teamwork tonight. And it felt so good to get back in that “W” column.

But there’s more:
- Brayan Pena pinch hit and scored on Kelly Johnson’s home run.
- Kotsay triples, Kotsay doubles.
- Immediately following Chipper’s second homer, Teixeira and MCann do the same.
- THE BULLPEN DOES IT RIGHT!
- Ohman, Resop, Acosta and Buddy Carlyle perform superbly.

Obviously demoralized from a slew of recent bad news, prior to the game the team had a brief meeting with normally reticent Bobby Cox. I don’t know what he said, but it worked.

Yes, Moylan may be out for the season.
Yes, Soriano is on the DL.
Yes, Glavine and Hudson both underwhelmed recently.
Yes, going into this game, our starters had the next-to-last worst league average for innings pitched.

But something tonight was in the water. Like all the planets lined up and the Braves found everything they needed in order to get it done.  Here’s hoping they are on to something.

And I can’t wait to see Mr. Smoltz get his 3000th strike-out.

Marlins Beat Braves 6-5

At this point, one has to ask - will the Braves ever win a one-run game?  After the loss to the Marlins, the Braves are 0-7 in one-run games.  That’s right, 7 out of our 9 losses were lost by one run.

Tim Hudson, normally the stopper when we’re on a losing streak, did not look good after giving up four runs in just three innings of work.  His fastball was topping out just over 85 mph, and his control was not there.  Cox pulled him after just three innings because, “His arm was kind of dead.”

The Braves plated a run in the first, and then Yunel Escobar hit a two run home run in the fifth inning to bring the game to 4-3, but even a two-run rally in the eighth couldn’t help the Braves get out of the hole they dug early.  On the bright side, Jorge Campillo pitched three hitless innings and he’s looking good.  Not a bad guy to have in the ‘pen - and if he can keep it up, he’ll be one of the go-to long relievers.

Of course the worst part of all this is the loss.  The Braves are now 5-9 and in fourth place in the NL East.  They’re 0-7 in one-run games.  And something has to turn around soon.

It’ll happen, but one has to wonder how long we wait before the Braves look the way they should in our minds.

Braves Dominated By Marlins

I’d like to consider myself a good sport.  Sure, I can trash-talk with the best of them. Especially if it’s about giving the Mets a hard time.  But generally, I am good about recognizing excellence, even when it comes in the guise of a non-Braves uniform.

And I’d like to be able to tip my hat, in a gentlemanly manner, to Marlins starter Scott Olsen. Sure, he went seven innings without walking a guy or giving up a run. I’d like to say our team just knuckled under to his superior talents and couldn’t score on his pitching wizardry.

But I can’t. Because he stinks.

Not as a person, maybe, but as a pitcher. Every number he had last year was considerably worse than the year before. In fact, the fish, as a team, had one of the worst ERA’s in baseball headed into tonight.

So what happened? Simply put: the Braves stunk worse.

At every turn, we (and yes, I will continue to say “we” when the team loses) gave up opportunities, failed to wake up the offense, and above all, really let down Jair Jurrjens’ solid showing. To be honest, Jurrjens has not pitched a bad game this season.

The Braves went down to Florida hoping to compensate for the recent spat of pitching injuries by busting out some offense on one of the WORST pitching staffs in baseball.  Alas, it was not to be so.

Want to know how bad? You sure? Ok, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Six hits-with two apiece coming from two different players.  Never mind that Jurrjens went six and gave up only two earned runs.  And the two that Ohman walked in didn’t improve matters any. But say he hadn’t walked in two. That would leave us still with a big fresh goose egg in the offensive column.

Yes, I am a “homer.” I drink from the Braves Koolaid^TM 24/7. But I also pride myself on calling a black cat black. And the Braves just stunk tonight.  We’ve got to find that one thing that can turn this around. Any suggestions?

Well, on the bright side, Kelly Johnson’s hitting streak was extended to 11 games.

Glavine Hurt, Braves Drop Finale To Nats

Wow, that hurts.

Losing a game always does, but moreso when you are behind a run in the ninth with bases loaded and you just can’t get it done.

The Braves finished their first three-game series in DC this season taking the first two and stumbling through the final one following Tom Glavine’s abrupt first inning departure.  It was obvious Tommy didn’t have his stuff early on. The last time we saw him was the home opener against Pittsburgh and he was classic Tommy, going five solid innings. In DC today, he struggled early on and it was obvious he was in pain. He left and it was reported he had a strained right hamstring, the severity of which, we aren’t sure of.

Bennett came in and had an “uneven” showing , allowing three earned runs in four innings.  Not to mention, he walked four straight batters and walked in two runs as a result.  After him, our bullpen gave us some very respectable work from Campillo, Resop, and Boyer.

The bright spot of the day, as relates to pitching? It has to be Campillo. He shut the door on six straight batters and certainly looked major league-ready.

Chipper’s 2-run homer and some smart base-running, and a late inning rally gave us hope for a come-from-behind win. But, alas, too little, too late.

Positives:
- 2 out of 3 on the road
- 4 hits from the bullpen
- Got a break on McCann tagging out the runner
- Jorge Campillo!
- Escobar shows some discipline and gets walked twice

Negatives:
- McCann/Johnson/Diaz: all three 0-4 at the plate
- Bennett, 2 runs on 4 straight walks
- Losing another 1-run game.

Now, we head down to a warmer climate and face the Florida Marlins. The fish are doing great offensively, but may just have the worst rotation in the majors. Hopefully, we can capitalize on that and get another series in the books.

Also, keep your fingers crossed and your prayers going that Tommy’s hammy isn’t that bad.

Smoltz Smokes Nats

Dear Mr. Smoltz,

Thank you so much for your good work on Saturday, April 12th. Can you please keep this up all year? We would all appreciate it.

Sincerely,

The Writers and Staff at BravesBlast.com

Coming off of their much needed victory last night, the Braves dove right in to claim another from the Nationals at Washington today. An initial 91-minute rain delay did nothing to soggy the Braves offense.

In fact, they wasted no time at all scoring four runs in the first inning, with a little help from Jeff Francoeur knocking the first of his two homeruns for the day. When all was said and done, the kid From Parkview had a career-best seven RBI’s. You know things are going well when all nine starters bat in the first inning.

Francoeur’s second homer came in the sixth, with one runner on base. Not to be outdone by his childhood friend, Francoeur’s high-fives hadn’t ended when Brian McCann knocked a single shot some 400 feet.

Smoltz had a (for him) shaky first inning, goofing a throw to first and throwing a semi-wild pitch. But after regaining his classic composure, it was nothing but the Smoltz we know and love. Resourceful, professional, and keenly intelligent. I truly don’t think we Braves fans know how good they have it having a stabilizing and consistent force of nature like Smoltz in the line-up. Plus, it was pretty evident his shoulder was bothering him the entire game.

His line for the day? 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K. The one earned run attributed to Smoltz came in the 4th.

The Nats starter, Scott Lannan lasted through the 4th and the Braves went through three of their relievers by game’s end.

Finally, I am starting to feel good about our bullpen! With very respectable outings by Bennett and Boyer, Manny Acosta zipped it up in the 9th. The one stinker in all this, and the one guy I have truly been pulling for, was Ohman. Lasting less than an inning, he really didn’t do anything to counter the criticism Frank Wren took for acquiring him from Chicago.

So, yeah. Excellent series so far. Can you smell a sweep?

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Smitty’s Random Notes:
(A stream of consciousness recall of unrelated observations for the short-of-attention span)

» Sorry, Willie Harris, but I totally don’t miss you.

» Tough-guy Hustle Award goes to Matt Diaz for his aggressive and heads-up base-running.

» Still looking for Teixeira’s bat to wake up. The defense is there; let’s get something going at the plate.

» I still believe in you Ohman. I want to believe.

Hudson Heats It Up In DC

This is more like it.

After a recent three game skid in Colorado, I (as well as most Braves fans) was ready for something good to happen. And we got it tonight, April 11th, in our nation’s capitol.

The last time we played here, opening the National’s new park on March 30th, we were robbed by a walk-off homer in the 9th. But tonight, Tim Hudson was almost hitless in 8 solid innings. Actually, he wasn’t-he gave up three hits, but let’s not split hairs.

His placement was extraordinary. The ball seemed to obey his every thought. I re-watched some of the pitches in slow-mo and it was uncanny at times the movement the ball had. You know you are doing it right when you retire a side twice throwing nine pitches.

Did it smell a little special at the beginning of the game? Like maybe something good was in the oven? Maybe so, or maybe it’s my optimism. But the Braves’ alternate road jerseys were on (by Hudson’s choosing, evidently) and it seemed like our team was feeling refreshed by an extra day of rest. Plus the fact that D.C.’s 73° was almost balmy considering Colorado’s unfriendly climate.

Now the Nats are nothing to sneeze at, despite the fact that their pitching is ranked 14th in the National League. We all know baseball is a sport that any given night, the worst team can beat the best team. Yes, the Braves look better on paper than the Nats, but with some of our players yet to find their offensive legs (Tex? Francoeur?), and a bullpen that has yet to not give me heartburn, this game was still something to be taken seriously.

And, sure, Hudson dominated, but so did the Nationals Matt Chico. In fact, he didn’t give up an earned run until the 6th inning, off of Yunel Escobar’s solo homer. Really, either the Braves’ offense was asleep at the wheel, or Chico had our number.

And Matty Diaz looked like he was headed into a terrible night, what with two strike-outs and hitting into a double play. But it was his two-run RBI in the top of the 9th that gave Hudson some much desired breathing room.

By this time (the 9th) sidewinder artist Peter Moylan came in to close the door on the still run-less Nationals. But you’re thinking-Hey, Moylan’s not the closer! What are we paying Rafael Soriano for? Well, if you’re not thinking that, you should. That guy is freaking expensive and we have barely started this season.

But Soriano is on the DL and Moylan is the semi-closer. This made me nervous as a cat around a bunch of rocking chairs (get it? The whole fear of the cat getting his tail caught under one of the rockers?). But Moylan not only slammed the door closed, I’m afraid it broke off its hinges and shattered.

Totally freakin’ unbelievable lights out! If you are standing at the plate, you are thinking Holy cow, Batman, I’m supposed to hit that?!

The Nats looked like Colonel Steve Austin the first time he saw Bionic Bigfoot^TM. The brain could not comprehend the info sent by the eyes. I’ve never seen Moylan slam it like that, striking out two of the perplexed batters. Oh, and most folks don’t think a sidearmer can bring the heat. But some of his stuff was piercing the air at 96 mph.

So, yeah. It’s in the book. We’ll take it.

And we’d like another couple just like it. Please.

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Smitty’s Random Notes:
(A stream of consciousness recall of unrelated observations for the short-of-attention span)

» Was the Braves infield pretty freakin’ flawless tonight? Chipper, Escobar, KJ, and Tex were artists on the canvas of the infield.

» Sure. I can see why the Nat’s manager, Manny Acta, wanted to put a “hot” closer in at the top of the 9th. Even though Chico had pitched an unbelievable 8 innings, common wisdom says take out your starter and get your “hot” closer to slam the door. What did the “hot” (and by “hot,” I mean “crappy”) closer Jon Rauch do for his team? He promptly loaded the bases with no outs and then gave up two runs. Thanks, Rauch. I think they need a new batboy on the team. Seriously, stop crying. I’m sure your mother still loves you. Probably.

» Come on, KJ. We love you and everything. We just need you to get on base more than once a game.

» What’d you say?! KotSAY!!! Check out his defensive play tonight. Hey, Marky? What are you doing in 2009? Do you smell what the Smitty is cooking? (Sorry, Rock.)

» Hey, Escobar. Please make yourself comfortable.

Braves Drop Third Straight

The Braves offense found its stride a little bit last night, scoring 6 runs on 13 hits.  Unfortunately, on the same number of hits, the Rockies scored 12.  After coming off of two solid wins against the Mets at home, the Braves have extended their road record on the season to 0-4 and overall to 3-6.

Chuck James was activated from the disabled list to make the start in place of the injured Mike Hampton and was feeling a bit under the weather.  His first time through the Rockies’ lineup went pretty smoothly, but the second time around he just got beat up on, giving up 6 runs in the third inning.  James left the game after the third having given up 6 runs on 5 hits, as well as striking out 5 and hitting 3 batters.  Hopefully this was just a rough start for him being sick and coming off of the disabled list and he can regroup as we head further into the season.

The offense put together a slightly better outing, but still ran into a few problems.  Two double plays and a lack of clutch hitting took away a number of the run threats that we had during the game.   Brian McCann was 3-4 with 3 RBI, including a two-run home run in the top of the 8th inning.

For the Rockies,  a pair of three-run home runs from Torrealba and Spilborghs didn’t help the Braves’ cause any in trying to snag a victory.  Chris Resop came in to pitch the last two innings for the Braves and looked awful.  5 runs on 5 hits in two innings is not something you want to see out of a pitcher in your bullpen.

The Braves and Rockies face off this afternoon in the last game of the four-game series. as the Braves try to avoid the sweep.  The Braves once again have an under the weather pitcher in Tim Hudson, who has been fighting the flu this week.  Hudson will face off against Jeff Francis for the Rockies at 3:05pm EST.