You could tell on Wednesday night that one team was in a playoff race and one was not as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0. The Braves just seemed to be entirely out of the game and you have to wonder if they are pretty much packing it in for the season

Jair Jurrjens only lasted five innings as he gave up five hits and four runs. Jurrjens took the lose for the Braves as well and dropped to 13-10 on the year. Relief pitcher Blaine Boyer gave up two more runs in relief as he had a bad outing as well.

The Braves offense was held to only one run which came in the bottom of the ninth inning. Greg Norton singled to centerfield to score Jeff Francoeur for the Braves only run.

The two teams will face off again on Thursday as the Braves will look to put a hamper in the Phillies playoff run.

Braves Blog

The Atlanta Braves and Florida Marlins finished up a three game series on Wednesday afternoon. The bad news for Braves fans is that the Braves lost 5-3 and dropped two out of three games down in Miami. The Braves now have a 60-80 record on the season.

All three of the Braves runs came in the fourth inning when Kelly Johnson tripled to score Brent Lillibridge and Omar Infante. The Braves were not done in the inning however as Jeff Francoeur doubled to score Johnson and put the Braves up 3-1.

However, the Braves pitching staff couldn’t hold the lead as the Marlins scored two in the bottom of the fourth inning to make it 3-3 and then added two more runs in the seventh inning to take the lead. Braves starting pitcher Jorge Campillo pitched the first five innings and gave up four hits and three runs. He ended up with a no decision however as Will Ohman took the loss after being charged with a run in the seventh inning.Vladimir Nunez also gave up a run in the seventh inning.

Most Braves fans probably wish that the season was over now and I don’t really blame them. When your team is used to making the playoffs and is 20 games under .500 it is hard to really root for them.

Braves Baseball

The Atlanta Braves offense sputtered on Wednesdsay night as they only came up with four hits and lost to the Florida Marlins by the score of 4-1. The three game series is now tied up at one game each and the two teams will play the rubber match on Thursday.

Mike Hampton got the start for the Braves and pitched eight innings. It was bad that Hampton ended up with the loss even though he only gave up three runs and eight hits. Hampton deserved a much better outcome in my opinion. Blaine Boyer gave up one run in the ninth inning when Dan Uggla hit a solo home run.

The offense was shut down by Josh Johnson who tossed a complete game for the Marlins. The Braves just couldn’t get any rallies going against him to score any runs. The one run that they did get came in the fifth inning when Martin Prado grounded out to shortstop and Kelly Johnson scored.

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Now that was a very dissappointing four game series with the San Francisco Giants. The Braves lost three out of four games against the Giants and were shutout by the score of 5-0 on Monday afternoon. It was just a terrible series for the team and all we can hope is that they will rebound and play better in their next series.

Jorge Campillo was charged with all five runs that the Giants scored. Campillo lasted 6 2/3 innings while giving up seven hits and the five runs. Campillo is now 7-6 on the season.

The offense struckout seven times and left 16 runners on base. There just wanted any production to score any runs. The team had seven hits but were never able to come up with the big hit to push across any runs.

Braves Baseball Blog

Mark Kotsay and Jeff Francoeur had big nights at the plate for the Atlanta Braves on Thursday against the Chicago Cubs but it still wasn’t enough as the Cubs beat the Braves 11-7. It seemed like everytime the Braves would score, the Cubs would come right back and score again and just kept the pressure on the Braves the entire game. With the loss, the Braves were swept in the three game series.

Tom Glavine only lasted four innings as he gave up seven hits and seven runs. Glavine wasn’t getting some of the calls he usually gets from umps and walked four batters while giving up two home runs. He is now 2-4 on the year. Buddy Carlyle and Blaine Boyer both gave up two runs each as well out of the bullpen.

Kotsay led the Braves at the plate by hitting for the cycle and finishing the game with two rbi as he went 5-5. Jeff Francoeur hit a three run home run that got the team back in the game but it still wasn’t enough to catch the high powered Cubs offense. Martin Prado and Chipper Jones both added single rbi’s as well in the game.

It was definately not the way the Braves wanted to play the series. Hopefully they can play better this weekend against the San Francisco Giants.

Braves Baseball Blog

Just a quick update about game one of a double header on Wednesday afternoon.  The Braves were hammered by the visiting Chicago Cubs by the score of 10-2.  The Braves had plenty of chances to score some runs in the game but they left 17 runners on base and could not get the big hits when they had runners on base.

Charlie Morton took the loss after only lasting 2 1/3 innings.  Morton gave up four hits and four runs while giving four walks.  Morton was getting hammered so the team had no choice and had to take him out early.  With the bullpen throwing so much I don’t expect good things out of the second game.  Vladimir Nunez was charged with four runs while Francisley Bueno gave up two more runs out of the bullpen.

Mark Kotsay and Omar Infante both had a rbi each for the Braves offense.  Hopefully the bats will come around and score more then two runs in the nightcap.  Stay tuned for our update this evening!

Braves Baseball

The Atlanta Braves once again lost to the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.  This was the third straight loss for the Braves against the Cardinals in the four game series.  They will now have to win on Thursday to avoid the four game sweep at home.

Jair Jurrjens started the game and gave up seven hits and three runs through seven innings.   He didn’t throw the ball that badly at all to be honest.  However Jurrjens took the loss and is now 10-7 on the season.  Blaine Boyer gave up two hits and two runs while only recording two outs.  Julian Tavarez had a lot of trouble in the ninth inning as he allowed the Cardinals to score two more runs.

Jeff Francoeur had a rbi single in the second inning and then Omar Infante added a rbi single in the fifth inning.  That was all the scoring for the Braves however.

I will not be around to blog about the games the rest of the week as I have to head out of town for a few weeks.  Our normal blogger should be back at the beginning of the week so check back then!

Well the first game without Mark Teixeira did not go good for the Atlanta Braves as they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals 8-3.  The Braves allowed the Cardinals to score six late inning runs and come from behind to get the victory.  Before the game, the Braves traded Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels for Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek.

Jorge Campillo got the start for the Braves and threw the first seven innings of the game.  Campillo gave up seven hits but only two runs in the game and he really should have got the win in my opinion.  It was too bad that the Braves bullpen couldn’t hold off the Cardinals so Campillo could get the win.

Rafael Soriano took the loss as he gave up one run in the eighth inning.  Mike Gonzalez was only able to record two outs in the ninth inning as he allowed five runs to score.  Only one of those five runs were earned however so things shouldn’t have been as bad as they were.

Gregor Blanco, Greg Norton, and Jeff Francoeur all had one rbi each for the Braves.  They just need a couple more big hits and for the bullpen to hold the Cardinals now.  That didn’t happen and that was why you seen a Braves loss on Tuesday.

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- Cliff

First off, sorry for the late update as I totally forgot I needed to update the Braves site this week while Bart is out of town and studying for his bar exam. Good luck with that Bart, and we can’t wait to have you back here at braveshomeplate!

So yeah, Monday night was a night that the Braves have probably already forgotten about.  They were manhandled by the St. Louis Cardinals by the score of 12-3.  The Cardinals scored nine runs in the first five innings and were quickly up 9-0 on the Braves.  Charlie Morton took the loss after giving up seven hits and eight runs in only 3 2/3 innings.  Morton is now 2-4 on the season.  Jeff Bennett went on to give up a run in relief of Morton and then Royce Ring was charged with three more runs in the eighth inning.  It sure wasn’t a good night to be a Braves pitcher that is for sure.

On the offensive side, the first two runs came in the sixth inning.  Yunel Escobar hit a rbi double that scored Gregor Blanco, and then Mark Kotsay singled in Blanco for the second run.  In the eighth inning, Mark Teixeira doubled to deep left center and Escobar scored the third and final run for the Braves.

It will be interesting to see how Teixeira plays the next few days as he has been rumored to be being shipped out of town before the deadline on Thursday night.  If you hear of any rumors, please leave a comment on a post here and we can talk about them.

I think the Braves will come out and play a better game on Tuesday night.  I mean, they pretty much can only improve from Monday nights butt kicking.

- Cliff

The Chipper Jones-less Braves showed tonight that they are not going to make GM Frank Wren’s job any easier, as they played one of their gutsiest games of the season against the division rival Philadelphia Phillies. With the trade deadline looming at the end of next week, and Braves Brass being pushed to decide whether to buy or sell, tonight’s game was a perfect example of why Wren’s decision may be harder than any other GM’s in MLB.

It is no secret this Braves team has a dearth of talent.  They have flashed signs of that talent at times this season, but, to date, have failed to put together a stretch of consistent play.  Now, after an inspired performance like tonight’s game, and with reinforcements to the starting rotation in Mike Hampton and Tom Glavine ready to make an impact the final two months, we all have to wonder if that stretch may be imminent.  At the very least, Wren will have to hold the dogs at bay for another day or two.

To the game.  Rookie Jair “Surgeon” Jurrjens pitched the game of his young career.  Surgeon struck out 6 in 8 innings, allowing only 4 Phillies base runners all night.  He was absolutely brilliant.  Everything he threw dipped and dived with ridiculous movement, and his fastball had as much life on it as it has at any point this season, as he was routinely touching the mid 90s.  In all honesty, he looked like Greg Maddux and Pedro Martinez’s illegitimate love child.

Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick was good as well, allowing only a lone run on a 4th inning homer to Brian McCann. It appeared as though that might be the only run scored the entire game by either team, a true rarity in hitter friendly Citizen Bank, until the Braves erupted for 7 in the top of the 9th.  B Mac, who is quickly establishing himself as the Captain of this team, capped the Braves impressive, and much needed, win with a 4-run bomb off Phillies closer Brad Lidge in the final frame. His two homer night raised his batting average to .302 for the season, to go along with his 20 jacks and 62 ribbies.  He leads all catchers in MLB in the latter two categories, and he is on the short list of most underrated players in the game.

What else?

The Braves played possibly their most crisp defensive game of the season.  Omar Infante made two professional bare-handed plays at third. In the bottom of the 5th, Yunel Escobar executed a sublime double play, fielding a grounder up the middle, stepping on 2d base, while simultaneously releasing a dart to the first baseman to complete the twin killing.

The play of the night, however, was made by the star of the night, the Surgeon.  With 2 outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 8th, Jaysen Worth hit a frozen rope back up the middle.  Jair got a glove on it, knocking the ball towards third base.  He then sprinted off the mound, made a fielding slide, popped up and threw a 100 mph heater to first base, getting Worth by a step.