Trailing 3-0 in the top of the fifth, the Braves proceeded to put 3 unearned runs on the board to tie up the game.  Future first baseman prospect, Freddie Freeman, brought two runs in with a two-out single and Brian McCann also added an RBI in the inning, plating Jordan Schafer.  Jordan also cracked the board later in the game with a leadoff home run in the top of the seventh.

Everyone anxious to see Jeff Francoeur at the plate today will still have to wait to see some performance out of him.  Jeff went 0-for-4, but it’s only the first game.  Most will say you can’t count on much that happened today to be telling as to how the season will go.  These early Spring Training games are where we really should be looking toward the young guys and seeing what they can do.

The Braves open up their home Grapefruit League season at Wide World of Sports tomorrow against the Astros at 1:05pm EST.  Jorge Campillo will take the hill for the Braves, making his campaign for a long relief spot in the bullpen.  Catch the game on ESPN.  So one Spring Training game closer to the season, what’s the good news of the day?

Also slated to appear for the Braves are Jo-Jo Reyes, Manny Acosta, Stephen Marek and Eric O’Flaherty.  Blaine Boyer was slated to throw an inning today but was scratched after cutting his hand on an apple slicer yesterday.  He is expected to make his next appearance.

Aside from Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson, all of the projected Opening Day starters are making the short trip to the game today.  Those two will likely make their first appearance in the televised game tomorrow afternoon versus the Astros.

The game starts at 1:05 EST and we’ll be doing our best to run a game thread here for the game.  It’s the first one of the season so it’s time to start kicking the rust off and getting back into the swing of things.  What’s everyone looking for in this first game today?  I’ll be happy to see Jurrjens have a solid two innings and no other pitchers get injured in the process; a couple of nice plate appearances from Francoeur would be encouraging as well.

Kenshin Kawakami continues to impress in Spring Training, throwing his second batting-practice session yesterday.  After throw mostly fastballs in his first session, Kawakami brought a little more to the table this time around, working in the curveball and cutter.  The amount of solid hitting against him saw a significant drop the second time around and Kawakami’s working to make it clear why he was a star in Japan.  We’ll see him in action for the first time this preseason with his Friday start against the Pirates.

Along that line, Bobby Cox has laid out some of the projected starters for the upcoming Spring Training games.  Here are the starters that have been announced so far:

2/25 – vs. Tigers – Jair Jurrjens
2/26 – vs. Astros – Jorge Campillo, Tommy Hanson
2/27 – vs. Pirates – Kenshin Kawakami
2/28 – vs. Blue Jays – Derek Lowe
3/01 – vs. Phillies – Charlie Morton (Questionable)
3/02 – Intrasquad – Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens
3/03 – vs. Panama – Tommy Hanson 
3/04 – vs. Yankees – Kenshin Kawakami

So things are starting to shape up for the pitchers in Florida and we’re already through our first injury of the preseason.  Let’s hope they are limited.  Who are you excited to get a first look at for the season?  I personally can’t wait to get a look at Tommy Hanson on the ESPN broadcast of the game on Thursday. 

Jair Jurrjens has turned down the opportunity to pitch for his native Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic in the interest of preparing for the 2009 season with the Braves.  With The Netherlands not expected to advance from the first round of competition and the Braves wishing for him to return after his first start, the decision was a little easier for Jurrjens.  Coming off of a surprise season last year that left him as the Braves most productive starter, everyone has high hopes for him in 2009.  This leaves Javier Vazquez as the only Braves pitcher in the Classic, pitching for Puerto Rico.

Chipper Jones and Brian McCann are the only two position players that will be participating in the World Baseball Classic.  Chipper received permission to report to Spring Training early with the pitchers and catchers as he will miss a portion of the preseason.  McCann has the toughest of all though.  With at least three, and potentially four, new pitchers in the Braves’ starting rotation this season, he has a lot to learn to prepare for the season.  With his participation in the Classic, he will miss up to three weeks of Spring Training, but he and the Braves are confident he’ll be ready to go by Opening Day.

Kenshin Kawakami will be the first Japanese player to play for the Braves at a Major League level and he has been soaking in everything that Spring Training brings.  He’s been excited to see his fellow rotation members pitch and eager to show what he’s got as well.  His first couple of sessions throughout the week were mostly to get used to the change in setting and get loosened up and he’s expecting to begin his harder sessions and workouts this week.

Peter Moylan is apparently looking great in camp.  It’s still unknown if he will be ready to go on Opening Day, but he is throwing beyond everyone’s expectations right now, including throwing live batting practice to hitters in Spring Training.  Moylan is recovering from Tommy John surgery on May 8th of last year, a surgery that usually requires a full 12 months for recovery.  My biggest concern is that he takes the time to come back correctly and to not rush anything that might hurt his chance of a full return this season.  Moylan will be a huge asset to the bullpen this year if healthy.

Tommy Hanson has been impressing everyone at camp with his slider.  Hanson is consider one of the top minor league prospects in all of baseball and Bobby Cox continually likens the slider that he throws to that of John Smoltz.  It’s doubtful that we’ll be seeing him in Atlanta at the start of the season, but I have the feeling he will make a few appearances in and out of Atlanta throughout the season.  I expect big things out of this kid down the road.

Jason Heyward is excited to impress as many people as he can this Spring Training.  While likely that he’ll start the season in Rome and probably have the chance to make it up to Mississippi, Heyward is not just another prospect.  At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, Heyward is the Braves’ power-hitting outfielder of the future and plays defense to back it up.  At 19 years old, he still has some development to go through, but as MiLB.com’s 3rd-rated prospect in the game, look for him to be making a name for himself in the upcoming seasons.

Those are the main things that have happened as far as Spring Training has gone so far and we’re expecting a lot more news to come from this week when preseason games get started on Wednesday against the Tigers.  Don’t miss your first chance to catch the Braves on TV this season on Thursday when the Braves take on the Astros at 1:05pm on ESPN.  This week will likely start the competition between Josh Anderson, Gregor Blanco, Jordan Schafer and Brandon Jones to tie up the loose ends for outfield positions this season; I’m sure we’ll have lots of news on that this week.

So what’re the things to watch for this week in Spring Training?  Who do you expect to impress?  Who’s not going to meet expectations?  There’s a lot to be excited about.  It’s Spring Training and it’s time for another baseball season to get underway.

Thanks to five Braves hits and two Indians errors, the Braves rallied from the 4-0 deficit to win the game 5-4 as the game was called on account of rain.  The rally included RBIs from Corky Miller, Gregor Blanco, Brent Lillibridge, and our new favorite utility player, Ruben Gotay.  Earlier in the day, Chipper almost knocked in pinch-runner Lillibridge, but he got thrown out at the plate by right fielder Franklin Gutierrez.

Hampton started for the Braves, and he looked good.  The Indians strung three hits together in the second to score a run, but otherwise we should be once again encouraged by Hampton, who seems ready to start the season and answer any doubters who think he can’t handle the Majors anymore.  He’ll pitch well for us until he breaks his arm turning on a light switch.

Jake Westbrook is downright nasty as a pitcher – the Indians have to be thankful for him and C.C. in the division race with the Tigers.  I think the AL Central will be a very fun division to watch all year.

Next up?  Oh yeah, actual regular season games.  One, actually, against the Washington Nationals in DC, opening their new stadium.  President Bush will throw out the first pitch and it sounds like the guys are excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the first game in the new park.  Here’s hoping we torch the Nats.

Jair Jurrjens got the start, giving up two runs in over three innings of work.  However, one of those runs should be charged to Boyer, who did not look good at all in the fourth after he came in.  Some other quick observations:

• Yunel made some great plays defensively, including a nice leaping catch.  I’m excited to see him play a full season.
• Kotsay made a diving grab in the outfield that scared me a little bit – he seemed to catch his arm a little bit but he came up fine.
• I was impressed by Kotsay on the basepaths.  He stayed alert and stole second when the catcher simply dropped the ball.  Caught everyone off guard.  It resulted in Atlanta’s only run of the day.
• We had a “Andruw would have gotten that” moment tonight – but it was later in the game and I think Gregor Blanco was in center, not Kotsay.  So we won’t pop that counter yet.  At least not until the regular season.
• Chipper still won’t run out infield ground balls.
• Fernando Nunez looked good today.  Never heard of him before today, but he looked good.
• Acosta looks good – he’ll be an important part of our bullpen this season.
• The Kelly Johnson / Yunel Escobar double play duo this season will be fun to watch.  They’re getting in the groove and should be really smooth here soon.

Next up, Hampton starts against the Indians at 1:10 tomorrow.  The Braves will have their 25-man roster done tomorrow at some point too.  They have to have it set before Sunday’s game against the Nationals.

After dropping their final Grapefruit league game 9-4 to the division rival Mets Thursday afternoon, the Braves pack their bags and head north. They’ll play exhibition games Friday and Saturday at Turner Field before heading to Washington DC to help open the Nationals’ new stadium.

Cox let his relievers pitch the entire game, giving Peter Moylan the start. Moylan gave up three earned runs in his inning of work. Chris Resop and Royce Ring helped make their case for the big league roster by striking out two each in their scoreless innings. Charlie Morton (whom yes, we sent down to the minors once already) pitched three innings and allowed three earned runs. He walked four.

Mark Teixeira continued his good hitting as of late, knocking in two runs on one hit and a sacrifice fly.  Matt Diaz added a two-hit game, and Chipper and Kelly Johnson doubled.  In a continuation of the recent battle for the backup infield slot, both Brent Lillibridge and Martin Prado knocked in a run.

Next up, Jair Jurrjens starts for the Braves Friday against the Cleveland Indians.  Sunday, Tim Hudson gets the start against the Washington Nationals, and Monday we’ll see our good friend Tom Glavine start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The rest of the Braves’ infield got a piece of the action as well – Escobar and Timmons knocked in a run each, McCann got his RBI, Lillibridge knocked in two, and Prado added three.  Lillibridge and Prado are making the last bit of spring interesting as they battle for the backup infield slot.  If I had to guess, I’d say Prado has the upper hand because Lillibridge would benefit from playing full-time in Richmond.  Either he or Yunel is going to become trade bait before too long.

Will Ohman got the win, despite giving up the Nationals’ only two runs in his inning of work, in which he gave up three hits.  Soriano, Moylan, Acosta, and Ridgway all added a scoreless inning of their own on the mound, though they each walked one and struck out nobody.

Good to see the Braves’ offense moving heading into the season.  I’m glad Tex had a big day – he’s had a slow start and I for one want him to have the biggest contract year anyone’s ever had.  And then I want to re-sign him.

Ridgway didn’t just give up six runs – he walked two, balked home a run, had a throwing error to first base, and four hits.  If I had to guess, I don’t think Ridgway will start the season in Atlanta, unless we trade away one of our other lefties.  This outing was not something the Braves wanted to see just before the season started.

Carlyle is looking for that long relief spot and put on a good show – pitching four strong innings, giving up only one run, walking two, and striking out three.  We’ll see whether or not Bennett or Carlyle gets this job heading into spring.

As for the Braves at the plate?  We didn’t get started until Chipper hit a double in the 7th inning.  Jake Westbrook of the Indians is one mean pitcher.  Other than that, there’s nothing to report.

Apparently there are trade rumors out there regarding one or more of our out-of-options players.  We’ll keep you updated on the goings on as we hear more about it.

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.

The Braves faced off against the Nationals at Space Coast Stadium this afternoon and we got to see our first in-person glimpse of the preseason Braves with Jair Jurrjens taking the mound.  Jurrjens started the game without much doing for either team, but faltered as he pitched into the start of the 6th inning.  He finished out his day issuing 10 hits and 4 runs in 5 innings of work.  At this point, he still appears to be the front-runner for the 5th rotation spot, but here’s hoping that he can get his stuff together for a little more consistency as we head into the regular season.

In other pitching for the Braves, Soriano pitched an inning, issuing one hit and striking out two.  Peter Moylan also pitched a hitless inning.  The Braves attempted to mount a rally in the top of the 9th.  Trailing by 3 with two runners on and two outs, Joe Borchard flied out to center to end the comeback attempt for the Braves, falling in a 4-1 loss.

But in the end, the day was not a complete loss.  Rue got her monthly picture with Frank Wren to continue building the collection.

That other inning of work for th Braves went to Ryan Drese who struggled to find control for his entire outing.  Facing 11 batters in his one inning, Drese issued 6 walks, 1 hit and 6 earned runs, creating the 6-4 loss for the Braves.  At one point, Drese issued 5 consecutive walks, certainly cementing his place in the minor leagues to start the season.

In a game of few highlights for the Braves, Jeff Francoeur looks to have bounced back from being beaned in the face early in the week, going 2-3 and scoring a run.  As we enter the last week of the preseason, it’s good to see everyone getting into regular season form.

We’ll be heading to the Nationals vs. Braves game tomorrow at Space Coast Stadium in Viera and then driving to Orlando Sunday morning for some baseball there.  During our off hours, we plan on soaking up some of the sunlight and enjoying the beautiful weather (we’re a bit tired of storm-strewn Atlanta).

We want to meet up with you!  Email mailbag@bravesblast.com (it’s linked to a BlackBerry) and we’ll get back with you as soon as possible – let us know who you are, where you are, and if you’re going to either game.  Be on the lookout (that means “check back often over the weekend”) for some great content, including our roster predictions, some great pictures from the Spring Training scene, game coverage, and more.

Email us – mailbag@bravesblast.com – let’s meet up.  Don’t forget to enter to win Braves tickets by subscribing to the BravesBlast Insider (on your right).  It’s the easiest way to get free Braves tickets!

Tonight’s game saw a pitching matchup between Tim Hudson and Justin Verlander.  Both starters looked strong, pitching into the 6th inning (Hudson pitched the full 6) and each giving up 1 run.  The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the top of the 1st inning with an unearned run.  Chipper Jones tied the game at 1 with a solo home run in the bottom of the 4th.  Aside from those moments of scoring, the majority of the game was about the pitching, with the score remaining tied into the 9th inning.

Tyler Yates took the mound for the Braves in the 9th and, though giving up no hits, walked three and allowed 1 run in the inning.  The Braves entered the bottom of the 9th trailing by 2.  Through the help of 2 hits and some errant fielding on the part of the Tigers, Josh Anderson plated two with a walk-off single, giving the Braves the 3-2 victory.

Tim Hudson looked strong and ready to go for the season, as well as his expected position to start the opener against the Nationals.  He’s given up only 2 earned runs in his 15 Grapefruit League innings thus far. Royce Ring fought off his bad outings of the preseason to pitch a hitless inning, striking out one.  Jeff Francoeur, making his first appearance since being beaned in the face, went 0-3 with a strikeout and grounding into a double play.

John Smoltz will face off against C.C. Sabathia tomorrow as the Braves meet the Indians at 1:05pm.  We’ll also be setting out for Florida tomorrow evening to cover a few games through the weekend.  Don’t forget to subscribe to the BravesBlast Insider newsletter for a chance to win tickets to a game in the opening series’ against the Pirates or Mets.  Contest ends March 25th.

Rafael Soriano, a more key part of the pitching staff than Reyes, gave up two runs in the sixth inning on a two run homer.  We’ll hope he can pull his stuff together as the preseason wraps up here soon – we need him to be lights out in the bullpen to have a strong relief staff.

Offensively, Gregor Blanco went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.  Yunel Escobar went 1-3 with a run scored as his preseason batting average is now at .462.  Anderson, Diaz, and Schafer also added an RBI.  Schafer came in as a pinch runner, scored two runs, and went 1-1.  Diaz was 1-1 as well, continuing his strong preseason.  A five run eighth tied the Braves for the lead, but Buddy Carlyle got the loss after hitting a batter and facing five batters in the bottom of the eighth.

Whether or not Reyes remains with the team through the second round of cuts (planned for Friday) is yet to be seen.  I’d guess he gets cut as he’s going to start the season at AAA Richmond.

Next up, Tim Hudson gets the start tomorrow night against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers at 7:05pm.

Mike Hampton had a very successful outing today, pitching 4-1/3 innings and giving up one run. He also gave up two hits, walked three, and struck out three. We should be encouraged – and Hampton has the right to feel encouraged as well.

The Braves lost 4-2 to the Cardinals – the only two runs were a product of the two backup infield candidates. Brent Lillibridge knocked in a run with his double, and Martin Prado went 2-3 and scored a run. Jordan Schafer also scored a run with one hit in four at-bats. Lillibridge may have the edge on Prado for the backup job, but that’s not a given yet.

The good news is that Hampton could go through four innings without hurting anything. Not only did he pitch that long, he looked good. His pitches had movement and he reported feeling good after his outing. Bobby Cox was even more impressed. After a reporter mentioned that Hampton looked “solid,” Cox responded with the following quote:

“More than that, he had no-hit stuff today. His ball is really sinking. I don’t know if I’ve seen him that good since he’s been with us. Lot of strikes, ton of ground balls. I’m pleased, put it that way. More than pleased.”

If Cox is that pleased, we can at least take some hope in Hampton’s stuff. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to be pretty good this season. We can pretty much coin the new saying – “Smoltz, Hudson, Glavine, pray for old man Hampton.” Or something of the sort.

Next up for the Braves, Jo-Jo Reyes will try to not stink it up like he has recently. He’ll do it against the Astros on Wednesday. The Braves get tomorrow off.

vs. Rays:

Smoltz started the game – his first this spring – in fine form, keeping the Rays scoreless over four innings. Then things got weird. He gave up five runs in the fifth inning. The Braves answered with three in the 7th, but gave up five more in the 8th. Despite a 7 run 8th inning for the Braves, the Rays scored another run to top the Braves 11-10.  Rafael Soriano also had his spring debut in this game, allowing two singles to start the sixth and then retiring the side.  Corky Miller contributed a grand-slam from the offensive side of things.

vs. Astros:

Jair Jurrjens, our favorite #5 pitcher, came out yesterday and showed us he’s human.  After a 1.00 ERA before his start, he gave up four hits and four runs in 2 2/3s innings.  The rest of the game wasn’t much to write home about either, as Drese gave up five runs in two innings and Jorge Campillo gave up six in just two-thirds of an inning’s work.  Offensively Javy contributed two RBIs and Jordan Schafer put one RBI up, but they were 1-3 and 1-5, respectively.

Next Up:

Tom Glavine starts for Atlanta against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday at 1:05 PM.  Here’s hoping he stays out of first-inning trouble.

The Braves got on the board early and strongly in the game.  With two outs and the bases loaded in the 2nd inning, Yunel Escobar continued his hot-hitting preseason with a grand slam, his first home run of the preseason.  Scott Thorman added a 3-run home run of his own in the third inning to top off the Braves scoring for the day.  Neither team touched the scoreboard after the 3rd inning.

Some quick notes from the game:  Escobar is now batting .516 on the preseason (16-31).  Brent Lillibridge was hit by two pitches.  Brandon Jones added 2 RBIs to his preseason total with a 2nd inning single.

The Braves face off with the Astros and the Rays in a split-squad pair tomorrow.  John Smoltz will make his preseason debut for the Braves in the home matchup against the Rays and is expected to pitch 5 innings.  Closer Rafael Soriano will make his first preseason as well against the Rays.  Jair Jurrjens will start the road game versus the Astros.

Chuck James, recovering from a partially torn rotator cuff, pitched two scoreless innings in which he gave up one hit.  He’ll likely start the season in Richmond, unless Hampton hurts himself again (knock on wood.  I’m not going to be responsible for Hampton’s injury…twice).  Following James’ outing, Jo-Jo Reyes pitched three innings and gave up five earned runs.  Reyes isn’t looking good this spring - He now has a 9.00 ERA. 

Some argue that stats mean nothing since the players aren’t all big-leaguers.  I agree that good stats can be misleading, but if a player is not doing well against a mixed staff of major leaguers and minor leaguers, they are not likely to get better against JUST big leaguers.  Jo-Jo fits in this last category and needs more time to develop his stuff – he has to find his confidence and get a grip on his game.  He doesn’t look ready for the big time to me.

Next up, Tim Hudson starts against the Phillies today at 1:05 PM.  He’ll face off against Francisco Rosario.

On the mound, the Braves started Buddy Carlyle, who looked decent early, but gave up three solo home runs when he seemed to think he was throwing batting practice.  Besides Boyer beating up on the Indians’ pitching staff, he pitched two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.  Tyler Yates got an inning in as well, where he walked two and struck out one.

Good to see Teixeira and McCann come out of their slow starts for a night and knock in some runs.  Both were very confident and solid at the plate.  We’ll need to rely on these guys all year to be competitive offensively.

In other news, Hampton pitched a successful simulation game, in which he pitched four innings and 59 pitches.  And he refrained from hurting his groin, breaking his elbow, or creating some other freak injury nobody has ever had before.  Good news is he had good movement on his curveball during the session.  He should see action early next week.

Next up is Chuck James in his spring debut against the Tigers.  He’ll pitch two innings and test his rotator cuff.  We’ll bring you the latest on that, too.