Wagner Blows Save, Braves Fall in 12

The Braves’ Billy Wagner had been almost automatic recently. In his last 25 innings pitched before last night, he posted a 0.36 ERA, and a .108 opponents average. But those last 25 innings didn’t help him last night.

The Braves took the lead in the bottom of the third last night, with four straight hits – including a two-run single by Chipper Jones and a two-run homer by Brian McCann. Tommy Hanson had surrendered two runs before that, and pitched into the seventh. The Braves took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth.

And then Wagner let one get away from him. He’s not a machine – but we’ll forgive a blown save here and there because of just how damn good he’s been. Kris Medlen took the loss in extras – the seventh pitcher the Braves sent to the mound last night. He’ll make his next start, I hear, and just skip a throwing session today.

We’ll drop a game here and there, and it’s not the end of the world. The goal here has always been to win series. We can do that tonight – we’re sending Huddy to the mound and he always puts us in position to win. Brush it off and go back out tonight and do what you do, boys – win.

Cody Ross to Atlanta? Could Happen. But Would He Help?

In his latest “Fried Baseball” audio blog, Kent Covington discusses recent developments that suggest the Braves have serious interest in Cody Ross of the Florida Marlins.  Throw in your 2 cents in the comments area below… or leave a message with your questions or comments for a future commentary at 888-669-5368 (ext.701.)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Countdown To The All-Star Break: 9 Important Games

The Atlanta Braves have 3 series remaining until the All-Star break.  That’s 9 games left to make one last first half statement to the rest of the league.  Why are these games so important?  They’re all against teams in the NL East.  We kick off tonight for 3 games against the Marlins and then head to Philadelphia and New York for 3 games each against the Phillies and the Mets.

In the last 16 series, the Braves are 13-1-2 and currently sit with a 46-33 record on the season.  The Marlins series won’t be an easy one however as we’re catching the dominant portion of the Florida pitching staff.  On the bright side, however, the Braves are sending some top performers to the mound as well in the series.  Tonight Josh Johnson (8-3, 1.83) faces off against Kris Medlen (5-1 (4-0 as a starter), 3.15).  Kris’s first start as an official member of the starting rotation, now that Kenshin Kawakami has taken a role in the bullpen, will have to be a good one.  Hopefully the offense can help him out and get Johnson, who is tied with Ubaldo Jiminez for the best ERA in MLB, out of the game before the 7th.

Saturday’s matchup will be Anibal Sanchez (7-4, 3.18) against Tommy Hanson (7-5, 4.50).  Hanson has struggled as of late, getting knocked around pretty solidly in a few of his recent outings.  Roger McDowell is confident Hanson will spring back, but all eyes will be on him to see if he can get back to dominant form.  If not, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Kawakami on for him in long relief.  The final game of the series will bring Ricky Nolasco (7-6, 4.84) in to face off against Tim Hudson (8-3, 2.37).  On paper, this game favors the Braves as Hudson has been unstoppable lately and Nolasco likes to give up the long ball (19 in 16 outings this season), but he has won his last two.  Anything can happen.

I’m looking for the Braves to continue their dominance at Turner Field this weekend (their 28-9 home record is the best in MLB) and take care of business with the Marlins.  I’ll be happy with 3 more series victories heading into the All-Star break which would give us a record of at least 52-36 before the break, but why stop there?  I’ll settle for a sweep or two.

Florida Marlins Fire Fredi Gonzalez

The Florida Marlins have fired Fredi Gonzalez.

In related news, Fredi Gonzalez has moved from “high on the list and unavailable” to “high on the list and available” on the list of potential 2011 Atlanta Braves managers. Before managing the Marlins, Gonzalez was third base coach for the Braves.

Fredi Gonzalez lives in Marietta, Georgia with his family. He’s won more games than any other Marlins manager but you can’t blame him for his 276-279 record with the Fish as their upper management has proven over and over again that they’re absolutely insane and incapable of running a good team for more than a year or two. He’s a prime candidate for the Braves’ manager position in 2011 because of his familiarity with the Braves’ system and managerial experience. We’ll see what happens, but I’d anticipate Fredi at least hearing from the Braves’ brass here in the next few days, weeks and months.

Braves Should Trade For Nick Johnson

Here’s the deal. Jeff Schultz of the AJC wrote earliera bout how the Braves haven’t made a move and yet all the contenders are making deals. Right now the Marlins – one of the only other contending teams that has yet to make a move – is reported to have offered a minor league pitcher for first baseman Nick Johnson.

The Braves need to move. They need a bat. Standing pat will, mark my words, leave us at home and out of the playoffs. Pitching alone wins – but not enough for the Braves – as far back as we are and as upgraded as the contenders look to be – we need a bat to augment our pitching staff.

Here’s the deal: Braves trade for Nick Johnson. Offer Jo-Jo Reyes. Kris Medlen. Hell, give ‘em Casey Kotchman. Johnson plays for a few months, propels the Braves to the postseason, and splits in free agency (bound to happen). Braves play Barbaro Canizares and Martin Prado at 1B next season, give youth their chance to shine, and bring up Freddie Freeman either late next year or the 2011 season. That’s the plan to get to Freeman, who is one of the Braves’ top prospects.

But we want to win. We’re so close. We just need to win a LOT really FAST. And we need a bat to do it.

Nick Johnson is the man. Let’s rent a first base slugger for a few months. Let’s do it. I want to play postseason ball in Atlanta again. With a staff like this, we’re hard to beat in the postseason, but we have to get there first.

Kawakami Tries To Avoid Sweep

After two rough beatings by the Marlins, the Braves are looking for Kenshin Kawakami to steer them past the potential sweep in today’s afternoon game to end the homestand.  Kawakami took the win in his first outing of the season behind a 3-run, 4-hit performance where he struck out 8 in 6 innings of work.  Hopefully that was the confidence booster he needed after a rough outing in the exhibition game at Turner Field before the season kicked off.

The Braves will have to produce runs without Chipper Jones and Brian McCann in the lineup today.  Chipper is still nursing the bruised thumb that was reaggravated during Tuesday’s game.  Omar Infante will take the start at third.  David Ross will be filling in for Brian McCann.  Ross was activated off of the disabled list and took the place of Clint Sammons on the roster, who was sent back to AAA Gwinnett.

After two rough games, the Braves are looking to avoid the sweep and get out of town on a high note to kick off the road trip.  Stick with us for in-game updates.

Bottom 9th:
Nunez on to pitch for the Marlins.
- Ross singles.
- Brian McCann pops out. Double play. 2 out.
- Johnson grounds out. 3 out.
Final: 6-2 Marlins

Top 9th:
Jorge Campillo on to pitch for the Braves.
- Gload triples to center.
- Bonifacio strikes out. 1 out.
- Amezaga singles. Gload scores. 6-2 Marlins.
- Amezaga thrown out trying to steal second. 2 out.
- Ramirez flies out to second. 3 out.

Bottom 8th:
Nunez on to pitch for the Marlins.
- Kotchman lines out to first. 1 out.
- Francoeur strikes out swinging. 2 out.
- Schafer strikes out…..again. 3 out.

Top 8th:
- Cantu strikes out. 1 out.
- Uggla singles to left.
- Hermida strikes out looking. 2 out.
- Ross singles to center. Uggla to center.
- Paulino grounds into a force out. 3 out.

Bottom 7th:
Calero on to pitch for the Marlins.
- Infante pops out to right. 1 out.
- Prado flies out to left. 2 out.
Meyer on to pitch.
- Anderson flies out to center. 3 out.

Top 7th:
Jeff Bennett in to pitch.
- Bonifacio grounds out to third. 1 out.
- Amezaga grounds out to second. 2 out.
- Ramirez flies out to right. 3 out.
Good to see a 1-2-3 from the bullpen.

Bottom 6th:
- Ross flies out to right. 1 out.
- Norton flies out to right. 2 out.
- Johnson grounds out first. 3 out.

Top 6th:
- Uggla walks.
- Hermida triples to center. Uggla scores. 4-2 Marlins.
- Ross sac fly to center. Schafer’s throw off-line. 1 out. 5-2 Marlins.
- Paulino grounds out to third. 2 out.
- Sanchez grounds out to second. 3 out.
At 109 pitches and the pitcher spot up in the inning, I’d say Kawakami’s done.

Bottom 5th:
- Infante flies out to center. 1 out.
- Escobar grounds out to short. 2 out.
- Anderson doubles to right.
- Kotchman singles.
- Francoeur doubles to center. Anderson scores. 3-2 Marlins.
- Schafer strikes out. 3 out.
Jordan needs to get all the check swings under control.

Top 5th:
- Amezaga strikes out. 1 out.
- Ramirez strikes out. 2 out.
- Cantu strikes out. 3 out.
Great inning for Kawakami. 7 Ks on the day.

Bottom 4th:
- Ross grounds out to third. 1 out.
- Kawakami singles.
- Johnson grounds into a fielder’s choice. 2 out.
- Johnson thrown out trying to steal second. 3 out.

Top 4th:
- Ross singles past short.
- Paulino strikes out. 1 out.
- Sanchez grounds into a fielder’s choice. 2 out.
- Bonifacio strikes out. 3 out.
Good to avoid the leadoff single.

Bottom 3rd:
- Infante flies out to left. 1 out.
- Escobar flies out to right. 2 out.
- Anderson doubles to right.
- Kotchman walks.
- Francoeur singles past short. Anderson scores. Kotchman to second. 3-1 Marlins.
- Schafer strikes out. 3 out.
At least we’re on the board.

Top 3rd:
- Amezega grounds out to Kawakami. 1 out.
- Ramirez flies out to right. 2 out.
- Cantu walks.
- Uggla doubles to left. Cantu to third.
- Hermida strikes out swinging. 3 out.
Worked out of a jam there.

Bottom 2nd:
- Jeff Francoeur flies out to center. 1 out.
- Jordan Schafer grounds out to first. 2 out.
- David Ross walks.
- Kenshin Kawakami singles to left. Ross to second.
- Johnson pops out to second. 3 out.
Another couple of runners stranded. We need to start crossing the plate with those!

Top 2nd:
- Jorge Cantu singles past third.
- Dan Uggla grounds to short. KJ bobbles the catch for the double play. Both runners safe.
- Jeremy Hermida flies out to center. Runners stay put. 1 out.
- Cody Ross homers to right. 3-0 Marlins.
- Ronny Paulino walks.
- Anibal Sanchez bunts to first. Paulino to second. 2 out.
- Bonifacio grounds out to first. 3 out.
Those runs are all on KJ, the inning should have been over. Not to mention the many added pitches on Kawakami’s arm.

Bottom 1st:
- Kelly Johnson flies out to center. 1 out.
- Omar Infante lines out to center. 2 out.
- Yunel Escobar singles to left. Steals second.
- Garret Anderson walks.
- Casey Kotchman flies out to left. 3 out.
Stranded a few men, but at least a little spark of offense.

Top 1st: 
- Emilio Bonifacio strikes out swinging. 1 out.
- Alfredo Amezega flies out to right. 2 out.
- Hanley Ramirez grounds out to third 3 out.
Just the start that Kawakami needed.  Good 1-2-3 inning.

Lowe v. Miller, Chipper Sits

Derek Lowe takes the mound tonight for the Braves as they take on the Florida Marlins and Andrew Miller. They look to bounce back from last night’s 5-1 loss, but they’ll have to do it without Chipper Jones, who is sitting with a thumb injury. We’ll update this live from the game, so check back frequently for updates!

Even though Jonathan and I are going to be at the game tonight, feel free to use the chat room and comment thread to offer your opinions and insight on the game.

Braves Fall To Fish, Glavine Considering Retirement

Javier Vazquez struck out 12 last night against the Marlins in six innings of work. He gave up three runs in those six innings and the Braves bullpen surrendured two in the eighth to spot the Marlins a 5 spot. Chris Volstad shut the Braves down and gave up only a solo homer to Kelly Johnson. Braves went down 5-1. Garret Anderson dropped not one but TWO foul balls and was charged with two errors. I’m a bit worried about Anderson – if he can’t catch routine fly balls maybe he needs a little more time to rest his leg. Diaz should play tonight, so that’ll be good for Anderson to take a seat for a game.

Glavine’s MRI came back to reveal an inflamed rotator cuff. And yes, it may be about time to stick a fork in him – he may be done. The Braves are reporting that Glavine is frustrated with the rehab process and is considering retirement. Frankly, if we’re paying him this year, I don’t want him to give up and retire in a couple weeks. I want him to fight back as long as he can. I’m torn on this – I really don’t WANT Glavine back in anything but fully effective as a starter (with his historic first inning woes, I don’t want him in a relief role).

I’m not really sure what I want to happen with Glavine – I don’t want him back unhealthy and I don’t want him stuck in rehab forever – I really wish we just hadn’t signed him when we did. Couldn’t we have spent that money towards Smoltzie? I’m just bitter about the whole thing. Why sign Glav when we don’t know he’ll pitch? I’m not just an armchair GM, I’m a bitter armchair GM. What are your thoughts on the situation?

Braves Take On Marlins

9th Innning: Blaine “couldn’t throw a strike the other night” Boyer in for the Braves. Somehow didn’t give up a run. Last chance for the Bravos. Worried about Chipper’s hand – he seems to have tweaked it again. Nothing doing for the Braves. Fish win 5-1 – they improve to 6-1 on the year and take over first place in the NL East.

8th Inning: Jeff Bennett pitching. Garret Anderson error (dropped foul ball?) led to a baserunner. Went downhill from there. 4 hits and a walk in 1/3 of an inning led to a 5-1 Marlins lead. O’Flaherty in to pitch – instant double play to stop the pain. 5-1 Fish. Schafer led off with a single but of course nobody could put anything together to advance him.

7th Inning: Moylan on to pitch. 3 up, 3 down. Great defense by Kelly Johnson. Francoeur singled but was chopped down in a beautiful double play by the Fish.

6th Inning: Vazquez retires the side to end his outing. 12 strikeouts for Vazquez – solid stuff. Prado doubles in his pinch-hit appearance. Escobar got on base, Chipper sacrificed them to second and third to set it up for McCann. McCann ripped one to first – it was bobbled but McCann was forced out.

5th Inning: Marlins up and down. Braves strand a runner. Norton was in the on-deck circle so we’ll probably see Vazquez for another inning max.

4th Inning: Nothing doing for the Marlins. Kelly Johnson homerun makes it 3-1. Next three batters retired. 3-1 Marlins.

3rd Inning: Marlins knock in two on an Uggla single. A Vazquez wild pitch brought in another run. 3-0 Marlins. Volstad retired the side in order. He’s got a ridiculous breaking ball, by the way.

2nd Inning: Marlins had two on with two out, but unable to do anything. McCann laid down a bunt and just about beat it out (looked like he was safe on the replay) – Bobby came out to argue briefly but stays in the game. Garret Anderson and Jeff Francoeur flew out to end the 2nd. Volstad’s looking good.

1st Inning: Vazquez struck out two and got Hanley Ramirez to fly out to right. Wind is blowing left to right tonight – may be a factor on fly balls hit to right field. Bottom of the first Braves went 1, 2, 3.

When Javier Vazquez takes the mound for the Braves against the Florida Marlins’ Chris Volstad tonight, the Braves hope to walk away with another series win and an early season lead in the NL East. The Marlins are like the Braves – off to a 5-1 start. They have been cruising behind their young pitching staff – the oldest of the bunch of 26 – and Volstad is only 22.

The Braves have been riding behind solid starting pitching and a great offensive start – even if the bullpen has been shaky in an outing or two. The Braves lead the league with a .300 team batting average and a .540 slugging percentage. They’ve spread the offense out among their lineup and are very solid through and through. Javier is looking for his first win of the season as his start was spoiled by a bullpen meltdown that can only be descirbed in two ways (pick one: apocalyptic OR last season-ish). Hopefully the Braves can continue their hot start and roll their way to a 7-2 or 8-1 start – we’ll have to crack the pitching of the fish in order to do so.

What do you see happening tonight? What about the rest of the series? Anyone making it out to the park?

Cox Out, Morton On The Mound

Coming off a strong win last night against the Marlins, the Braves send Charlie Morton (2-2, 5.93 ERA) to the mound against Rick VandenHurk (0-1, 11.81 ERA).  Morton won’t have Bobby Cox in the dugout to turn to – Bobby is serving a one game suspension for his actions a couple nights ago that led to his 141st career ejection.

Game starts at 7:10 PM.  This is a must-win series, and VandenHurk doesn’t seem like a very intimidating pitcher with his sky-high ERA.

NL East Review: Marlins

Man…those Devil Rays really are making a name for themselves. Evan Longoria, Rookie of the Year? Guy’s an absolute beast this year, average isn’t perfect, but his other numbers are easily better than any other rookie out there. Among qualifying rookies in both leagues, Longoria is fourth in the majors in average (.275, tops in the AL) and tops in the majors in homers (15), he is also tied for second with Geovany Soto for RBIs (50, David Murphy - 52). Among other stat categories, Longoria leads the majors in slugging (.528) and is second to Soto in OPS (.876). Yes I know I haven’t really looked at pitchers, but the best qualifying AL Rookie is 5-6 with a 3.44 ERA, not exactly sparkling even for a rookie (remember Brandon Webb and Dontrelle Willis‘ rookie years?). No that definitely got me thinking back to 1995, when a young hotshot rookie third baseman was coming off a severe ACL injury, but immediately made an impact offensively on a team that would go on to win the world series. Chipper Jones that year hit .265 with 23 home runs and 86 RBIs, he also had 23 doubles and a .450 slugging percentage…this was in 524 at-bats, Longoria’s doing his damage in half that many. At the rate he’s going, Longoria might become THE offensive threat in their line up for years to come (he also signed a long term contract that would keep him out of the first year of free agency).

Anyway, back to the real article: The Marlins, boy they were a surprise coming out of the gates and still are. But to be honest, anyone truly surprised by this just hasn’t taken a look at the recent past. The Marlins have a unique formula for winning games, getting to the playoffs and winning championships. Their owner and general manager don’t go for it every year as much as their fans would like to believe. After their first championship in 1997, they got rid of guys like Gary Sheffield, Moises Alou, Luis Castillo among hitters and Techie Kevin Brown, Rob Nen and Al Leiter among pitchers to bring in younger talent. Later in 1998 they would resume their firesale to bring in guys like…well, just take a look at this, their 2003 Championship roster:

• C – Ivan Rodriguez
• 1B – Derek Lee
• 2B – Luis Castillo
• 3B – Mike Lowell
• SS – Alex Gonzalez
• LF – Todd Hollandsworth
• CF – Juan Pierre
• RF – Juan Encarnacion
• BN – Miguel Cabrera
• BN – Mike Redmond
• SP – Carl Pavano (Healthy)
• SP – Brad Penny
• SP – Mark Redman (when he was good)
• SP – Dontrelle Willis
• SP – Josh Becket (worst starter on that staff…seriously)
• CL – Braden Looper, not the best but still good at that time.

Imagine what their team would be and how many games they would have won in the last five years had they kept those guys together. At that time only Pudge was over 30, but he’s still playing pretty decently. He’s only seen a decline this year. All of the rest of those guys are name guys, there aren’t any players on that team that would make you think, huh? who? Maybe back then, and obviously hindsight is 20/20, but still, there’s something special about a group of no-name players winning a world series.

In that regard, I initially predicted them to win one in 2009 (every six years), but the way this team’s going right now I would not be surprised to see them do it a year early. They have the talent, their offense is clicking and they are expecting some of their best pitchers back (just like the Braves, except the Marlins are actually hitting).

These are some of the highlights of their current roster and how they got the players:

• Dan Uggla - .289, 23 homer, 58 RBIs and .620 slugging (!!). Rule 5 draft pick from Arizona when they could not find room for him on the roster
• Jorge Cantu - .273, 14 homers,  struck out just 66 times in 330 at-bats. This guy was released by the Reds in December and signed to a minor league contract by the Marlins and is now an everyday player.
• Hanley Ramirez - .298, 20 home runs, 41 RBI and 72 runs scored. Came over in the Josh Beckett trade from the Red Sox and just signed the largest contract in Marlins history.
• Their outfield is pretty decent too with guys like Luis Gonzalez (who was supposed to be washed up and done), Cody Ross and Jeremy Hermida (who went to my high school – Wheeler, Go Wildcats!). Not only that, they have solid backups in Alfredo Amezaga, Wes Helms and Josh Willingham
• With the exception of Mark Hendrickson, all of their starters are 25 and under. Scott Olsen got serious this year and and has a 3.47 ERA in 106.1 innings, Ricky Nolasco is 9-4 with a 3.94 ERA and they are still expecting Josh Johnson back later this season.
• In the Bullpen both Kevin Gregg and Renyel Pinto have sub-3.00 ERAs in 40+ innings for both (Gregg has pitched 39.2, close enough).

So, how do they stack up against other teams…pretty well. They are fifth in the NL in runs scored (407) and first in home runs (121). Their team batting average is pretty low (11, .253), but they step it up when there are runners on (.266). They are also fifth in OPS at .758.

Their pitching stats are surprisingly poor with a 4.54 team ERA (12), and 10 in batting average against at .262. Their bullpen, though, has been solid with a 3.71 ERA and a .241 BAA.

So after these numbers, where would the Marlins possibly need help? Well, the same place everyone else is looking, starting pitching. They may need one or two guys to get them down the stretch. Hendrickson has been slowing down after a great start and they may need someone to spell him. They also need some help in the bullpen to stabilize that end and maybe get a set up guy for the stretch. That said, they are a very young team and have tasted losing seasons in the past, the taste of those seasons has obviously left them with a great will to win and win soon. I think the Marlins’ best baseball is ahead of them and they should be able to pull out the division as long as they keep believing in themselves.

Current Record: 44-40

Predicted Final Record: 90-72, Tied-1st NL East

- Akshay

Of Course…We’re At Home

It’s a great feeling to be back at Turner Field.  Two games. Two come-from-behind wins.  That’s something that I’m 100% confident in saying that we are just incapable of doing on the road right now.  The Braves are only a game behind the Marlins in the division and can tie them with a win today while trying to hang with the surging Phillies who have won 7 of their last 8 games.  Hopefully we can cool them down when they come to Turner on Friday.

Unfortunately we won’t be seeing John Smoltz back out on the field today as the closer.  The announcement in his press conference today was that he would most likely have season-ending surgery next Tuesday, but that he’s not yet ready to retire and will pitch again should his rehabilitated shoulder allow him to do so.  Personally, I don’t think any of us are ready for him to retire, but it’s going to have to happen sooner or later.

Tom Glavine’ll be taking the hill for the Braves today against Mark Hendrickson, who despite having a 5.27 ERA so far this season, is coming into the game with a 7-3 record.  If we can keep the offense cool, we have a great shot today.  Go Braves!