Mets 12 (72-79), Braves 2 (86-65)
W: Chris Capuano
L: Derek Lowe, obviously
Things that happened in this game:
I don't know, though, what else do you want to hear? The Braves, for the second time this season, couldn't get a bat on sub-90s heat and a loopy slider. The quartet of Miguel Batista, Tim Byrdak, "Josh" Stinson (if that is in fact his name) and Ryota Igarashi held the Braves hitless for the last four innings of the game, and didn't look particularly troubled in so doing. Teheran and fellow heralded rookie Arodys Vizcaino were ineffective, Scott Linebrink did Scott Linebrink things, and it took Anthony Varvaro to "stop" the bleeding and allow a run on three hits in two innings.
With the exception of a dazzling play by Alex Gonzalez, who ranged impossibly far to his left, snared a grounder and threw out Jason Bay by way of a jumping throw and a Freddie Freeman teabag of the first base dirt, this was an ugly, ugly game. And not just because of Uggla's dip assaulting the bat boys and telling a woman that she didn't need that hot dog she was eating.
If you didn't subject yourself to watching this game, just know that my version of tonight's events is far better than whatever actually happened on the field. So, ok, whatever: tomorrow! 4:10 EDT is the time, R.A. Dickey (who must be steamed that he wasn't pitching on Star Wars night at Turner Field) will take the mound opposite Tim Hudson. My prediction: blood. Because I don't think the grounds crew wrangled up that dip yet. no comments
W: Chris Capuano
L: Derek Lowe, obviously
Things that happened in this game:
- Derek Lowe gave up nine hits, walked a batter and struck out a pair en route to allowing six runs in two-and-a-third innings pitched. He also sweated.
- Julio Teheran, despite being functionally the opposite of Derek Lowe, fared nearly as poorly: two-and-two-thirds IP, four hits, four runs, two walks, two strikeouts.
- Braves pitchers threw 202 pitches on the night.
- The Braves had six hits as a team. If you picked any two of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Lucas Duda, Nick Evans or Josh Thole, you'd get at least six hits.
- Eric Hinske went up to the plate with a beer coozie on his bat. He lined out.
- Dan Uggla's dip became sentient. Understandably distracted, Uggla went oh-fer.
- Michael Bourn tripled and stole a base.
I don't know, though, what else do you want to hear? The Braves, for the second time this season, couldn't get a bat on sub-90s heat and a loopy slider. The quartet of Miguel Batista, Tim Byrdak, "Josh" Stinson (if that is in fact his name) and Ryota Igarashi held the Braves hitless for the last four innings of the game, and didn't look particularly troubled in so doing. Teheran and fellow heralded rookie Arodys Vizcaino were ineffective, Scott Linebrink did Scott Linebrink things, and it took Anthony Varvaro to "stop" the bleeding and allow a run on three hits in two innings.
With the exception of a dazzling play by Alex Gonzalez, who ranged impossibly far to his left, snared a grounder and threw out Jason Bay by way of a jumping throw and a Freddie Freeman teabag of the first base dirt, this was an ugly, ugly game. And not just because of Uggla's dip assaulting the bat boys and telling a woman that she didn't need that hot dog she was eating.
If you didn't subject yourself to watching this game, just know that my version of tonight's events is far better than whatever actually happened on the field. So, ok, whatever: tomorrow! 4:10 EDT is the time, R.A. Dickey (who must be steamed that he wasn't pitching on Star Wars night at Turner Field) will take the mound opposite Tim Hudson. My prediction: blood. Because I don't think the grounds crew wrangled up that dip yet. no comments
Braves 4, Marlins 1
WP: O'Flaherty (4-2)
LP: Nolasco (10-11)
SV: Kimbrel (44)
The Braves offense was as dead as a doornail for the first six innings of the game, tallying just a pair of hits against Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco, who was excellent. Through six, he has walked just one hitter and struck out five. Nothing was going on. But in the seventh, magic happened. Freddie Freeman started the inning with a fly out, and Dan Uggla started the rally with a walk. Brian McCann singled to put runners on the corners with one out for the terribly slumping Martin Prado. Prado went unorthodox though, and laid down a perfect bunt. Uggla scored on the safety squeeze, and all hands were safe on base. Jason Heyward flied out, and that brought up Alex Gonzalez, who has been on a crazy roll during the Marlins series. Gonzalez then took an 0-2 pitch and slammed it over the fence in left field to give the Braves a 4-1 lead that they wouldn't relinquish in the game's final two innings. Gonzalez and Prado, the two heroes of the game, each had two hits. The team had five in total. You do the math there.
The rookie parade of starters continued today, with Randall Delgado making his fifth career start today. It was another impressive outing for him, as he went five innings, walked two, struck out four, and allowed just one run, on a solo homer by Greg Dobbs in the second inning. Aside from that Dobbs homer, Delgado never had any problems aside from a high pitch count, throwing 101 pitches over those five innings. The second inning was the only one where he had multiple runners on base. The Braves bullpen stepped up to the plate big time yet again, with Cristhian Martinez and the O'Ventbrel trio combining to throw four perfect innings, striking out five and geting five ground ball outs. At the end of the day...yeah, I'll take that.
The team's magic number is now down to nine, as the Cardinals won in Pittsburgh. The Braves have an off day tomorrow before welcoming the Mets to Turner Field for three. Game one will feature Derek Lowe taking on Chris Capuano. The Cardinals are also off tomorrow, so the maigc number will remain at nine for another day. The Braves will hopefully saw off a couple digits on that this weekend, as the Cardinals are going to Philly to take on the reigning NL East champions. One problem: Philly clinched a playoff berth today with a win over the Astros. They might start resting some guys, and put out a team that isn't built to beat St Louis's brains in. That's not a good thing at all. St Louis is scheduled to face Cole Hamels on Sunday and Roy Halladay on Monday, so maybe both of those guys will still get their full starts in and dominate the Cardinal to give the Braves some breathing room. Fingers are crossed. no comments
WP: O'Flaherty (4-2)
LP: Nolasco (10-11)
SV: Kimbrel (44)
The Braves offense was as dead as a doornail for the first six innings of the game, tallying just a pair of hits against Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco, who was excellent. Through six, he has walked just one hitter and struck out five. Nothing was going on. But in the seventh, magic happened. Freddie Freeman started the inning with a fly out, and Dan Uggla started the rally with a walk. Brian McCann singled to put runners on the corners with one out for the terribly slumping Martin Prado. Prado went unorthodox though, and laid down a perfect bunt. Uggla scored on the safety squeeze, and all hands were safe on base. Jason Heyward flied out, and that brought up Alex Gonzalez, who has been on a crazy roll during the Marlins series. Gonzalez then took an 0-2 pitch and slammed it over the fence in left field to give the Braves a 4-1 lead that they wouldn't relinquish in the game's final two innings. Gonzalez and Prado, the two heroes of the game, each had two hits. The team had five in total. You do the math there.
The rookie parade of starters continued today, with Randall Delgado making his fifth career start today. It was another impressive outing for him, as he went five innings, walked two, struck out four, and allowed just one run, on a solo homer by Greg Dobbs in the second inning. Aside from that Dobbs homer, Delgado never had any problems aside from a high pitch count, throwing 101 pitches over those five innings. The second inning was the only one where he had multiple runners on base. The Braves bullpen stepped up to the plate big time yet again, with Cristhian Martinez and the O'Ventbrel trio combining to throw four perfect innings, striking out five and geting five ground ball outs. At the end of the day...yeah, I'll take that.
The team's magic number is now down to nine, as the Cardinals won in Pittsburgh. The Braves have an off day tomorrow before welcoming the Mets to Turner Field for three. Game one will feature Derek Lowe taking on Chris Capuano. The Cardinals are also off tomorrow, so the maigc number will remain at nine for another day. The Braves will hopefully saw off a couple digits on that this weekend, as the Cardinals are going to Philly to take on the reigning NL East champions. One problem: Philly clinched a playoff berth today with a win over the Astros. They might start resting some guys, and put out a team that isn't built to beat St Louis's brains in. That's not a good thing at all. St Louis is scheduled to face Cole Hamels on Sunday and Roy Halladay on Monday, so maybe both of those guys will still get their full starts in and dominate the Cardinal to give the Braves some breathing room. Fingers are crossed. no comments
Braves 7, Marlins 1
Okay folks. We can all take a step back from the ledge now, and hopefully the panic that has gripped Braves fans for the past week will start to abate after the first win in two years or so. Coming into tonight’s game, the Braves playoff odds stood at 94.5% or 93.9% depending on the source. While that certainly doesn’t look nearly as good as the 99.4% of a week ago, remember that it took as bad of a week as the Braves have seen all year to drop it all of 5%. The world isn’t ending, and the Braves won tonight. Exhale.
I heard a certain Braves announcer say earlier this year that homeruns are rally killers. The Braves had two rallies killed tonight. Brian McCann and Dan Uggla were the culprits with both hitting three run home runs…the nerve of these guys. Uggla has now hit 34 on the year and trails Pujols by one for the National League lead which is crazy when you think about his first half. It’s good to see McCann get a couple of hits, and hopefully he’s breaking out of his funk. Larry Wayne collected two hits, Alex Gonzalez had three hits with two doubles, and Freddie Freeman walked twice so it was a good all around effort in this one.
Fredi must be giddy about these expanded rosters as he found a way to use six pitchers in this one. He almost always does a good job pulling the starter at the right time, but it’d be nice if he figured out that relievers other than Martinez can pitch multiple innings. Outside of the four walks, Minor had a good outing. The Braves have gotten excellent work from their young starters this year, with the only noticeable flaw being their inability to pitch efficiently and go deeper into games. That should come with experience though.
It’s hard to complain about this one. The Cardinals won, but as long as the Braves take care of their business, they need not worry. The biggest concern now is health and getting Lowe, Venters, Heyward, and McCann playing better for the playoffs. It’ll be the Fish tomorrow in an afternoon start and then an off day before the Mets come to town in what looks to be a good opportunity to solidify the stranglehold on the Wild Card.
no comments
Marlins 5 (67-79), Braves 4 (84-64)
W: Clay Hensley
L: Anthony Varvaro
SV: Leo Nunez
I refrained from tweeting this during the game for fear of jinxing the Braves, but at no point from the eighth inning on did I have the slightest inkling that Florida might win this game. And I can't really tell you why; after all, the Marlins got on the board early, plating a run in both the first and third, and a pair in the sixth. They then threatened in both the seventh and the eighth, but the Braves pitchers kept finding a way out. The offense kept up their tepid pace of, if I recall correctly, 3.4 runs per game this month, scoring four by way of a run in each of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but it always seemed like there was room for more.
Indeed, Chip Caray's insane screeds about how OBP is a bad stat because it doesn't account for poor performance with runners in scoring position may have caught hold with the fans watching tonight's game. The Braves were 3-14 with RISP, and stranded 15 runners the honest way, leaving the bases loaded on one occasion and marooning a pair on four occasions.
The hard thing about this game is that it's hard to assign too much blame to any particular player. Jason Heyward walked three times, Michael Bourn had three hits, both Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla contributed a pair of knocks themselves, and Alex Freaking Gonzalez was the star offensive player of the game, collecting three hits and two RBIs. Brandon Beachy turned in an effective start; he lasted only five and a third innings, but struck out 10 and walked just one. He did surrender nine hits and all four of the Marlins' regulation runs while throwing 73 pitchers through three innings, but managed to compose himself and throw up Ks with aplomb. The bullpen was effective from a macro view, allowing just one run in six and two thirds innings, though Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty had to overcome some struggles to preserve their clean sheets. Craig Kimbrel may've moved beyond some of the doubt that's started to cloud his performance recently, striking out a pair and sitting above 95 mph with the heater, and Peter Moylan was as effective as he's ever been since his recent return from the DL.
Really what this game came down to was a trio of great defensive plays from the Marlins middle men: Omar Infante (yes, I know) made a nifty stop of a topspin-heavy grounder off Dan Uggla's bat, and Donnie Murphy snared a Prado liner just an inning after prolonging the game by throwing out Michael Bourn on a slow grounder to short. Had any of those balls gotten through -- you know, like the way Mike Stanton's grounder found its way under Jack Wilson's diving stab -- the Braves' magic number would be 10 and we wouldn't have to suffer through any talk of momentum.
As it is, the thing I'm most afraid of is that Fredi is going to see this loss as a reason to think that he has to shake up the lineup even more. I know the desire is there for him to want to affect change in what he perceives as an underachieving group, but fluctuations like this happen over the course of a baseball season; what's important is that he -- and we fans -- understand that it's merely unfortunate timing for the Braves to fall into a swoon like this. If this run of play had happened in June, there'd be no hand-wringing; I just ask that Fredi and the fans all step back and remember that the Braves are still the overwhelming favorites to win the Wild Card, and that an extra innings loss to a depleted Marlins squad, while discouraging, is not a death sentence.
And so! Let us look ahead to tomorrow with bright eyes and light hearts, as Mike Minor and Brad Hand square off in an epic showdown of southpaws with last names that are almost too noun for their own good. 7:10 EDT, y'all. no comments
W: Clay Hensley
L: Anthony Varvaro
SV: Leo Nunez
I refrained from tweeting this during the game for fear of jinxing the Braves, but at no point from the eighth inning on did I have the slightest inkling that Florida might win this game. And I can't really tell you why; after all, the Marlins got on the board early, plating a run in both the first and third, and a pair in the sixth. They then threatened in both the seventh and the eighth, but the Braves pitchers kept finding a way out. The offense kept up their tepid pace of, if I recall correctly, 3.4 runs per game this month, scoring four by way of a run in each of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but it always seemed like there was room for more.
Indeed, Chip Caray's insane screeds about how OBP is a bad stat because it doesn't account for poor performance with runners in scoring position may have caught hold with the fans watching tonight's game. The Braves were 3-14 with RISP, and stranded 15 runners the honest way, leaving the bases loaded on one occasion and marooning a pair on four occasions.
The hard thing about this game is that it's hard to assign too much blame to any particular player. Jason Heyward walked three times, Michael Bourn had three hits, both Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla contributed a pair of knocks themselves, and Alex Freaking Gonzalez was the star offensive player of the game, collecting three hits and two RBIs. Brandon Beachy turned in an effective start; he lasted only five and a third innings, but struck out 10 and walked just one. He did surrender nine hits and all four of the Marlins' regulation runs while throwing 73 pitchers through three innings, but managed to compose himself and throw up Ks with aplomb. The bullpen was effective from a macro view, allowing just one run in six and two thirds innings, though Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty had to overcome some struggles to preserve their clean sheets. Craig Kimbrel may've moved beyond some of the doubt that's started to cloud his performance recently, striking out a pair and sitting above 95 mph with the heater, and Peter Moylan was as effective as he's ever been since his recent return from the DL.
Really what this game came down to was a trio of great defensive plays from the Marlins middle men: Omar Infante (yes, I know) made a nifty stop of a topspin-heavy grounder off Dan Uggla's bat, and Donnie Murphy snared a Prado liner just an inning after prolonging the game by throwing out Michael Bourn on a slow grounder to short. Had any of those balls gotten through -- you know, like the way Mike Stanton's grounder found its way under Jack Wilson's diving stab -- the Braves' magic number would be 10 and we wouldn't have to suffer through any talk of momentum.
As it is, the thing I'm most afraid of is that Fredi is going to see this loss as a reason to think that he has to shake up the lineup even more. I know the desire is there for him to want to affect change in what he perceives as an underachieving group, but fluctuations like this happen over the course of a baseball season; what's important is that he -- and we fans -- understand that it's merely unfortunate timing for the Braves to fall into a swoon like this. If this run of play had happened in June, there'd be no hand-wringing; I just ask that Fredi and the fans all step back and remember that the Braves are still the overwhelming favorites to win the Wild Card, and that an extra innings loss to a depleted Marlins squad, while discouraging, is not a death sentence.
And so! Let us look ahead to tomorrow with bright eyes and light hearts, as Mike Minor and Brad Hand square off in an epic showdown of southpaws with last names that are almost too noun for their own good. 7:10 EDT, y'all. no comments
The Braves lost 6-3 today. They lost 4-3 on both Friday and Saturday. That once formidable wild card lead is down to 4.5 games over the Cardinals. Getting swept this weekend was pretty much a worst case scenario, and it happened. So, the question remains. The team has lost six out of its last eight games, and eight out of eleven. When do we start getting worried that we won't be a playoff team?
The answer is simple: you should be worried right now. The Braves still have a 95.9% chance of making the playoffs, so the stats are definitely in Atlanta's favor. But momentum? That left the Braves a long time ago. The team is still 21 games above .500, but let's look at their September stats real quick. In September, the Braves have a .698 OPS, good for 12th in the NL. The pitching staff is also 12th in the league with a 4.18 ERA. The pitching is the odd thing to me. The team has had seven starts by rookies in September, and those rookies (Minor, Beachy, Delgado, Teheran) have a 3.31 ERA in those seven starts. That's pretty damn good if you ask me, and the 33:15 strikeout to walk ratio isn't bad either. As for the two veterans currently on staff, Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson...well, they've got a 5.48 ERA in four starts, and a 20:12 strikeout to walk ratio. It's bizarre, that the rookies in the rotation are pitching better than the veterans.
As for the bullpen, the big three is showing signs of exhaustion. Only Eric O'Flaherty remains unscored upon, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless this month with four strikeouts and no walks. Craig Kimbrel allowed a pair of runs in a blown save on Friday, a loss that really stings the team. Jonny Venters looks gassed, just like he did last September, and has allowed three runs in five innings while walking five hitters. Even Arodys Vizcaino had a pair of bad outings this month, but has held the opposition scoreless in his last two appearances. The return of Peter Moylan hasn't gone well, as the veteran has allowed five baserunners in 2 1/3 innings since coming off the DL, while only striking out one hitter.
Going back to the offense for a second, it hasn't been pretty. The oldest member of the team, Chipper Jones, has also ben the most productive. Jones has a 1.001 OPS in 33 September at bats with a pair of homers. Only Dan Uggla with three has more than one home run during the month. Uggla, Freddie Freeman, and Michael Bourn have all been solid during the month, with OPSes over .800. But the rest of the squad has struggled. Jason Heyward has been the best right fielder, with a .707 OPS. Jose Constanza has lost the spark that made him attractive, with just a .471 OPS this month. New acquisition Matt Diaz has four singles in 12 plate appearances without a walk, and has as hollow of a line as you can get. Martin Prado's nightmare season in left field continues, as his OPS in September is a pathetic .484, and he's been dropped in the lineup (though not far enough) as a result. And what about Brian McCann? The slugger who carried the Braves during the beginning of the season when Dan Uggla struggled has a .627 September OPS with 12 strikeouts in 34 at bats. The best thing about McCann's month is his team-leading eight walks.
Should Braves fans really be worried? Honestly, we should. We can point to the fact that the team has 15 games left, six against the Marlins, and three each against the Phillies, Mets, and Nationals. Be thankful that the Braves are 9-3 against Florida, because the team is a combined 22-23 against the other three teams. If the Braves can take four or five outta six from the Marlins, we can all breathe a lot easier. But if those six games are split, or god forbid, the team loses the majority of the final six games, we could all be doing a lot of scoreboard watching down the stretch. no comments
The answer is simple: you should be worried right now. The Braves still have a 95.9% chance of making the playoffs, so the stats are definitely in Atlanta's favor. But momentum? That left the Braves a long time ago. The team is still 21 games above .500, but let's look at their September stats real quick. In September, the Braves have a .698 OPS, good for 12th in the NL. The pitching staff is also 12th in the league with a 4.18 ERA. The pitching is the odd thing to me. The team has had seven starts by rookies in September, and those rookies (Minor, Beachy, Delgado, Teheran) have a 3.31 ERA in those seven starts. That's pretty damn good if you ask me, and the 33:15 strikeout to walk ratio isn't bad either. As for the two veterans currently on staff, Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson...well, they've got a 5.48 ERA in four starts, and a 20:12 strikeout to walk ratio. It's bizarre, that the rookies in the rotation are pitching better than the veterans.
As for the bullpen, the big three is showing signs of exhaustion. Only Eric O'Flaherty remains unscored upon, throwing 5 2/3 scoreless this month with four strikeouts and no walks. Craig Kimbrel allowed a pair of runs in a blown save on Friday, a loss that really stings the team. Jonny Venters looks gassed, just like he did last September, and has allowed three runs in five innings while walking five hitters. Even Arodys Vizcaino had a pair of bad outings this month, but has held the opposition scoreless in his last two appearances. The return of Peter Moylan hasn't gone well, as the veteran has allowed five baserunners in 2 1/3 innings since coming off the DL, while only striking out one hitter.
Going back to the offense for a second, it hasn't been pretty. The oldest member of the team, Chipper Jones, has also ben the most productive. Jones has a 1.001 OPS in 33 September at bats with a pair of homers. Only Dan Uggla with three has more than one home run during the month. Uggla, Freddie Freeman, and Michael Bourn have all been solid during the month, with OPSes over .800. But the rest of the squad has struggled. Jason Heyward has been the best right fielder, with a .707 OPS. Jose Constanza has lost the spark that made him attractive, with just a .471 OPS this month. New acquisition Matt Diaz has four singles in 12 plate appearances without a walk, and has as hollow of a line as you can get. Martin Prado's nightmare season in left field continues, as his OPS in September is a pathetic .484, and he's been dropped in the lineup (though not far enough) as a result. And what about Brian McCann? The slugger who carried the Braves during the beginning of the season when Dan Uggla struggled has a .627 September OPS with 12 strikeouts in 34 at bats. The best thing about McCann's month is his team-leading eight walks.
Should Braves fans really be worried? Honestly, we should. We can point to the fact that the team has 15 games left, six against the Marlins, and three each against the Phillies, Mets, and Nationals. Be thankful that the Braves are 9-3 against Florida, because the team is a combined 22-23 against the other three teams. If the Braves can take four or five outta six from the Marlins, we can all breathe a lot easier. But if those six games are split, or god forbid, the team loses the majority of the final six games, we could all be doing a lot of scoreboard watching down the stretch. no comments
Game One
WP: Minor (5-2)
LP: Schwinden (0-1)
SV: Kimbrel (43)
After being swept for the first time this season by the Phillies, the Braves looked to regain some momentum in game one of today's double header against the Mets. Major props have to be given to Fredi Gonzalez for finally putting a more optimized lineup on the field, featuring Chipper Jones in the two-hole, Martin Prado batting sixth, and Jason Heyward actually in the lineup over the not-so-hot Jose Constanza. Even bigger props go to him for sticking with this lineup in game two, but we'll see if it carries over to the series against the Cardinals.
The Braves struck for three runs in the top of the first, with Chipper doubling to left field with one out. After a McCann walk Dan Uggla grounded into a fielder's choice, putting runners on the corners for Freddie Freeman. Freeman roped a double to centerfield to score both Chipper and Uggla and took third on the throw. Martin Prado then hit an infield single to give the Braves a 3-0 lead.
Minor set down the first two batters before surrendering a single to Lucas Duda. David Wright doubled and Angel Pagan walked to load the bases for Jason Bay. Minor then surrendered his first home run of the season, a grand slam, to give the Mets a 4-3 lead. Chipper brought the score back even with a home run of his own, his sixteenth of the year, to lead off the third. After Freeman and Prado singled, Heyward singled in Freeman to put the Braves up 5-4.
The lead was extended to 6-4 after Tim Byrdak hit Michael Bourn with a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh. The run would prove to be an important one as the Mets would score a run on a sacrifice fly from Nick Evans off of Jonny Venters. Craig Kimbrel shut the door in the ninth for his fourty-third save of the season and to give the Braves a win in game one of the double header.
Game Two
WP: Julio Teheran (1-1)
LP: Dillon Gee (12-6)
In game two of the double header, the Braves sent top pitching prospect Julio Teheran to the mound and the Mets countered with Dillon Gee.
The Braves jumped out to an early lead again after Dan Uggla scored leadoff man Michael Bourn with a single to CF. Bourn had reached base on a throwing error by Jose Reyes, then stole his fifty-second base of the season. A Freeman groundout moved him to third, and he scored on Uggla's single. As was the case in game one, the Mets also scored in their half of the first, tying the game when Bay hit a sac fly to plate Reyes.
The Braves added a second run in the fifth when David Ross drove in Prado with a single. They increased their lead to 3-1 in the seventh inning when Chipper Jones hit a sac fly to score Jack Wilson, who had been double-switched into the game, along with Cristhian Martinez, and had lead off the seventh with a double. Ross hit a home run, his sixth, in the ninth to stretch the Braves' lead to three runs. Chipper then doubled in Bourn, who had tripled, to give the Braves a 5-1 lead. Anthony Varvaro pitching a scoreless ninth to seal the double header sweep for the Braves.
The win is the first of Teheran's young career. Jason Heyward was 0-3 with a walk, while Prado, Wilson, and Jones all doubled in the game. Martinez pitched two scoreless innings to help bridge the gap between Teheran and the rest of the bullpen.
The Braves start a three-game series with the Cardinals in St. Louis tomorrow. no comments
Hello loyal Chop N Change readers. I've got an exciting little CONTEST for everyone. The prize for winning? A brand spanking new copy of A+E's Baseball's Greatest Games - 1992 NLCS Game 7!! That's right, you can have the greatest win in Braves history on DVD just for entering! For more information on the DVD, you can click here.
Now, how do you win the contest? Simple: I want a story from you. I want you to tell me about your greatest memory as a Braves fan. The story should be a minimum of 50 words, and can talk about any game you want. I'll be picking five winners, all of whom will receive a copy of the DVD from A+E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions.
Submit your stories to ChopContest@comcast.net. The deadline for entries will be Saturday, September 17th, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST. Any entries received after this time will not be accepted.
Best of luck to you alll, and I'm eagerly anticipating hearing your stories. A special thank you to A+E Home Entertainment and MLB Productions for letting me run this contest. Enjoy! no comments
Now, how do you win the contest? Simple: I want a story from you. I want you to tell me about your greatest memory as a Braves fan. The story should be a minimum of 50 words, and can talk about any game you want. I'll be picking five winners, all of whom will receive a copy of the DVD from A+E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions.
Submit your stories to ChopContest@comcast.net. The deadline for entries will be Saturday, September 17th, 2011 at 11:59 PM EST. Any entries received after this time will not be accepted.
Best of luck to you alll, and I'm eagerly anticipating hearing your stories. A special thank you to A+E Home Entertainment and MLB Productions for letting me run this contest. Enjoy! no comments
