Here are some notes:

• Charlie Morton gave up a grand slam, but got a no-decision despite giving up six runs in six innings in a little bit of a rough outing.  He’s looking promising as a young pitcher in the organization, though.
• Six Braves relievers pitched 11 innings of scoreless baseball.  Bravo!
• Yunel Escobar made an amazing diving grab in the 15th.
• Two injuries occurred that led to DL time – Manny Acosta and Omar Infante tweaked their hamstrings running the bases and will see DL time.
• The Braves also placed Jeff Bennett on the 15 day DL after he partially dislocated his shoudler yesterday in the Braves’ 6-1 loss.
• The Braves expect to recall two pitchers and one utility player to fill out the rosters.
• Sources say the Brewers have traded for C.C. Sabathia in exchange for minor leaguers.  This should make for some interesting central division baseball.

Braves 7, Astros 6.  Good to see the Braves hang in there like that and show some character.  Maybe good things are coming down the chute for the Braves.  Next up – long road trip!  We’ll be around more now that it’s not July 4 weekend.

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.

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.