The Mets completed the sweep of the Braves on Thursday night 5-4, it was the first time the Braves have been swept at Shea since 2003.  This game also marked the 27^th time that the Braves lost a road game in which they had a one run lead.  That stretch of 27 dates back to last season, and is now a major league record.   

The Braves jumped out to an early lead when Yunel Escobar took the first pitch he saw from Pedro Martinez over the fence in left field.  Atlanta, down 3-1 scored three in the sixth to make it 4-3, in the sixth Yunel Escobar hit a one out double, then with two out Martinez walked Chipper Jones.  Both Escobar and Jones scored on a Brian McCann double.  McCann would score on a base hit by Omar Infante.   

The Braves again did not get good defense or relief pitching.  The game changing error happened in the eighth inning which tied the score at four.  Jeff Bennett entered the game and retired the first batter he faced before giving up a one out double to Nick Evans; he then issued a two out walk to Carlos Beltran.  Bobby Cox elected to make a pitching change bring in Will Ohman to pitch to Carlos Delgado, Delgado delivered again-hitting a single between first and second that Martin Prado made a great play on only Will Ohman got caught watching the excitement and did not get to first in time to get the throw for the out which allowed Nick Evans to score from second.  The error was charged to Prado, but it really should have been on Ohman.   

In the ninth inning with Vladimir Nunez allowed a one out double to David Wright he then intentionally walked Carlos Beltran.  Carlos Delgado came up to bat again with runners in scoring position, he hit a line drive to left that Omar Infante misplayed which allowed Wright to score from second, ending the game with a 5-4 victory for the Mets.   

The Braves continue their road trip to St. Louis.  Game time is scheduled for 8:15 p.m.   

Braves Blog

Jair Jurrjens struggled with his control in the first inning of last night’s game.  Jurrjens, who has really been the ace of this staff this season, allowed five runs in the first inning.  All of the runs scored with two out.  Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar committed throwing errors in the inning so only four of those runs were earned.

The Braves scored one run in the third inning off a single by Grego Blanco.  In the sixth, Blanco was in the mix again, he bunted for a base hit to lead off the inning.  Mike Pelfrey then walked Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones.  Brian McCann grounded into a double play, but that scored Blanco and moved Escobar to third.  Escobar then scored on a wild pitch by Pelfrey.  However, Mark Kotsay lined out to left to end the inning.  The Braves didn’t really get much on Pelfrey as he allowed only three hits. 

The Braves wrap up the series at Shea tonight.  Mike Hampton will be on the mound for the Braves and the Mets will counter with Pedro Martinez.  The Braves have an opportunity to play spoiler as the Mets are in a fight for first with the Phillies holding only a game and a half lead over them.  The Phillies are playing the Nationals who have now lost something like 12 in a row.

Braves 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

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.

Tuesday night’s game was a microcosm of the Braves’ season.  They received good pitching from their rookie starter Charlie Morton, but the offense’s perpetual battle to come up with timely hits, or any hits at all for that matter, left the Braves on this night on the wrong end of a 4-0 shutout.

On Monday, it was the Braves who were able to take advantage of a brilliant pitching performance from pleasant surprise Jorge Campillo.  They also took advantage of runners in scoring position, something at which they have failed miserably this season.  So complete a team win was Monday night’s victory, Chipper Jones proclaimed it their best victory of the season.

Back to reality.  What has become indicative of Bobby Cox’s team during the last three seasons, the Braves’ inconsistency and lack of fundamental play manifested itself just one day after such an impressive win.  Whatever they did right Monday night, they did wrong Tuesday, starting with the deciding fourth frame.  The Braves began the fourth with three consecutive walks to the heart of the lineup.  Thing are looking pretty good, right?  Recently recalled Marlins starter Rick VandenHurk is reeling, and the Braves are poised to put a few runs on the board to provide their young starter a cushion.  Up steps Jeff Francoeur (cue the music when a game show contestant fails.  You know, “wah, wah, wah.”)   True to his terrible ‘08 form, Jeff swings at the only 4 pitches he sees and strikes out.  I’m nearly certain struggling pitchers view Francoeur walking to the plate as something akin to a sigh of relief. They’d rather see him step to the dish than the opposing pitcher, undoubtedly.  At least the pitcher would make a guy who had walked three straight hitters throw him a strike.

So, not so unpredictably, the Braves squander as promising a scoring opportunity as a team can get, as neither Kelly Johnson or Mark Kotsay could bail Francoeur out.  Move now to the bottom of the inning.  Morton allows free passes to two Marlins batters.  With two outs, he can get out of the inning unscathed and keep the game tied at zero.  Oh, but no.  Mike Jacobs hits a three-run bomb.  Game, set, match.

To this point, the Braves had not even managed a hit.  They finished the game with one, a measley single from Chipper, and the season in a snapshot is complete. The Braves squander great scoring opportunities, while their opponent takes advantage of lesser ones.  The Braves get good pitching, but their over-eager offense makes the opposing pitcher look like 2001 Randy Johnson.  Finally, the one single redeeming moment (no pun intended) is a basehit by their only stud — Chipper.

What else?

- Jeff Francoeur has 2 extra-base hits in his last 25 games.  You wonder.  If the Braves are sellers at the end of the month, what will happen to Jeff?  Will they try to move him?  Will they send him down for the rest of the season, since they are conceding the season anyway?  Or will they allow him to further devolve at the major league level?

- Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless inning Tuesday night.  It was his first action since June 5th.  He struck out two after giving up a leadoff single to Hanley Ramirez (Ramirez was later thrown out attemting to steal second).  Soriano’s velocity was down a little bit, but the end result was obviously good.

- Kelly Johnson is batting .163 in 15 July contests.  He has one extra-base hit over that span.

The Atlanta Braves got a great performance on the mound by Jorge Campillo who pitched seven shut out innings and limited the Florida Marlins to only two hits while the Braves defeated the Marlins 4-0.  It was exactly the way the Braves wanted to start the series with the Marlins.  Campillo earned the win after striking out six batters and improved his record to 5-4 on the year.

Will Ohman and Mike Gonzalez pitched the eighth and ninth innings to finish off the Marlins.  All in all all three Braves pitchers threw a great game and did a great job.

Mark Kotsay got the scoring started in the 2nd inning for the Braves when he singled in Mark Teixeira for the Braves first run.  Chipper Jonese added a rbi single in the 5th inning and then Teixeira had a rbi double that scored Jones in the 7th inning.  In the 9th inning, the Braves added on an insurance run when Martin Prado doubled and Kotsay scored.

The Braves will look to go up 2-0 in the series as they face off against the Marlins again on Tuesday night.

Braves Blog

Maybe there’s a reason why fans don’t show up until the 4th inning in LA. Absolutely nothing happened in this one for the first 4 and a half frames. Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson were literally perfect, recording the first 27 total outs of the game in order. Both guys had their nastiest sinkers working. Between the two, 29 ground ball outs were recorded. Lowe was just a little bit better though, his only mistake coming in the 8th when he surrendered a solo home run to Jeff Francoeur.

Known as one of the best dirtballers in the game with Brandon Webb and Chien-Ming Wang, Lowe was filthy tonight. 16 of the 23 outs he recorded were on the ground.

The Dodgers got on the board first in the bottom of the sixth on a Matt Kemp home run.

The Braves had a chance to pull even the next half inning. Gregor Blanco led off the top of the 7th with a solid line drive single to center field. Sensing that this might be their only opportunity to score, Bobby Cox decided to play hit and run with the next batter, Yunel Escobar, and it worked. On one of the most heady baserunning plays you’ll see, Blanco went 1st to third on Yunel’s groundball out to the SS. But the all of a sudden struggling Chipper Jones couldn’t get him in from third with less than two out. He grounded out weakly to the pitcher. Chipper was probably trying to put the ball on the ground to a middle infielder. Unfortunately, his aim was off, and the Blanco was stranded at third.

The Dodgers stretched their lead to two in the bottom of the inning when the much loathed Andruw Jones handled an 0-2 pitch from Hudson for an RBI single.

The Braves pulled within one on Francoeur’s home run in the 8th. But it was all they could manage. Dodger closer Takashi Saito slammed the door in the 9th, retiring the side in order. The Braves have now lost 24 consecutive 1 run games on the road.

What else?

-Mark Kotsay inexplicably tried to steal second in the top of the 8th with 2 outs and pinch hitter Ruben Gotay batting. Mark was thrown out by 10 feet, and the decision ensured that the Braves would need to get a guy on base for Chipper to have a chance in the 9th down by only a run. Whomever’s decision it was, Bobby’s or Mark’s, it was a terrible one. Sure enough, Saito retired the final Brave batter in the 9th, while Chipper watched from the on-deck circle. The Braves have lost 24 straight 1 run games on the road.

-Cueball had it working tonight, undoubtedly summoning strength from the tarantula on his right wrist. But Chip Caray’s man crush, Lowe, just wasn’t going to be denied. This was not a game for long-ball digging chicks or the casual fan. For those who can see the artistry in what Lowe and Hudson were doing, though, it was as good as it gets.

-Lowe started the season hot and then cooled off quickly with a 6.11 May ERA. I’d say he has settled back into good form. Tonight he recorded his 7th quality starts over his last 10.

The Braves bats provided plenty of offense for Jair Jurrjens tonight, plating 9 on 12 hits.  And with ace Tim Hudson starting the rubber game tomorrow, we are in good position to take our second straight series. 

Just one night after mustering only one baserunner against Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda, the Braves appeared to be in jeopardy of being shut out for a second straight night.  LA starter Chad Billingsly no hit us through four innings before we finally broke through with 3 runs off Billingsly in the 5th..

Billingsly, he of the disproportionately massive legs, was dominant at times, hitting his spots with an explosive low to mid 90s fastball.  He was locating his pitches at the knees and on the corners, embarrassing Chipper Jones a couple of times (It was only the third time all season Chipper struck out more than one time in a game). But in the top of the 5^th, Tree-trunk legs wasn’t able to escape a bases loaded jam when Yunel Escobar came through with the big hit for the second time in three days.

KJ and Kotsay led of the inning with back to back singles.  After a failed bunt attempt resulted in a K for Jurrjens, Gregor Blanco walked to load the bases with one out.  Yunel followed jumping on the first pitch, hitting a bases clearing, frozen-rope double just inside the third base bag.  

The Braves tacked on 3 more off Billingsly in the 6^th on a no-doubter solo bomb by Brian McCann to right center and a two run single by Blanco. 

The run support was more than enough for Jurrjen the surgeon.  He dissected the Dodger lineup to the tune of 6 Ks, lowering his ERA to an even 3 for the season.  Jair has allowed only 5 earned runs over his last 34.2 innings — an ERA of 1.32.

What else?

Jeff Francoeur doesn’t appear to have really figured anything out from a mechanical standpoint during his brief demotion. If you’re looking for silver linings, he did have a basehit and he managed to avoid any U turns on the night.  In his other three at bats, he hit two weak grounders and an inside out fly ball to right field.  The effort to stay on the ball is pretty clear, but his swing still looks long and slow.

Tex and BMac went back-to-back in the 9^th, each getting his 17^th jack of the season.

Chipper struck out thrice for the first time since August 28 of last year at the Marlins.  After reaching base safely 7 times in the Braves marathon win Sunday, Chipper is 0 for 7 with 4 Ks in the series.

Braves batters have struck out 35 times in their last 35 innings.

Kelly Johnson scored 3 times tonight, giving him 52 for the season.  That’s good for a tie for second on the team with Mark Teixeira.

Newly signed Julian Tavarez recorded only one out in the 9^th before being yanked for closer Mike Gonzalez.  There’s a reason this guy is suiting up with his third different team THIS SEASON.  I’ll continue to scratch my head on that acquisition.

Once again the Atlanta Braves lost to the Philadelphia Phillies.  This time it was by the score of 7-3 on Wednesday night.  The Braves have now lost two straight games in the three game series against the Phillies and must win on Thursday to avoid the embarrissing three game sweep at home.

Jorge Campillo was tagged for eight hits and five runs in only five innings of action as he took the loss for the Braves.  Campillo fell to 3-3 on the season with the loss.  Jeff Bennett, Will Ohman,  and Blaine Boyer all pitched well out of the bullpen for the Braves.  In the ninth inning however, Royce Ring allowed two more runs to cross the plate as the Phillies scored some insurance runs.

Ruben Gotay and Chipper Jones both hit solo home runs for the Braves but it still wasn’t enough.  Mark Teixeira also scored on a double play in the sixth inning for the Braves.  The Braves needed some more offensive firepower to keep up with the Phillies and it just wasn’t there tonight.  They did load the bases in the bottom of the ninth but were unable to score a run.  Just that kind of night.

Braves Blog

The Atlanta Braves broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth inning when Omar Infante singled to right field to score Jeff Francoeur and then got another run in the ninth inning when Gregor Blanco tripled to score Infante.  The Braves weren’t done however as they scored one more time on a Kelly Johnson infield groundout.  Nice comeback win for the Braves as they won 5-2 when it was all said and done.

Now that is a great win for the Braves who were up 2-0 earlier in the game.  Chipper Jones hit his 16th home run of the single in the first inning to get the Braves scoring.  In the third inning, Johnson had a rbi triple for the Braves second run.

Braves starting pitcher Jose Reyes threw the first seven innings of the game and gave up five hits and two runs.  Reyes walked four batters and struckout two batters.  Reyes ended up getting the no decision in the game but it was a quality outing for him.

Jeff Bennett pitched a scoreless eighth inning to keep the score tied 2-2 and then Mike Gonzalez made his first apperance of the year in the ninth inning as he finished the Rangers off.  Bennet got the win and is now 1-4 while Gonzalez picked up his first save of the season.

Braves Blog