The Braves are looking for a much needed win tonight after dropping two straight to the Washington Nationals and 7 of their last 8 games.  Stay with us for in game updates.

After a visit to an eye doctor this morning in Washington, McCann has been prescribed a new contact lens that has corrected the issues for the most part.  Before taking batting practice today, he said he felt great and would be ready to go.  Bobby Cox, always cautious, has a lineup ready without McCann as well and said a lot would depend on how he looked while taking batting practice today.

Kenshin Kawakami takes the mound for the Braves today, facing off against Shairon Martis, who has been credited for one of the Nationals’ two wins on the season.  After dropping the first game of the series last night, the Braves need to get back into the win column tonight.

Brian McCann is out of the lineup tonight as he’s still experiencing some eye dryness. He may need lasik surgery before he can return – hopefully that’s not the case. Either way, good thing Dave Ross got healthy just in time for this. Fortunately Chipper should play tonight – the Braves are a much better team when opposing pitchers have to think about pitching around him.

The Braves need to step it up and take at least 2 out of 3 from the Nationals. They’re an easy team to take it from – and we need to be back on track soon so we don’t fall behind early in the season. Hopefully our bullpen is less sucky without Blaine Boyer.

The biggest thing for Tom in his recovery right now is to not overdo anything.  Pushing too hard to be ready in time for Spring Training if his arm is just not up to it would be the biggest setback for him.  Glavine has repeatedly said that this is the best his arm has felt in years and is making a concious effort to do his recovery properly and not become overly excited with each mound session.  At the rate he is progressing, Glavine is fairly certain that he’ll be ready in time for the regular season however.

While Glavine’s main focus right now is being able to pitch again in the 2009 season, there is still the fact that he remains a free agent for the upcoming season.  He has indicated that he’d love to stay and pitch for the Braves, but realizes that this may not be a possibility.  Glavine has said that he has thought through multiple possibilities and knows that financially, the Braves just may not have the ability to sign him this season.  Right now however, he continues to just go out there and prove that he’ll be ready to go once the season gets under way.

If things with the Braves don’t work out, Glavine has expressed some interest in pitching for the Nationals because of his close relationship with team president, Stan Kasten, who was in the Braves organization together with Glavine from 1987 to 2002.  As of now, the Nationals have not contacted Glavine’s agent, as they are focused on acquiring young players for the long term.  Should they choose to bring him on board, Glavine would likely serve in the mentoring role for the team’s young pitchers.

So the question is, do the Braves bring back Glavine or not?  We have no lefties in the rotation right now (aside from Jo-Jo Reyes potentially grabbing the 5th spot) so is this a role that Glavine gets the nod to fill or is it time for the Braves and Glavine to go their separate ways once again?

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.

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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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?

After a recent three game skid in Colorado, I (as well as most Braves fans) was ready for something good to happen. And we got it tonight, April 11th, in our nation’s capitol.

The last time we played here, opening the National’s new park on March 30th, we were robbed by a walk-off homer in the 9th. But tonight, Tim Hudson was almost hitless in 8 solid innings. Actually, he wasn’t-he gave up three hits, but let’s not split hairs.

His placement was extraordinary. The ball seemed to obey his every thought. I re-watched some of the pitches in slow-mo and it was uncanny at times the movement the ball had. You know you are doing it right when you retire a side twice throwing nine pitches.

Did it smell a little special at the beginning of the game? Like maybe something good was in the oven? Maybe so, or maybe it’s my optimism. But the Braves’ alternate road jerseys were on (by Hudson’s choosing, evidently) and it seemed like our team was feeling refreshed by an extra day of rest. Plus the fact that D.C.’s 73° was almost balmy considering Colorado’s unfriendly climate.

Now the Nats are nothing to sneeze at, despite the fact that their pitching is ranked 14th in the National League. We all know baseball is a sport that any given night, the worst team can beat the best team. Yes, the Braves look better on paper than the Nats, but with some of our players yet to find their offensive legs (Tex? Francoeur?), and a bullpen that has yet to not give me heartburn, this game was still something to be taken seriously.

And, sure, Hudson dominated, but so did the Nationals Matt Chico. In fact, he didn’t give up an earned run until the 6th inning, off of Yunel Escobar’s solo homer. Really, either the Braves’ offense was asleep at the wheel, or Chico had our number.

And Matty Diaz looked like he was headed into a terrible night, what with two strike-outs and hitting into a double play. But it was his two-run RBI in the top of the 9th that gave Hudson some much desired breathing room.

By this time (the 9th) sidewinder artist Peter Moylan came in to close the door on the still run-less Nationals. But you’re thinking-Hey, Moylan’s not the closer! What are we paying Rafael Soriano for? Well, if you’re not thinking that, you should. That guy is freaking expensive and we have barely started this season.

But Soriano is on the DL and Moylan is the semi-closer. This made me nervous as a cat around a bunch of rocking chairs (get it? The whole fear of the cat getting his tail caught under one of the rockers?). But Moylan not only slammed the door closed, I’m afraid it broke off its hinges and shattered.

Totally freakin’ unbelievable lights out! If you are standing at the plate, you are thinking Holy cow, Batman, I’m supposed to hit that?!

The Nats looked like Colonel Steve Austin the first time he saw Bionic Bigfoot^TM. The brain could not comprehend the info sent by the eyes. I’ve never seen Moylan slam it like that, striking out two of the perplexed batters. Oh, and most folks don’t think a sidearmer can bring the heat. But some of his stuff was piercing the air at 96 mph.

So, yeah. It’s in the book. We’ll take it.

And we’d like another couple just like it. Please.

________________________________________________________________________________

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

» Was the Braves infield pretty freakin’ flawless tonight? Chipper, Escobar, KJ, and Tex were artists on the canvas of the infield.

» Sure. I can see why the Nat’s manager, Manny Acta, wanted to put a “hot” closer in at the top of the 9th. Even though Chico had pitched an unbelievable 8 innings, common wisdom says take out your starter and get your “hot” closer to slam the door. What did the “hot” (and by “hot,” I mean “crappy”) closer Jon Rauch do for his team? He promptly loaded the bases with no outs and then gave up two runs. Thanks, Rauch. I think they need a new batboy on the team. Seriously, stop crying. I’m sure your mother still loves you. Probably.

» Come on, KJ. We love you and everything. We just need you to get on base more than once a game.

» What’d you say?! KotSAY!!! Check out his defensive play tonight. Hey, Marky? What are you doing in 2009? Do you smell what the Smitty is cooking? (Sorry, Rock.)

» Hey, Escobar. Please make yourself comfortable.

 The Braves have lost their last three games. The Nationals started out strong going 3-0 and just couldn’t keep it up to lose seven in a row. Talk about consistency: both teams are consistently losing. Not what we want to see, but at least this time someone’s got to come out on top.

Last season against the Nationals, Tim Hudson was 4-0. He pitched 30 innings with an ERA of 0.60. This looks good for us to come out on top. However, the Braves haven’t won a game on the road yet this season.  Will the Braves claim tonight’s title, or will the Nationals put up a true fight for “Worst Team…?”

Projected Starters:
Friday: Tim Hudson (0-0, 3.46, RHP) vs. Matt Chico (0-0, 5.56, LHP)
Tim Hudson had a great season against the Nationals in 2007, going 4-0 with a 0.60 ERA through 30 innings.  He didn’t fair quite as well on opening night, landing with a no decision on lack of run support from the offense.

Saturday: John Smoltz (1-0, 0.00, RHP) vs. John Lannan (0-0, 2.70, LHP)
John Smoltz is making his second start off of the disabled list, having pitched 5 scoreless innings against the Mets last weekend.  His shoulder and neck were still bothering him a little bit after that game so we’ll have to keep an eye on it through this game to see how he fairs.

Sunday: Tom Glavine (0-0, 0.79, LHP) vs. Tim Redding (0-0, 0.82, RHP)
In the battle of two strong starters that have yet to have a decision in a game this season, Tom Glavine and Tim Redding face off in a Sunday afternoon matchup.  This game should come down to which offense can get the bats going early and keep the offense coming throughout the game.

Offensive Matchup:
The Braves have struggled to get the offense going in the past few games, as have the Nationals, who have dropped 7 straight games.  It will be interesting to see if either team can end their offensive struggles in this series.  The key for the Braves offense is to start getting men on base earlier in the innings; we always seem to get them on base with two outs.

Prediction:
It’s hard to say how this series will go given that the teams combined have lost 10 in a row.  The critical point for the Braves’ success is to stop allowing opposing teams to get leadoff base runners.  Rough prediction: Braves 2, Nationals 1.

#1 – The Atlanta Braves
The Braves (3-3) have come out of the gate with their offense firing on most cylinders. The scary part of that is they’re still 2nd in the NL in average (.292), runs (40), slugging percentage (.470) and OPS (.822). They’ve already shown their ability to battle back and put games into extra innings, as well as outscore the Mets 14-6 in the last two games. Their pitching staff is not working as it should yet – the bullpen is recovering from early jitters and Mike Hampton is back on the DL (Surprise? Hardly). But solid starts from both John Smoltz and Jair Jurrjens have put the Braves in a good spot to be – at the top of the division early.

#2 – Florida Marlins
How are these guys able to be 3-3? They’ve taken it to the Pirates. I don’t think they’ll be in the #2 position long, so don’t get used to it. They’ll begin climbing the ranks downward.

#3 – New York Mets
These guys would be in the two position were it not for the Marlins’ strong start. Santana is looking good, Pedro is hurt and their offense wasn’t clicking during their last series against the Braves. The Mets’ bullpen hasn’t been stellar so far either. But they’re the Mets, and they’ll surely rebound strong. Can’t discount them.

#4 – Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies may be in the cellar right now as far as standings go, but they’re not completely dead yet. However, they’ve had issues with the starting pitching and relief corps. And their highly touted offense has had a slow start – scoring only 27 runs so far – that’s fourth in the NL East.

#5 – Washington Nationals
The Nationals have issues. They just lost a series – the entire series – to Cardinals. The Nationals did eek out a win against the Braves to start the season (lucky break on that Moylan pitch), but they’re going to need to start winning the easy games against the teams that are worse than them. Thus, they’re in the basement, at least for the first week of the power rankings.

Did I mis-rank the teams? Any of the 12 Marlins fans that are young enough to own computers want to whine about them not being at the top? Leave us a comment and we’ll hash it out.