Looking To End On A High Note

Written by Jonathan on April 26, 2009 – 11:57 am

Halfway through the road trip, it looked like there was no hope of having a decent road trip for the Braves.  The first five games yielded a 1-4 record, including two shutouts at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Since then however, they have compiled a three-game win streak and are looking for the sweep today in Cincinnati to complete a winning road trip.  After  yesterday’s 10-2 win, the Braves have a 9-8 record on the season.

Today, Kenshin Kawakami (1-2, 4.76 ERA) faces off against Micah Owings (0-2, 5.59 ERA) to close out the series.  Brandon Jones will make his first start in left field since being called up to replace the injured Garret Anderson.  It’s still not clear how much time Bobby Cox will have Jones spend in the field, but it’s good to see him get the opportunity to gain some playing time. 

Stay with us for in-game updates as the Braves look to take the sweep and come back to Atlanta with a winning road trip.

Braves: 2          Reds: 8
Top 9th: Matt Diaz singles with one out. Kelly Johnson strikes out. Escobar singles up the middle. That’s the ballgame. Reds win 8-2.
Bot 8th: Parr gives up two singles but no runs.
Top 8th: Chipper Jones with a leadoff double to left field. 3-4 on the day. Brandon Jones singles and scores Chipper. 8-2 Reds.
Bot 7th: James Parr gets the Reds 1-2-3 in the inning.
Top 7th: Ross with a solo home run to left with one out. 8-1 Reds. Johnson singles. Yunel singles to right but is thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
Bot 6th: Buddy Carlyle gives up a single to Micah Owings, but nothing more.
Top 6th: Chipper singles to lead off the inning. He has two of the Braves’ three hits today. Nothing further from the offense in the inning.
Bot 5th: Hernandez singles to right and Janish is hit by a pitch with no outs. Owings singles off of Hernandez’s foot, who’s out on the interference call. Taveras singles to load the bases. Votto doubles to right to scores three. 5-0 Reds. Phillips singles to right, scoring Votto. 6-0 Reds. Jay Bruce with a two-run homer, his second of the day. 8-0 Reds.
Top 5th: David Ross draws a leadoff walk but never advances past first base.
Bot 4th: Joey Votto puts the Reds’ first hit on the board with a one-out double down the right field line. Votto to third on a wild pitch. Jay Bruce sneaks a two-run homer in by the left field foul pole. 2-0 Reds.
Top 4th: Brandon Jones hits a two-out single but Schafer strikes out. We need to start getting some guys on base with less than two-outs.
Bot 3rd: 1-2-3 inning for Kawakami. 33 pitches through 3.
Top 3rd: Braves down 1-2-3 in the inning.
Bot 2nd: Jay Bruce walks to lead off the inning and is thrown out on a fielder’s choice by Encarnacion. Ross throws out Encarnacion trying to steal second and Hernandez grounds out softly to end the inning.
Top 2nd: Brandon Jones draws a one-out walk. Schafer strikes out and Ross tacks on a two-out walk. Kawakami can’t help himself out however and strikes out.
Bot 1st: Kawakami hits Votto but no offense from the Reds in the first.
Top 1st: Chipper sends a two-out single to right field. Kotchman grounds out to end the inning however.

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Braves Look To Start A Streak

Written by Jonathan on April 25, 2009 – 12:03 pm

The Braves are looking to turn around a nine-game road trip that started off with them losing four out of five games.  After back-to-back shutouts by the Pittsburgh Pirates and losing the series to the Washington Nationals, the Braves have managed to win two consecutive games.  The record on the road trip is now up to 3-4 and could be brought back up to .500 with a win today.  If the Braves can sweep the Cincinnati Reds, it will give them a winning road trip that has, for the most part, provided few high points.

Garret Anderson and Brian McCann have made trips to the 15-day disabled list.  The offense is struggling to put men on base (but somehow drawing enough bases loaded walks to keep them in games), but overall, the team is fighting to get back to Atlanta on Monday with something to show for it all.  Today, Derek Lowe brings his 1-1 record and 3.27 ERA into Cincinnati to face off against Bronson Arroyo, who is the first Reds pitcher to have a 3-0 start since 1997.

Two wins under our belt and hopeful for a third today.  The Braves are in need of a win streak.  Stay with us for updates throughout the game.

Braves: 10         Reds: 2
Bot 9th: Jeff Bennett on to finish up the game for the Braves. Janish with a one-out single to center. Nix singles with two outs. No runs cross the plate. Braves win 10-2.
Top 9th: Francoeur singles but is gotten out on a double play. 3 outs to go.
Bot 8th: O’Flaherty throws a solid 1-2-3 inning.
Top 8th: Schafer draws a leadoff walk and goes to second on a wild pitch. Greg Norton doubles and scores Schafer. 10-2 Braves.
Bot 7th: Lowe walks one and records his 8th strikeout of the game. I think that’ll about do it for him.
Top 7th: Herrera gets the Braves 1-2-3.
Bot 6th: Lowe walks one but retires three with no damage.
Top 6th: Schafer and Ross with back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning. 7-2 Braves. DLowe bunts Ross over to third. Yunel with a two-run homer to center. 9-2 Braves.
Bot 5th: Hanigan doubles to lead off the inning. Arroyo reaches on a bunt. Lowe strikes out three in a row with runners on second and third.
Top 5th: 1-2-3 inning for Arroyo.
Bot 4th: 1-2-3 inning for Derek Lowe.
Top 4th: Escobar hit by another pitch with two outs. Nothing doing for the Braves though.
Bot 3rd: Hairston strikes out at is ejected arguing the call. Dusty Baker also ejected. No offense for the Reds.
Top 3rd: Schafer draws a two-out walk but nothing more for the Braves in the inning.
Bot 2nd: Bruce doubles off the right field wall to lead off. Gonzalez homers to left. 6-2 Braves. Hanigan singles.
Top 2nd: David Ross singles and advances to second on a throwing error. Derek Lowe walks on 4 pitches. Yunel singles to left. 3-0 Braves. Chipper crushes a 3-run home run to right center. 6-0 Braves.
Bot 1st: Derek Lowe strikes out one and hits Joey Votto. No damage done.
Top 1st: Kelly Johnson walks to leadoff the inning. Escobar doubles of the wall to score Johnson. Chipper singles down the right field line. Escobar scores. 2-0 Braves. Kotchman singles. Francoeur grounds into a 6-4-3 double play. Diaz strikes out to end the inning.

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Anderson to DL, Braves In Cincy

Written by Jonathan on April 24, 2009 – 6:12 pm

After a couple of days of nursing his reaggravated left quad, Garret Anderson is headed to the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 20th.  Brandon Jones has been called up from AAA Gwinnett to take his spot on the roster.  It’s unknown when Anderson will be ready to return as he has been nagged with this injury off and on since early March.  I’m sure we’ll have more updates over the next few days.

Today is Chipper Jones’ 37th birthday.  In his career on his birthday, Chipper has a .500 average (18 for 37) with 4 HR, 8 RBI and 10 R.  Let’s hope he can keep that up tonight.  Brian McCann was also a late scratch for the game with further eye issues.  David Ross will take his spot in the lineup.  Here’s to trying to get a win streak started tonight as the Braves kick off the last series of the road trip in Cincinnati.

Stay with us for in-game updates, looks like great weather in Cincinnati for baseball.  Javier Vazquez brings his solid season performance, averaging 12.5 strikeouts per 9 innings, to face off against Edison Volquez.  Volquez is 2-1 on the season, but showing a 6.46 ERA.  Hopefully the Braves offense can show up for the game tonight and help Javy out.

Braves: 4          Reds: 3
Bot 9th: Gonzalez on to close it out and try to get the save. Taveras strikes out looking. Hairston grounds out back to Gonzo. Votto strikes out looking. Gonzo was dominant. Braves win 4-3.
Top 9th: One-out single to left field for Kotchman. That’s about it for the Braves in the inning. Only 4 hits for the offense all night.
Bot 8th: Soriano in to pitch. Jay Bruce leads off the inning with a double into the right field corner. Encarnacion walks. Hernandez bunts the runners over to second and third. Sac fly for Gonzalez scores Bruce. Encarnacion stays at second. 4-3 Braves.
Top 8th: Kelly Johnson hits a two-out single to right. Yunel can’t move him at all however.
Bot 7th: Moylan on to pitch for the Braves. He gives out a two-out walk to Dickerson. Votto reaches on an error by Moylan, but he avoids any runs scoring.
Top 7th: Yunel walks to lead off the inning and Chipper gets him over to second. Francoeur draws his second walk of the night. Diaz singles up the middle to plate Escobar. 4-2 Braves. Masset is replaced on the mound by Herrera. Schafer grounds out to end the inning.
Bot 6th: Encarnacion singles with one out to left. The defense puts away two more. The night’s likely done for Vazquez.
Top 6th: Schafer draws a leadoff walk off of Nick Masset who has taken over for Volquez. No further offense for the Braves though.
Bot 5th: Votto singles past short with two outs. Vazquez strikes out another two. That’s 9 for him.
Top 5th: Francoeur with a two-out solo homer. Braves’ first hit of the night makes it a 3-2 Braves lead.
Bot 4th: Phillips walks to lead off the inning. Hernandez with a two-out single to put runners of first and second. Gonzalez singles up the middle scoring Phillips. 2-2 Game. Vazquez has 7 strikeouts of his own.
Top 4th: Kotchman walks to lead off the inning. Francoeur walks. Kotchman strikes out. Schafer and Ross walks to load the bases. Vazquez walks to bring in a run. 1-1 Game. Johnson walks to bring in another. 2-1 Braves. Volquez has struck out six but walked seven.
Bot 3rd: 1-2-3 inning for Vazquez. Good to see him getting hitters to keep the ball on the ground.
Top 3rd: Yunel hit by a pitch with two outs. Yunel is not happy and has some choice words for Volquez. Benches and bullpens empty. Chipper grounds out to end the inning.
Bot 2nd: Hernandez doubles off the left field wall with one out. Two more Ks for Vazquez.
Top 2nd: Francoeur and Diaz with a one-out walks. Schafer grounds out but moves the runners up a base. Ross strikes out, Volquez’s 4th.
Bot 1st: Taveras leads off with a single and reaches second on a passed ball. Votto singles and Taveras scores. 1-0 Reds. 3 strikeouts in the inning for Vazquez.
Top 1st: 2 strikeouts and a quick grounder gives Volquez a 1-2-3 inning.

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Braves Drop Split-Squad Pair

Written by Jonathan on March 9, 2008 – 11:04 am

The Braves fell in both games of their split-squad pair Saturday to the Astros and the Reds.  The Astros downed the Braves 7-4 while the Reds issued a 13-8 beating as well.  Here are quick recaps of both games that saw a few highlights and exposed a few issues for the Braves:

Game 1 – Braves 4, Astros 7
Jo-Jo Reyes tooks the mound in the first half of the split-squad pair, fighting to earn a spot in the Atlanta rotation.  At quick glance, his numbers on the day weren’t too bad.  Pitched 2 innings of no-hit ball and struck out 4 (striking out the side in the 2nd inning).  But Reyes also issued 5 walks and brought a run home on a bases-loaded balk that saw him tripping on the mound and, while falling, delivering the ball only about halfway to the plate.

Blain Boyer continued to impress, pitching scoreless 3rd and 4th innings, while giving up only 1 hit.  The Braves gave up an additional 3 runs in the top of the 9th, bringing the score to 7-2.  The 2 runs scored in the bottom of 9th, on a Brandon Hicks homerun, weren’t enough to overcome the deficit and the Braves fell 7-4.  In a highlight however, Yunel Escobar continued his amazing hitting of the preseason, going 2-3 with his 3rd double of the preseason.  He’s now batting .545 (12-22) with 15 total bases.  Chipper Jones also went 2-3 in his 4th preseason appearance, extending his preseason average to .600 (6-10).

Game 2 – Braves 8, Reds 13
The Reds continually beat up on the Braves in the second game of the split-squad pair, posting runs in 5 of the 8 innings in which they came to the plate.  Additionally, the Braves didn’t help themselves too much in this matchup, donating 5 unearned runs to the Reds.

Buddy Carlyle made the start for the Braves, still fighting at an outside shot of a starting rotation job though I think we’ll see him in a long reliever role instead.  The Reds jumped on Carlyle, who had previously retired all 12 batters he had faced in the preseason, early on, chalking 3 runs on the board in the 1st inning.  Carlyle also gave up a solo homerun to Brandon Phillips in the 3rd, ending his day pitching 3 innings, striking out 3 and giving up 6 hits and 4 runs.  With the help of a Diory Hernandez two-run homer in the top of the 4th, however, the Braves led 6-4 heading into the bottom of the 4th.

Jeff Bennett took over on the hill from Carlyle, giving up 5 runs on 3 hits over the next two innings, giving him the loss for the day.  Charlie Morton came on to give up 4 runs [on 1 hit] in the 6th before Phil Stockman and Vladimir Nunez each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the game.  The Braves offense tried to keep up, with the help of 2 RBIs from both Jordan Schafer and Martin Prado, but it was not enough to make up for the 5 unearned runs and the Braves fell 13-8.

Next up, Tim Hudson kicks off a 4-game preseason homestand for the Braves, facing off against the Cardinals.  Look to see last season’s dominant setup man, Peter Moylan, make an appearance to test the soreness in his right elbow.


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