A Game Thread?

So we haven’t had a game thread in a long while.  Blame jobs, blame lack of time, blame apathy, but no matter what, they’re back.  As promised, we’re bringing back the game threads after the All-Star break.  The Braves are closing out a 3-game series against the Nationals this afternoon and looking for a series win.

Jo-Jo Reyes is taking the mound today and hopefully can get a win.  Jo-Jo has been plagued by a lack of run support so far this season and as a result, only has 3 wins.  Hopefully the bats can get active today and help him out for once.

NL East Review: Nationals

So, here we are at the halfway point of the season. About the time when you can almost judge what will happen down the stretch (no one could have seen the Mets major collapse this early last year, but there will be random cases). If the season ended after 81 games, the Phillies, Cubs, Diamondbacks and Cardinals (wildcard, WC) would be off to the playoffs in the National League. The Rays, White Sox, Angels and Boston (WC) would be the teams in the American League. Yes, the first name on the AL side was the Rays and in Tampa Bay, formerly the Devil Rays. The team has a great nucleus of young players, young pitchers and veterans. Almost reminiscent of some of the early Braves teams of the ‘90s…but not quite.But I’m not really here to talk about the AL; I wanted to talk about the NL East this week, starting from the bottom up. So today we’ll talk about everyone’s favorite bottom feeder: The Washington Nationals. Remember in 2005 when they were the only team with 50 wins by the all-star break? Well, they were living on the edge much like last season’s Diamondbacks and winning a lot of one run games with Cordero as their designated closer. Of course, all the Braves did was calmly go to Washington in the first series after the all-star break to take the lead in the division and never looked back. The Nats ended up finishing last at 81-81 (the NL East was the only division without a losing record that year) and haven’t really seen much more than the bottom of the division.

Since that time, former manager and hall-of-famer Frank Robinson retired and Manny Acta took over. Guys like Ryan Zimmerman, Lastings Milledge and Cristian Guzman have been the go-to guys on that team. Not saying much? Seriously, those are probably their best hitters. This season, Zimmerman leads the team with eight home runs, Milledge leads the team with just 32 RBIs and Guzman leads the team with a .314 (respectable) average and 48 runs scored at the top of the order.

To see how they fare against other teams, you pretty much have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the NL in the stats page to find them. They rank dead last in:

• Runs scored (305, Braves are seventh with 375).
• Hits (675, Braves are third with 769).
• Total bases (1014, Braves are sixth with 1193).
• RBI (285, Braves are sixth at 359).
• Batting Average (.239, Braves are third at .270).
• OPS (.673, Braves are fourth at .765).

Obviously, that’s the result of not winning a lot of games and not getting any production out of guys they would have thought were guys that would give them a lot. Austin Kearns (.187, 42 games) and Felipe Lopez (.242, .318 OBP, 72 games) are hitting well below their averages in Cincinnati and has been the status quo for what the Nats are going through. Guzman is, in fact, the only guy with respectable stats on the entire offense. He is hitting .314 with a .776 OPS and 24 doubles in 82 games.

Sadly, the pitching stats do not get much better with this team. They rank 14 in ERA (4.55, Braves are tops with a 3.69 team ERA), 11 in the NL in walks (308, Braves are ninth with 287) and 14 in batting average against (.288, Braves are again tops with a .246).

So what will the Nats have to do to get better? This team looks so similar to our teams of the ‘80s that there are no quick fixes. The fans and the players will have to ride it out until they can get some solid young talent in, enough to fill up their minor league system and who knows, maybe one year it will just click and send them to the top of the division.

This year, there’s probably little to no chance of them making a run. The Nats currently sit at 33-51. They have shown little to no efforts to get better and are not getting healthier. Chad Cordero was placed on the disabled list today and was never fully healthy this season. Because of this, I doubt the Nats will win that many more games than they won in the first half.

Prediction: 63 – 99, 5 in NL East.

- Akshay

NL East: The Big Picture

Here’s the big picture in the NL East right now:

Florida Marlins: Can they hold it together? Nobody expected to see these guys in first this far into the season.  I think even the Marlins are surprised.  That hasn’t kept them from acting like they belong in first.  Anchored offensively by Uggla, Hermida, and Ramirez, the Marlins have come out to score this year - currently ranked 10th in the league with runs scored.  The rotation has been solid as well - only six different pitchers have started games this year.  The Marlins recently picked up Jacque Jones to shore up their outfield after he was released by the Tigers.  But if the Tigers can afford to release him, will he help?  The biggest question remains: can the Marlins keep it up?

Atlanta Braves: Sure, the Braves can win at home, but they have to be able to win on the road or nothing will come of it. The Braves have a rock solid offense led by the mighty Chipper Jones, but they’ve had some injury issues on their pitching staff - Smoltz is moving to the bullpen, Rafael Soriano has spent significant time on the DL, but they’ll get those two plus Mike Gonzalez back from the DL here soon. The question - will they trade for another starter? Not if Jorge Campillo can keep up his Greg Maddux impression (and get rid of some pesky blisters).

Philadelphia Phillies:  The Phillies are shadowing the Braves as they both stalk the Marlins.  Their offense has been good but hasn’t been firing on all cylinders for more than a game or two at a time, and past Cole Hamels their other starters have ERAs at or above 4.37.  Brett Myers has dropped his last four starts, and Adam Eaton is still winless.  If the Phillies’ starters can get their acts together, this is a much more dangerous team - already they’re fourth in the NL with 26 quality starts - but they have potential for much more.  On the other hand, their bullpen has been great - lowing the team ERA to a 5th best 3.98.  The Phillies could come together to be a very dangerous team.

New York Mets: The Mets’ manager Willie Randolph is under fire for his team’s poor play. And the Mets have had poor play as of late. They’re now in fourth place struggling to beat decent teams. The team is oft-injured. Ryan Church likes concussions, Moises Alou caught Mike Hampton syndrome, and Marlon Anderson pulled up lame. And that’s just the last series in Atlanta. Pedro comes back soon, but will he really help? Johan Santana hasn’t been the savior he was billed as, either. This team has got to start playing ball if they want to hang it at the top of the division.

Washington Nationals:  The Nationals are just chilling out in the NL East basement, 7.5 games out of first with a .420 winning percentage.  Their offense is one of the worst in the NL, ranking third to last in runs scored, second to last in OBP and OPS, and last in batting average, slugging percentage, and stolen bases.  Their pitching staff is better, but not by much, ranked 12/16 in ERA and 13/16 in Batting Average Against.  This is likely something we see continued for most of the season.

What do you see happening?  Can the Marlins hold it together?  Will the Braves start winning on the road?  Can the Phillies fire on all cylinders?  Are the Mets and Willie Randolph doomed to oblivion?

Jurrjens Attempts To End Slide

The Braves are on a three-game losing streak and are looking to Jair Jurrjens to help end the road trip on a high note this afternoon against the Nationals.  Jurrjens (3-2, 3.45) has been the most consistent hurler in a rotation that has been severely plagued by injuries already this season.  There’s no reason to doubt why the Braves have high hopes for him in the future of the pitching staff.

The Braves have given the Nationals 4 of their 10 wins thus far this season.  As I said yesterday, they always seem to have our number no matter how each team is doing.  Hopefully today, with Chipper and Yunel settled back into the lineup, we can get the offense going and put some strong numbers on the board.

Nationals Park…..Again….

How is it that, in April, we are already making our third trip to Nationals Park and have only played 4 away games against them so far?  Either way, we’re back in Washington for a two-game series to close out the month against the Nationals.  The Braves are fighting a slew of injuries, but key performers Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar are back in the lineup tonight, which is good to see for all of the fans.

Tom Glavine’s taking the mound for the Braves tonight in his first start off of the disabled list.  Tommy is admittedly rusty after not pitching with his strained hamstring over the past couple of weeks.  Hopefully he still looks good enough to tame Tim Redding tonight.  Redding has more wins personally than the rest of the Nationals’ starting rotation.

I’m hoping for a good two-game series for the Braves, but the Nationals always seem to have our number no matter how well we’re doing.  It’s time to break that streak and get back in the win column.

Smoltz Gets 3000 K’s, Braves Fall

Tonight was a special night for John Smoltz (3-1), who unfortunately got the loss after striking out 10 in seven innings of one-run ball.  In the third, he struck out the 3000th batter of his career, joining only 15 other pitchers in baseball.  Smoltz’s stuff looked good all night - his nasty slider and shoulder intact through all seven innings.

Unfortunately, the bats were non-existent tonight when it mattered.  Braves hitters combined to leave 12 batters on base, and Smoltz got pinned with the loss - even though he only gave up one of the six runs.  There were opportunities - but nobody could convert.  At least it wasn’t a one-run loss.  Going into the ninth, it was 1-0 Nationals.  But Jorge Campillo and Chris Resop combined to give up five runs (only one earned) in the top of the ninth.

Great to see Smoltz get 3000 strikeouts - he deserved the win tonight but didn’t get it.  Chipper’s 13 game hitting streak came to an end as did the five game winning streak.  We’ll try and start another one tomorrow against the Marlins as they come into town.  Overall, I’ll take 1-2 from the Nats.  We’re heading in the right direction as a team.

And Mr. Smoltz, congratulations.  Quite an accomplishment that I’m glad I was on hand to see.

Smoltz Goes For 3000

In the finale of a two-game series, the Braves (10-9) square off against the Nationals (5-15) who have struggled to find their offensive stride lately.  The real point of tonight’s game however is John Smoltz (3-0) who is currently at 2,996 career strikeouts after striking out 10 in his last outing.  With 4 more strikeouts, Smoltz will become only the 16th player to ever reach that mark.

Other items of note for tonight’s game:  The Braves are on a five-game win streak in which they have outscored their opponents 31-6.  John Lannan (0-2) will be taking the mound for the Nationals.  Nothing is really important tonight outside of Smoltz’s shot at history.  Is tonight the night?  His photo graces the season tickets for tonight’s game; it must be so.

Nats In Town For Two

The Braves (9-9) start a two-game series against the Nationals (5-14) tonight at Turner Field.  The Nationals got off to a great 3-0 start but have since had a 2-14 record.  The Braves have fought back from a 5-9 record to get back to .500 baseball with a four-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 24-3 in those four games.  They hope to keep that hot streak up tonight as they face Washington, who has recorded 2 of their 5 wins this season against the Braves.

The big question mark tonight is Chipper Jones, who left yesterday’s game early with a strained quad, but was listed in the lineup for tonight that was issued earlier on in the day.  It will be interesting to see if, and how long, he plays tonight.  I think if we have a lead, Bobby will take him out and rest him.  It’s time to keep the win streak going as Tim Hudson (2-1) faces off against Matt Chico (0-3).  Hopefully Huddy has shaken any remnants of the flu bug that had him looking a little sour in his last start.

Glavine Hurt, Braves Drop Finale To Nats

Wow, that hurts.

Losing a game always does, but moreso when you are behind a run in the ninth with bases loaded and you just can’t get it done.

The Braves finished their first three-game series in DC this season taking the first two and stumbling through the final one following Tom Glavine’s abrupt first inning departure.  It was obvious Tommy didn’t have his stuff early on. The last time we saw him was the home opener against Pittsburgh and he was classic Tommy, going five solid innings. In DC today, he struggled early on and it was obvious he was in pain. He left and it was reported he had a strained right hamstring, the severity of which, we aren’t sure of.

Bennett came in and had an “uneven” showing , allowing three earned runs in four innings.  Not to mention, he walked four straight batters and walked in two runs as a result.  After him, our bullpen gave us some very respectable work from Campillo, Resop, and Boyer.

The bright spot of the day, as relates to pitching? It has to be Campillo. He shut the door on six straight batters and certainly looked major league-ready.

Chipper’s 2-run homer and some smart base-running, and a late inning rally gave us hope for a come-from-behind win. But, alas, too little, too late.

Positives:
- 2 out of 3 on the road
- 4 hits from the bullpen
- Got a break on McCann tagging out the runner
- Jorge Campillo!
- Escobar shows some discipline and gets walked twice

Negatives:
- McCann/Johnson/Diaz: all three 0-4 at the plate
- Bennett, 2 runs on 4 straight walks
- Losing another 1-run game.

Now, we head down to a warmer climate and face the Florida Marlins. The fish are doing great offensively, but may just have the worst rotation in the majors. Hopefully, we can capitalize on that and get another series in the books.

Also, keep your fingers crossed and your prayers going that Tommy’s hammy isn’t that bad.

Braves Look For Sweep

In today’s Sunday afternoon matchup, Tom Glavine faces off against Tim Redding as the Braves look to sweep the Nationals and get their record back to .500 on the season.  Both Glavine and Redding have sub-1.00 ERAs but have yet to have a decision this season; they’re both looking for their first win today.

Coming off their offensive thrashing of the Nationals yesterday, the Braves look to keep the hot bats going and strike early in the game to seal the sweep in this series before heading to Florida.  The Nationals started the season hot, going 3-0, but since have faltered and fallen to 3-9.  They’re looking to keep their streak of losses from going to 10 today.

Will the Braves finish the sweep and make it back to .500 today?  Or will the Nationals finally get back in the win column?

Smoltz Smokes Nats

Dear Mr. Smoltz,

Thank you so much for your good work on Saturday, April 12th. Can you please keep this up all year? We would all appreciate it.

Sincerely,

The Writers and Staff at BravesBlast.com

Coming off of their much needed victory last night, the Braves dove right in to claim another from the Nationals at Washington today. An initial 91-minute rain delay did nothing to soggy the Braves offense.

In fact, they wasted no time at all scoring four runs in the first inning, with a little help from Jeff Francoeur knocking the first of his two homeruns for the day. When all was said and done, the kid From Parkview had a career-best seven RBI’s. You know things are going well when all nine starters bat in the first inning.

Francoeur’s second homer came in the sixth, with one runner on base. Not to be outdone by his childhood friend, Francoeur’s high-fives hadn’t ended when Brian McCann knocked a single shot some 400 feet.

Smoltz had a (for him) shaky first inning, goofing a throw to first and throwing a semi-wild pitch. But after regaining his classic composure, it was nothing but the Smoltz we know and love. Resourceful, professional, and keenly intelligent. I truly don’t think we Braves fans know how good they have it having a stabilizing and consistent force of nature like Smoltz in the line-up. Plus, it was pretty evident his shoulder was bothering him the entire game.

His line for the day? 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K. The one earned run attributed to Smoltz came in the 4th.

The Nats starter, Scott Lannan lasted through the 4th and the Braves went through three of their relievers by game’s end.

Finally, I am starting to feel good about our bullpen! With very respectable outings by Bennett and Boyer, Manny Acosta zipped it up in the 9th. The one stinker in all this, and the one guy I have truly been pulling for, was Ohman. Lasting less than an inning, he really didn’t do anything to counter the criticism Frank Wren took for acquiring him from Chicago.

So, yeah. Excellent series so far. Can you smell a sweep?

________________________________________________________________________________

Smitty’s Random Notes:
(A stream of consciousness recall of unrelated observations for the short-of-attention span)

» Sorry, Willie Harris, but I totally don’t miss you.

» Tough-guy Hustle Award goes to Matt Diaz for his aggressive and heads-up base-running.

» Still looking for Teixeira’s bat to wake up. The defense is there; let’s get something going at the plate.

» I still believe in you Ohman. I want to believe.

Smoltz Looks To Stay Undefeated

John Smoltz (1-0, 0.00) and the Braves (4-6) face off against John Lannan (0-0, 2.70) and the Nationals (3-8) in a Saturday afternoon matchup.  Smoltz made his first start of the season last Sunday against Johan Santana of the Mets.  He threw 5 innings of scoreless baseball to make a good first start off of the disabled list. with 6 strikeouts  However, he left after 5 innings with the continued soreness in his shoulder and neck.  Hopefully that won’t continue to be a problem for him today.

It’s raining at the stadium right now, so it looks like the game’ll be delayed a little bit, but it sounds like the rain is lightening up now.  Hopefully when we get started here, the Braves can continue what Hudson started last night, throwing 8 innings of scoreless, 3-hit baseball.  Is it time for the Braves to make it two in a row and get one step closer to a .500 record?