Archive for the 'Braves Games Recap' Category

Mat Latos rebounded from a pair of rough outings with a brilliant one, giving the Padres seven innings of scoreless ball, including four strikeouts, no walks, and just two hits.

The only run his opponent, Jair Jurrjens, surrendered was a solo homerun to Adrian Gonzalez in the top of the third, but he probably deserved worse. Not including Gonzalez’ round-tripper, Jurrjens allowed eight baserunners (4 hits, 4 walks), but all were left stranded. Jair left the game after 7 2/3 IP, down 1-0.

The Braves missed a golden opportunity to tie the game and/or take the lead in the eighth inning. The bases were loaded with one out, but Omar Infante lined out to Everth Cabrera, and Martin Prado struck out to end the threat.

It seemed like the book was written going into the bottom of the ninth. No one has done anything against Padres closer Heath Bell all season, so there was little reason to think tonight would be any different. But Adam LaRoche couldn’t be bothered with the notion that he was expected to bend over and take it like Casey Kotchman. LaRoche drove in in pinch-runner Reid Gorecki on a single that was nearly caught by Will Venable, tying the game at one apiece.

But, ultimately, Atlanta’s propensity for striking out with the bases loaded did them in. Garret Anderson joined the party by striking out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth, and David Eckstein drove in the winning run on an RBI double in the top of the 12th.

The normally reliable Kris Medlen took the loss, allowing two walks and two hits (including that fateful Eckstein double) in one inning of work.

Joe Blanton (2 K, 1 BB, 7 H) and Jair Jurrjens (6 K, 1 BB, 5 H) dueled admirably on Friday night, giving their respective teams seven innings apiece of two-run ball. Blanton’s cause was aided by a brilliant defensive performance by the Phillies’ not-so-secret weapon, Shane Victorino.

Things got hairy in the top of the eighth when Ben Francisco led off with a double against Mike Gonzalez. Luckily, the Phillies decided to waste an at bat from one of their best players when they allowed Jimmy Rollins to bunt Francisco over to third. Victorino and Utley popped out in succession to end the inning.

But the bullpen’s high-wire act was short-lived. Ryan Howard gave the Phillies the game-winning run in the top of the ninth with a solo homerun off of RHP Rafael Soriano. Despite the lefty-leaning heart of the the Phillies order (Utley, Howard, Ibanez) likely coming up in the ninth, Cox opted use LHP Mike Gonzalez the inning prior to face righties Ben Francisco, Jimmy Rollins, and switch-hitter Shane Victorino.

The Braves were unable to mount a counterpunch in the eighth against Ryan Madson and got two runners on against Lidge in the ninth, but Nate McLouth flied out to deep left to end the game.

The Braves now have a serious uphill battle to win the series. Tomorrow will be the hardest part. The Kawakami/Hamels pitching matchup heavily favors the Phillies. The Braves now trail the Phillies by six games.

For the second night in a row, the Nationals got on the scoreboard against Atlanta in the top of the first, but - for the second night a row - the Braves came storming back.

Derek Lowe gave up three hits and a walk in the first inning, but managed to limit the damage to one run when Nyjer Morgan was caught stealing and Josh Willingham grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Atlanta got things going in the bottom of the second when Garret Anderson and Adam LaRoche hit a pair of solo shots to take the lead away from Washington. The Nationals tied it back up in the top of the seventh inning when a Ronnie Belliard single drove in Elijah Dukes.

The seventh was the last inning that Lowe would work. He continued to struggle with his control of the strike zone, walking four batters in seven innings pitched. Still, Lowe had the ground ball machine in full effect, generating 11 of outs via the grounder.  Given his consistent performance over the past several years and his ability to maintain his groundball skills, you have to think Lowe will eventually start finding the plate with more consistency.

In the bottom of the seventh, Adam LaRoche quickly helped the Braves retake the lead on the strength of his second solo homerun of the game. Atlanta pulled away in the bottom of the eight with a three-run inning that got kick-started by a Martin Prado solo shot. LaRoche and Greg Norton walked in the Braves’ final two runs later that inning.

Peter Moylan and Mike Gonzalez held the Nationals scoreless in two innings of relief.

Notes:

LaRoche continues to be scorching hot, with 13 hits in 35 at bats (including three homeruns) since he was acquired from Boston.

Nate McLouth sat out yet another game and remains day-to-day with a sore hamstring.

The Rockies and Phillies both won tonight (the latter in Pedro Martinez’ triumphant debut), so the Braves don’t gain any ground in the wild card or the NL East with tonight’s win.

Finally, a win. I was starting to think me writing here was a big jinx. I could’ve done without all of the drama late in the game, but I’ll take the win however we can get it. We got out of the gates quickly with a two-run double from Kotchman in the 2nd. It stayed that way until the 5th, when Vazquez gave up an RBI single to Ronny Paulino. McLouth pushed the score to 3-1, after a single in the 7th that scored Kotchman. Then, things started to unravel. Vazquez gave up a lead off homer in the 8th to Cody Ross. That probably should’ve been Bobby’s cue to get him out of there, but instead he let him pitch to Paulino (flied out) and Brett Carroll (walk) before he yanked him for Gonzalez. After giving up a single to Wes Helms and getting a strikeout from Bonifacio, they intentionally put Hanley on so they could pitch to Cantu. Cantu hit a slow chopper toward 3rd which Chipper couldn’t do anything about and suddenly the game was tied.

It stayed that way until the top of the 10th. McLouth led off with a single. KJ then sac’d him to second. After an intentional walk to Chipper, McCann blasted a 2-2 pitch deep to right center to give the Braves the 6-3 lead, which eventually became the victory.

Vazquez was excellent, as usual, striking out eight and walking just one over 7 1/3. McCann, Kotchman and McLouth all had multi-hit games, while Kelly Johnson, Hernandez and Diaz all put up 0-4’s.

The biggest story coming out of this game was the fact that both Prado and Escobar got hurt. Prado was hit on the ankle by a line drive during warmups. It swelled and he was not available for the game. Escobar was then hit on the wrist by a 2nd inning pitch and had to leave the game. X-rays were negative. He’s day-to-day. Dodgers come to town for 3, with Jason Schmidt vs.  Tommy Hanson scheduled for tonight. Series preview coming later.

While I didn’t expect a win, I did expect to not have the winning margin come from a Josh Johnson homer. Kawakami was terrible. He was chased in the fifth after giving up his third homerun in seven batters. Seven hits and three walks before the fifth is over is not the recipe for success. In a game where Josh Johnson only gets one strikeout in six innings, you need to hope you can bunch some hits. Unfortunately, Kotchman’s homerun was a solo shot and Anderson’s came at a time when it really didn’t matter anymore. McCann and Escobar both put up the 0-4’s, although Brian was able to score after a fielder’s choice.

The play that hurt us the most, other than the Johnson dinger, happened in the top of the 5th. With one out and runners on the corners, Prado stepped up in a 4-1 game with a chance to keep it interesting. After fouling off the first pitch, Prado took two balls. That would be the best part of the at-bat, as he promptly grounded into an inning ending double play which lowed our chances to win the game by 11%. Ouch.

Vazquez/VandenHurk tonight. Vegas line says we are 59.7% to win. Let’s hope Vazquez can stop the bleeding and get us out of Florida. Unfortunately for us, we leave Florida in order to go home to welcome the Dodgers.

Well, that hurt. After taking the lead in the top of the 9th off of a Garrett Anderson solo homer, Soriano gave up a walk, sac bunt and walk off homer to the immortal Ross Gload to give the Marlins the first game of the series.

The Braves got on the board first with an RBI single from Prado. Jurrjens gave it right back in the bottom half, however, with a double from Hanley that scored Nolasco (ugh) and Bonifacio.  Things stayed that way until the top of the 6th, where Chipper led of the inning with a solo shot. Of course, this all led to the rug being pulled out from under us in the 9th. It’s games like this that will be remembered at the end of the season when we finish 2 games out of the Wild Card.

Jurrjens pitched well, going six innings with five strikeouts while walking just one. Anderson had the best day at the plate, going 2-4 with the aforementioned home run. Obviously, the biggest low-light was Soriano’s blown save, but McCann and Kotchman can both take a bit of the blame with dueling 0-4’s.

Kawakami/Johnson tonight. We really need Kawakami to step it up if we have any chance of taking these next two game.  The Vegas line says that we are 41.5% to win tonight. That seems realistic. If we use that number and assume a 55% chance to win tomorrow, we have around a 23% chance to win this series. It could be worse.

Haha what if your a Braves fan. The great Greg Maddux had his number retired and the Braves destroyed division rival New York Mets. Ahhh man I can’t stress how good a day it was. Im not going to write much because I feel as though I will ruin the moment so I’ll let everything sink in…once again what a great day to be a Braves fan.

Espn Article

Last night was a good win for the struggling Braves as they scored 8 runs and got a a great performance from Kenshin Kawakami. Kawakami went 6 innings only 2 hits (both to Jason Bay) walking 3 and striking out 5. It was another solid performance from Kenshin as this is 9th start in a row where he allowed 3 runs or less. In this stretch he has only 3 wins including this one as the bats have been no where to be found, but last night was different.

On the first pitch of the game Braves lead off hitter Nate McClouth took Dice-K deep.  Also for the Braves Garrett Anderson had 4 RBI’s to lead the Braves to the 8-2 win.

Last Nights Box Score

After going 15 innings last the Braves take another close one from the Pirates 4-3. Braves starter Derek Lowe went 7 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while striking out 4 batters. Lowe struggled in the early going, but settled down and looked good and also got better as the game went on. For the Braves offense it was the 2, 3, and 4 hitters (Escobar, Jones, and McCann) that provide all the offense. Escobar had 2, Jones and McCann each had 1 RBI a piece. After 15 innings last night the Braves were not about to let this 1 leave the 9th so after a perfect 8th from Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano shut down the door with a perfect 9th.

The Piratesgot RBI’s from Diaz and Adam LaRoche tonight, but it just wasn’t enough to beat the Braves once again. Former Pirate …NOW Brave Nate McClouth and the Braves look to go for the sweep of the Pirates tomorrow at 7:00 Pm a they send one of my favorites Jair Jurrjens to the mound. GO BRAVES !!!

Tonight’s Box Score

He didn’t pitch what we would have liked, but I honestly think that some of that can be attributed to the fact that he faced one of the best teams in the Brewers. Hanson went 6 innings giving up 6 hits and 6 earned runs, while striking out 5 and walking just 1. He looked good for awhile until around the 6th inning were he gave up 4 runs. Hanson was in control, but gave up 3 home runs 2 of those to Ryan Braun. No one can deny the talent of the youngster let’s hope his next start will be better.

Box score