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

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.

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The Atlanta Braves scored three runs in the eighth inning but their rally still fell short as they lost to teh Philadelphia Phillies by the score of 8-3.  The Braves were down 5-0 after just three innings and then held the Phillies down while they attempted to come back.

The Braves got three runs in the eighth as two runs scored on a Greg Norton double and then they got another run on a Mark Teixeira rbi ground out.  It’s too bad that those were the only runs that the Braves were able to score because they should have scored more then that in the game.

Charlie Morton was roughed up in only two innings of action as he took the loss to drop his record to 1-2 on the season.  Morton gave up eight hits and five runs in just those two innings of action.  Home runs by Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino really hurt Morton.

The Braves bullpen was probably the highlight of the night for the Braves.  Well I should say up until the ninth inning they were.  Four pitches combined to throw seven innings finish up the game.  Buddy Carlyle tossed three innings, Manny Acosta two innings, Will Ohman pitched the eighth inning and Blaine Boyer started the ninth inning before being pulled for Royce Ring.  Boyer gave up three runs in the ninth inning before Ring came in and recorded the final out. 

Braves will try to get em on Wednesday I guess.  Who knows what Braves team will show up.

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The Atlanta Braves had plenty of problems with Ben Sheets and the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night as they lost 4-1.  Sheets dominated the Braves as he tossed a complete game and the Braves were only able to record four hits and one run in the game.  The Braves are now 38-40 on the season after taking the loss.

Jo-Jo Reyes had a terrible game as he only lasted 2 1/3 innings after giving up six hits and four runs.  Reyes gave up a two run home run to Mike Cameron in the second inning, and then two one-run doubles in the third inning before he was pulled from the game.  Reyes feel to 3-5 with the loss.

The Braves bullpen did a wonderful job after Reyes was pulled from the game however.  Buddy Carlyle tossed 4 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball and then Royce Ring recorded one out before Jeff Bennett pitched the final two innings of the game.

The Braves only run came in the fouth inning when Brian McCann grounded into a double play and Kelly Johnson scored.  The entire Braves lineup besides Johnson stunk it up at the plate as they couldn’t figure out Sheets at all.

Hopefully the bats will come around and the Braves can put together some hits and score some runs on Tusday as they will battle the Brewers once again.

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The Atlanta Braves fell to the Texas Rangers 7-5 on Tuesday evening.  The Braves really struggled at the plate as they only had five hits in the game and left 11 runners on base.  This is a game that the Braves should be winning if you ask me.  Right now they just aren’t getting it done.

Tim Hudson only lasted 4 1/3 innings as he gave up six hits and six runs.  Hudson didn’t have his pitches working for him and you could tell right away in the game as Josh Hamilton took him deep for a solo home run in the first inning.

I will give the Braves bullpen some credit however as they did a pretty good job.  Jeff Ridgway pitched 1 2/3 innings and gave up one run but then Blaine Boyer and Royce Ring were able to pitched the final two innings of the game without any problems.

Brian McCann had a three run home run in the eighth inning to lead the Braves with three rbi.  Mark Teixeira and Omar Infante both had one rbi in the game to contribute as well but it still was not enough to get by the Rangers.

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The Atlanta Braves were beat by the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night by the score of 7-2.  The Braves struggled all night long to get runners into scoring position and that only happened a couple of times.  They were taken to the woodshed in the game and that was shown on the scoreboard.

Jeff Bennett only lasted two inning as he gave up seven hits and seven runs to take the loss for the Braves.  Bennett is now 0-4 on the season with a 4.56 era.  The Braves bullpen did a pretty good job after they came in for Bennett as they did not allow another run to cross the plate or things could have been much worse.

Phil Stockman and Jeff Ridgway both pitched two innings each of relief while Royce Ring and Blaine Boyer both tossed one innnig of relief.  The bullpen was the bright spot for the Braves that is for sure.

Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster sure cooled off the Braves hitters.  He tossed a complete game against the Braves who only had four hits on the night.  One of those hits was a two run home run by Corky Miller.  The ball was really helped with some wind that was blowing out towards left field.  If not for the wind, I think this came would have ended 7-0.

The Braves will try to avoid the three game sweep as they battle the Cubs on Thursday afternoon.  It will be a great pitcing matchup as it will be Tim Hudson and Carlos Zambrano.

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The Atlanta Braves got a win on Monday over the Washington Nationals by the score of 7-3 putting the Braves at 10-9 for the season.  It was a unified battlefront with great pitching and batting from the Atlanta bullpen and lineup.

Brian McCann got his fifth home run of the year in the 2nd inning off of Matt Chico giving him his 12th RBI of the season.  Tim Hudson had a pair of RBIs with Chipper Jones, Martin Prado, and Jeff Francoeur all getting an RBI as well.

Hudson was the starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves throwing for 6.2 innings giving up 10 hits and two runs but was able to pick up the win putting him at 3-1 for the season.  Royce Ring, Buddy Carlyle, and Manny Acosta were brought in the finish out the last 2.1 innings of the game.  Carlyle was the only reliver to give up a run.

Tonight the Atlanta Braves battle the Washington Nationals in the second game of the two game series.

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The Atlanta Braves were shutout by the Flordia Marlins on Tuesday night by the score of 4-0.  The Braves just couldn’t get it going off Marlins starter Scott Olson as he shut down the Braves for the first seven innings before the Marlins bullpen finished the job.

Starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens took the loss for the Braves after tossing six inning and allowing four hits and two earned runs.  Jurrjens didn’t pitch to badly, he just didn’t get enough run support to stay in the game longer.  Relief pitcher Royce Ring gave up the other two earned runs.

Kelly Johnson and Chipper Jones both led the Braves with two hits each.  That was about it off the bats of the Braves.  They could never get a rally going and score any runs.

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