Braves vs. Brewery Workers

Campillo vs. Suppan today in a game already underway and tied 2-2 in the 4th.  Infante already left today in the 2nd inning with a strained hammy and is day-to-day.  We’re a little short on the infield with Chipper out with his quad injury.  Escobar is a little pansy who apparently strained his left shoulder pitching a hissy fit last night and he’s not playing today either.

We need fewer infielder injuries and more wins - join us for some discussion of the recent Braves happenings and chime in!

Defense Spoils Morton’s Home Debut

Sometimes the final score doesn’t reflect the pitcher’s performance at all.Such was the case last night at Turner Field. Despite perfect baseball weather last night, the Braves early defensive errors (resulting in at least 2 unearned runs), doomed the home team.

You know you have sloppy fielding when the pitcher loses the game, and his ERA drops.

Raise your hand if you had a fielding error last night?

(Yunnel Escobar raises hand)
(Omar Infante raises hand)
(Jeff Francoeur raises both hands)

Hey, Brandon Jones, I’m looking at you! What’s up with running in on a fly ball and letting it go over your head—for the second time this year? How that wasn’t called an error, I do not know.

And Escobar, we love your passion, but we need you in the line-up more than we need you in the clubhouse taking a shower.

Then in the 9th, for a short moment in time, 30,000+ fans were unified as the Braves started to rally. Quickly, runners were on. Then Francoeur, hitting .243, gets out. Not to pile on Jeffrey like much of the Atlanta media, but this was really the nail in the coffin for the game.

But, with the tying runner on third, with two outs, to a screaming, raucous crowd, a lone batter walked to the plate. It was…….Corky Miller. With my hands over my eyes, I peeked through my fingers at the scoreboard and noted his .103 batting average. Would the last position player on the bench be hero or goat? Let’s just say that, upon leaving the field, he would have felt just fine in a barnyard.

However, there were some bright spots. Out of the lineup for several days due to an aggravated quad, Chipper Jones took to the plate, looking as if he owned it. On the second pitch, with the grace of a black belt, punched an easy single into left centerfield. He goes to first, a pinch runner comes in, and he strolls back to the dugout. Honestly, he makes it look easy.

And it’s always fun to see Tex get hot. With a homer and a double, he seems to be finding a groove.

It’s official; I’m on the Charlie Morton bandwagon. I like what I see in this kid. This should have been another “X” in the “W” column for him.

Sorry, Charlie.

Braves vs. Brewskies Tonight

The Braves take on the Brewers of Milwaukee tonight with Jo-Jo Reyes on the mound.  Jo-Jo is 1-2 with a 2.80 ERA over his past five starts.  Join us for a little bit of discussion as we tune in to see if Jo-Jo can continue to show that patience with him is paying off.  None of us could make it out to the ballpark tonight - laundry and business trips take priority - but we’ll be watching and commenting as we can.

Join in the discussion - Escobar is back in the lineup but Infante is still filling in for Chipper.  Go Bravos!

Braves Win On The Road?

Jorge Campillo’s ERA rose after today’s outing as our fifth starter, while the Braves secured a rare 8-1 road win. Campillo, who’s ERA was 0.86 before the game, allowed a home run to Russell Branyan to increase his ERA to 0.99, just disgusting.  That’s the first run that Campillo has given up since assuming a starting role.

In all seriousness though, the Braves were hopefully able to put two one-run road losses behind them on their way to Cincinnati to take on the Reds. Campillo (2-0) pitched five innings and allowed one run on the homer for his second win, another converted reliever, Seth McClung (2-2), took the loss after allowing six runs in four and two-thirds innings.

Campillo struck out six in his five innings and walked none. Campillo also got his first major league hit and RBIs on a flair to right fielder Corey Hart.

Mark Teixeira homered in the win, his first in the last 19 games, as he continues to show signs of life with his second four-RBI game this week. Teixeira’s .290 batting average is 30 points higher than his .262 average in April and only figures to get higher going into the summer.

The Braves did not start the game out soundly. Yunel Escobar singled on the first pitch of the game. After Kelly Johnson popped up on the second pitch, Chipper Jones singled and Teixeira walked. Greg Norton, getting the start in left field while Kotsay is nursing his sore back (Blanco made the start in center), grounded into a double play—a signature of the Braves season.

In the third, Escobar singled and moved to third on a Chipper single. Teixeira hit the ball to the right side that would have scored Escobar anyway, but Teixeira was safe at first and Chipper moved up thanks to Rickie Weeks’ throwing error.

In the fifth, Kelly Johnson singled and stole second on a mental error by the Brewers—they didn’t hold the runner with Chipper at the plate. With first base open, Chipper was intentionally walked before Tex unloaded to right field for a 4-0 lead. Campillo later singled with the bases loaded for a 6-0 lead.

In the eighth, the Braves loaded the bases with two outs, but Manny Acosta grounded out to first. Atlanta replicated that in the ninth, but this time Kelly Johnson’s single scored two to put the Braves up 8-1.

Some strange occurrences happened in this game. After Brian McCann’s strike without being in the box last night, the umpire was involved in a very rare call today as well. With Ryan Braun attempting to steal third, Corky Miller’s throw to third sailed into left field and allowed Braun to score. But before that happened, Hart was called out on batter’s interference because he stepped out of the batter’s box during the throw attempt. The hitter is required to stand in the batter’s box to avoid this call. This cost the Brewers a run that would have tied the game.

Chipper watch: Chipper went 2-4 today to raise his average to .420, the fourth highest batting average through May 28^th this late in the season.

Injury update: Matt Diaz’s PCL is partially torn, but he will not require surgery. He will, however, be out six weeks for treatment. Soriano threw the ninth inning today with his fastball reaching 94 miles an hour, he allowed a base runner on a walk but did not allow a hit. Smoltz will pitch for Rome tonight and Gonzalez was cleared to go on a 10-day minor league rehab assignment.

Road = Loss (By 1 Naturally)

The Braves were in a great position to finally start a road trip on a good note, it just did not happen. Jeff Bennett (0-3) allowed Bill Hall to single with no outs and to come around and score on a sacrifice fly to give the Brewers a win and waste a solid eight innings from Tim Hudson.

Solomon Torres (4-1) got the win in relief after pitching a scoreless top half of the ninth. Chipper started the frame with a single, but what’s new? Teixeira followed Chipper’s hit with a shot of his own, straight to the shortstop, who turned a double play through second base. McCann ended the inning on a single.

Kelly Johnson gave the Braves something to hope for off Dave Bush in the top of the first. After fouling off a fastball down the middle of the plate, Johnson hit an identical pitch 402 feet to right field to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Gregor Blanco, playing center field with Kotsay out, broke through for the first homer of his major league career in the top of the second off Bush.

But after that Bush was almost un-hittable. Surprisingly, after the second inning Bush faced just one more than the minimum and allowed just one runner past first—Hudson, who doubled in the top of the fifth, but was stranded at third when Johnson struck out.

Hudson pitched very well until the seventh inning. Recently called up veteran Russell Branyan doubled to open the seventh and scored on J.J. Hardy’s single. Hardy also drove in the game tying run on a strange play in the eighth.

Mike Cameron flied out and Ryan Braun grounded out to open the frame. Prince Fielder singled and Cory Hart doubled to put runners on second and third with two outs. Branyan was intentionally walked to bring Hardy up to the plate. Hardy hit Hudson’s pitch right back to Hudson, the ball bounced off the end of Hudson’s shoe and hung in the air long enough to render everyone safe and the score tied.

Brian McCann’s 13 game hitting-streak ended after he went 0-3. Chipper went 2-4 to increase his batting average to a cool .418.

Here Goes Another Road Trip

Well, the time has come for us to buckle down on the road.  By the end of June, the Braves have 19 road games.  In my opinion, these games will define the rest of the season for the Braves.  Without going .500 to .600 in those road games, I don’t see us standing much of a chance to compete, especially if we can’t topple teams such as the Brewers and Reds.  Tonight, we kick off a set against Milwaukee with Tim Hudson taking the mound with his 7-3 record.

The Braves will be without the help of Mark Kotsay tonight and possibly for longer as they ponder placing him on the disabled list with his back problems.  Hopefully the rest of the offense can stay healthy and we see some quality performances out of the pitching staff to try to right the ship against our worst-in-MLB 6-16 road record.  It’s time to get it going on the road, guys.  Go Braves!