Time To Take The Series Loss But Avoid The Sweep

Written by Jonathan on June 24, 2010 – 10:32 am

The Atlanta Braves have only been fallen victim to a series sweep twice so far this season and those were back-to-back in that dreaded, forgettable 9-game losing streak in April.  Going back to the May 7th-10th series against the Phillies, the Braves are 10-0-3 in series results.  This series against the Chicago White Sox marks the first losing series for the Braves since a 1-2 loss the Nationals from May 4th-6th (who just so happen to be coming to town on Monday so be ready for some retribution).

Despite already being down for the series loss, the Braves can still avoid falling back into the sweep column with a win this afternoon.  Derek Lowe (9-5, 4.77) faces off against Gavin Floyd (2-7, 5.20) and the hot-hitting ChiSox (they’re 11-1 in their last 12 games).  Don’t let Floyd’s record fool you however; he’s been hot as of late.  The key to the game for Lowe today is to keep the ball down in the zone and not give the ChiSox hitters a chance to hit the ball out of US Cellular Field.

All things considered, if we can go 10-1-3 every 14 series, I like our chances.  Let’s get out of Chicago and play some games at the Ted.


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Everyone Loves A Clean Sweep

Written by Colin on May 23, 2008 – 12:15 am

It was so sweet to be able to go to Turner Field after a long day this week and watch the Braves beat the crud out of the Mets.  We got solid starts from Glavine, Hudson, Jurrjens, and some guy named Campillo making his first start since 2005.  Our starters’ combined lines?

4 Wins, 27 Innings Pitched, 18 Hits, 4 Earned Runs, 3 Walks, 16 Strikeouts, 3 Home Runs Allowed 

Compare that to the Mets and their starters’ combined lines:

4 Losses, 20 Innings Pitched, 33 Hits, 17 Earned Runs, 8 Walks, 6 Strikeouts, 1 Home Runs Allowed

For the record, our best start came from Jorge Campillo.  And wasn’t it great to watch Santana implode tonight?  We can deduce a few things here from these lines – firstly, the Braves played a lot of fundamental ball – only one homer off of Mets starters.  And we didn’t rely on our ‘pen much – an average of just over 2 innings per game.  This is the kind of baseball we need to be playing.  Strong starters are the best foundation for a solid game.

Next up are the Diamondbacks – we can beat them since we’re at home, I’m sure.  We need to learn how to translate this play on the road.  And the Marlins need to start losing.  They’re NOT that good.

The Mets, on the other hand, aren’t that good.  And everybody knows it.  Especially them.  By the way, Jair Jurrjens has the same record as Johan Santana.  Ouch.

Go Braves!  Let’s sweep the Diamondbacks too.


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Home Dominance: Reds Swept

Written by Jonathan on May 5, 2008 – 12:42 pm

The Braves are 11-4 at home so far this season (now if only we weren’t 4-11 on the road) and it was a much needed 3-game sweep of the Reds after we had dropped 4 straight on the road.  We’ve been pretty lax about getting game recaps up lately, so I’m going to do my best to give a quick recap of the Reds series:

Game 1 – Friday – Braves 2, Reds 0
Friday night’s game was an absolute gem for Tim Hudson.  We’ve been a bit worried about Hud lately with his visible lack of speed and inability to get deep into a game.  But Friday night, he looked like the Tim Hudson we expect to see on the mound.  He threw a complete game, 3-hit shutout of the Reds, while striking out 10 and not issuing a walk.  The offense didn’t really provide much support outside of a two-run home run for Brian McCann in the bottom of the 4th, but who needs it when you have a pitching outing like that.  Hudson only seems to be doing well in every other start however, so we’ll see how he looks next time out.

Game 2 – Saturday – Braves 9, Reds 1
I’m not going to lie.  I was worried going into the game on Saturday with Jo-Jo Reyes making his first big league start for the Braves this season.  Jo-Jo has tended to pitch amazingly well in the minors and then not been up to snuff when he made his appearances in the bigs.  For 5 innings on Saturday, however, he looked decent.  His control fell apart in the top of the 6th and Bobby Cox wisely got him out of the game.  This was definitely the right decision for the team as a whole and for Jo-Jo’s confidence in his ability to pitch.  Through 5 1/3 innings, Reyes issued 4 hits and only gave up 1 run while striking out 5.  He gave up three walks as well, all in the top of the 6th.  The offense helped seal up the win for Jo-Jo with a 6-run bottom of the 7th.  The Braves had 7 doubles on the day.

Game 3 – Sunday – Braves 14, Reds 7
Yesterday’s game can best be described as a slug-fest with the teams putting up a combined 30 hits and 21 runs.  Tom Glavine didn’t have his best stuff for the game, going only 4 2/3 innings and giving up 6 runs.  Royce Ring came in to finish off the 5th inning, and, by throwing one pitch, gained the win on the day.  The offense looked stellar yesterday however, bolstered by 3 doubles from Kelly Johnson (which gave him 5 doubles in two games) and home runs from Chipper Jones and Mark Kotsay.  Chipper had a total of 5 RBIs on the day.

Overall, I know the Reds aren’t really a great team in the league this season, but the sweep was just what the Braves needed at this point.  They’re back to .500 baseball again with a record of 15-15 and have an off-day today before a three-game set at home against the Padres.


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