Not this year

It doesn't look like this will be the year for the Cubs or the Brewers. The Brewers sent ace CC Sabathia to the mound, but he did not last through the 4th inning and the Phillies took a commanding 2-0 series lead. The Cubs made 4 errors en route to a 10-3 defeat by the Dodgers. Carlos Zambrano pitched 6-1/3 innings and gave up 7 runs, but only three of them were earned, so he gets a quality start. Manny Ramirez homered in his second straight playoff game and Russel Martin had 3 RBI. Chad Billingsley gave up 1 run in 6-2/3 innings to get the win. The Rays beat the White Sox in the first game of their play off series.

Tonight, only the AL teams play. Chicago and Tampa Bay play at 6pm and the Red Sox/Angels game will be at 930p.

The Ball State football team puts its undefeated record on the line at Toledo on Saturday night. BSU is a 7.5 point favorite. I think this will be a high-scoring, no-defense game. It would not surprise me if Toledo keeps it close or even wins this game.

Welcome to October

The Phillies were the only home team to win their playoff game yesterday as the Red Sox and Dodgers stole home-field advantage from the Angels and the Cubs. Today, the White Sox and Rays start their series and the Philly/Milwaukee and Cubs/Dodgers series have game 2. The Cubs game starts at 830 pm Chicago time....it's going to be a cold one in Chi-town tonight.

The vice-presidential election is tonight. This is Sarah Palin's one chance to prove that she is fit to be vice-president. According to polls, Obama-Biden is crushing McCain-Palin by 6 percent nationwide. If you look at the individual state polls, Obama leads in electoral votes 338-185 with 15 tied. Tonight is a must-win for the McCain-Palin ticket. If not, the race could be over in October.

What a game!

The tiebreaker game last night between the White Sox and the Twins was what a baseball game should be. Great crowd, great defense, great pitching, and a one-run game. Jim Thome homered for the only run of the game as the White Sox beat the Twins to take the AL Central and advance to the playoffs. Nick Blackburn threw 6-1/3 innings for the Twins and only gave up one run, but it was the only run that mattered. John Danks threw 8 innings of shutout ball for the White Sox and only gave up 2 hits and Bobby Jenks threw the 9th for the save. The White Sox will play the Rays starting on Thursday.

As for the other playoff series, here are my predictions:

LAA vs Boston - LAA dominated the season series 8-1. LAA hit well (901 OPS) and pitched well (3.60 ERA) during the season series. Plus, the Angels have home field advantage. I don't see this one going more than 4 games with the Angels winning the series.

Rays vs White Sox - This was a close, low-scoring series during the year. Both teams had OPS under 735 and ERAs below 3.35 against each other. Just like last night's game, whoever scores first may end up winning the game. I think this series will go 5 games and the White Sox will win.

Dodgers vs Cubs - This series has even better pitching and worse hitting than the Rays/White Sox series. Both teams have OPS below 660 and ERAs under 2.50 against each other. However, things did break the Cubbies way as they won the season series 5-2. I think the Cubs win this one in 4 games.

Phillies vs Brewers - The Phillies played well in the season series with the Brewers. They had an OPS of 899 and an ERA of 2.72, taking the season series 5-1. Milwaukee had a 686 OPS and an ERA of 5.76. The Phillies will win this one in 3 games.

At least there are no days off

The White Sox beat the Tigers yesterday in their final scheduled game of the regular season. So, that means that the White Sox and Twins are now tied in the AL Central and they get to play a tie-breaker game today, which means that there will not be a day where there are no games played as the playoffs start tomorrow. Yippee!!!!

Ball State is a 7-point favorite on the road at Toledo on Saturday. It should be a good game. Toledo is 1-3, but they are a rival of BSU and the games are always fairly close. The all-time series is tied at 16-16-1.

As of the end of week 4 in the NFL, the Redskins are one of 5 teams that have three wins, which would put them in the playoffs if they started today. They go to Philly on Sunday for another tough division game.

A season ends, but a new one begins

The Braves lost to the Astros yesterday 3-1. Mike Hampton pitched another great game throwing 6 innings and giving up 3 runs. It was his 8th quality start in his last nine games, however he is 2-3 in those games as the team doesn't give him too much offense. Jeff Bennett and Julian Tavarez each threw a scoreless inning of relief. Kelly Johnson had 2 hits to conclude his scorching September. During the month, he batted .398 with a 1.071 OPS. The Braves finish the month of September 13-12 and finish the season with a record of 72-90. The strong month of September while playing a lot of young guys gives me hope for next season. Chipper Jones walked in his only plate appearance to win the NL batting title. He becomes the first switch-hitter since Terry Pendleton won the title in 1991. He just missed the record for batting average by a switch-hitter. Mickey Mantle still holds that record at .365.

There is still one game left this season, maybe two. The White Sox will play the Tigers in a make-up game this afternoon. If the White Sox win, they will be tied with the Twins for the division title and will play the Twins on Tuesday. The other three playoff series start on Wednesday.

The Redskins breathed new life into their season with a 26-24 victory over Dallas at Texas Stadium. Jason Campbell was 20 of 31 for 231 yards and 2 TDs. Clinton Portis ran for 121 yards. Santana Moss had another great game against the division rivals, catching 8 balls for 145 yards. Antwan Randle El and James Thrash caught the touchdown passes from Campbell. Chris Horton had a big interception and now has 3 picks in 4 games. The clutch kicking of Shaun Suisham saved the day for the Redskins. He had 4 field goals and 2 extra points to lead the team in scoring with 14 points. The Redskins go to Philly next weekend to take on the 2-2 Eagles.

The Ball State football team is ranked 29th in the USA Today poll and 36th in the Harris poll. The unofficial BCS rating for this week should come out tonight or tomorrow.

Blowout wins for everyone

The Braves beat the Astros 11-5 on Saturday. Josh Anderson had 2 home runs, 3 hits, and 3 RBI. Jeff Francoeur had 3 hits, 3 runs, and 3 RBI. Both Anderson and Francoeur are batting over .340 over their last 10 games. Brandon Jones added 3 RBI in the game. James Parr started the game and gave up 4 earned runs in 4-1/3 innings. Vladimir Nunez, Manny Acosta, Jorge Julio, and Mike Gonzalez threw scoreless innings in the bullpen. Julio and Nunez have been spectacular in the month of September. Julio has thrown 12-1/3 innings and has only given up 9 hits and 1 run. Nunez has pitched 12 innings and given up 8 hits and 2 runs. I hope we can carry this over to next year, because we are going to need a decent bullpen with all of the young starters we are going to have. Chipper Jones can win the batting title today. The word is that he is only going to pinch-hit, so his average can drop no lower than .364 if he goes 0-for-1. Albert Pujols is in second place and even if he goes 5-for-5 his average will only be .362. The final game of the season is this afternoon at 205p. Mike Hampton will pitch for the Braves and Wandy Rodriguez will pitch for the Astros.

The Ball State football team continued it's undefeated season by beating Kent State 41-20 in front of a homecoming crowd of 20,347 fans. MiQuale Lewis ran for 116 yards and three TDs. He also caught 3 balls for 39 yards. This was his 4th straight 100 yard game and his 10th touchdown of the season. Nate Davis completed 23 of 35 passes for 265 yards and 1 TD. True freshman Briggs Orsbon caught 10 passes for 112 yards. Cory Sykes ran for a TD and Miles Trempe caught the TD pass from Davis. Kicker Ian McGarvey kicked field goals of 38 and 47 yards and converted all 5 extra point attempts. BSU faces Toledo next week for a Saturday night game against the always tough Rockets. Game time is 7pm.

Bullpen tries to hold on, but can't get any help.

The Braves were defeated by the Astros last night 5-4 on a walk-off homer run by Darin Erstad. Jorge Campillo started the game for the Braves but gave up 4 runs in 3 innings and was relieved by Buddy Carlyle. Carlyle threw 3 innings of shutout ball and Jeff Bennett threw 2 more innings without giving up a run. The Braves scored 1 run in the 8th and 1 run in the ninth off of NL saves leader Jose Valverde, but could not hold on as Julian Tavarez gave up the home run to Erstad. Josh Anderson had 3 hits for the Braves and Brian McCann added two more hits. Casey Kotchman had 2 RBI. The teams play on Saturday at 705p. James Parr will pitch for the Braves and Brandon Backe will pitch for the 'Stros.

There is sad news in the entertainment world today as legendary actor Paul Newman has passed away at age 83 after a long battle with cancer. Even though he was nominated 9 times for an academy award, he only won once for "The Color of Money". He stopped acting after the year 2000, but did have a role as the voice of Doc Hudson in the movie Cars. His best movies were from the 1960's and early 70's. Those movies included The Sting, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Hustler. Newman is survived by his wife, 5 children, 2 grandsons and his brother.

'Tis the end of the season

The Braves finish their season with a three game road trip to Houston this weekend. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves and Brian Moehler will throw for the 'Stros. Campillo has been struggling lately, but he won his last start, giving up 2 runs in 6 innings. Game time is 805p.

The Ball State football team hosts Kent State at noon on Saturday for Homecoming. BSU is a 19 point favorite. It will be interesting to see if the team has a let down after a momentous win over Indiana and the shattering loss of their star wide receiver Dante Love.

Survivor Gabon started last night. I can't believe that this show has lasted 17 "seasons". I stopped watching after the first 3 because it got to be a little boring and repetitive. You can change locations and you can make new challenges, but it's all still very soap-opera-ish. You make alliances, you stab people in the back, all just to get to be on top when the thing is over. Sure, it's for $1 million dollars, but I just can't stomach 16 episodes of the same thing over and over again.

Still playing well, trying to play spoiler

The Braves beat the Phillies last night 10-4. Martin Prado had 3 hits and 2 RBI and Chipper Jones had a pinch-hit 3-run homer. Brian McCann added 3 hits and Casey Kotchman had 2 RBI. The starting pitching by Jo Jo Reyes was weak as he pitched 3-1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs. In his last 10 starts, Reyes has given up 37 runs in 39-1/3 innings. That's an 8.47 ERA while averaging less that 4 innings per start. He may not be ready for the big leagues yet. The bullpen did a fine job for the second night in a row. Julian Tavarez gave up a run, but Buddy Carlyle, Vladimir Nunez, Jorge Julio, and Manny Acosta all pitched without allowing a run. The Braves are 12-10 in September and are playing well, maybe they will be able to carry that into next season. The Braves are off today, and they finish the season with three games at Houston.

Why is it big news that Lindsay Lohan is in a relationship with Samantha Ronson? This has been a fact for at least a few months. Is it because they are both women? Is Lohan trying to piss of her father? I just don't understand why it is such a big deal....

Starting to play well, but it's too late

The Braves beat the Phillies last night 3-2 behind the strong pitching of Mike Hampton and the bullpen. Hampton gave up 2 runs in 6 innings and Will Ohman, Jeff Bennett, and Mike Gonzalez each pitched an inning of scoreless relief. Kelly Johnson continued his unbelievable September by going 2-for-4. He has a hit in every game this month, thus continuing his 21-game hitting streak. He is batting .415 during the streak with 18 RBI in 21 games. Casey Kotchman is playing well lately also. He was 2-for-4 in the game with a homer. The entire Braves team is 11-10 in September, which is pretty good considering that they were 59-78 going into the month. They play the Phillies tonight at 700pm. Jo Jo Reyes is scheduled to pitch for the Braves and Brett Myers will pitch for the Phillies.

Hanging tough, then the usual happened

The Braves were in the game until the late innings when the bullpen gave up 4 runs to the Phillies, thus giving the Braves a 6-2 loss. Jair Jurrjens pitched a great game, as usual, giving up 2 runs in 7 innings. He's been brilliant all year. Kelly Johnson hit a 2-run homer and a double while extending his season-leading hitting streak to 20 games. Brent Lillibridge also had 2 hits. Chipper Jones was 1-for-1 and raised his average to .364. He leads Albert Pujols by 16 points in the NL batting average race. Jeff Bennett took the loss by giving up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning. The Braves and Phillies play tonight at 705p. Mike Hampton pitches for the Braves and Cole Hamels will pitch for the Phillies.

Ball State receiver Dante Love has had a career-ending injury. He was an electrifying ball player and his leadership will be missed. I wish him well on a full recovery. Best wishes Dante!

Good weekend for all

The Braves took two out of three against the Mets this weekend. They lost Friday 9-5. Martin Prado and Omar Infante had 2 hits a piece and Infante had 2 RBI. They won on Saturday, 4-2, behind a strong pitching performance from Jorge Campillo. Campillo gave up 2 runs in 6 innings. Josh Anderson had 3 hits to lead the offense. Mike Gonzalez got the save. On Sunday, Atlanta had to dig into the bullpen to pull out a win. Prado and Jeff Francoeur had 3 hits each. Prado had 3 RBI. Gonzalez got his second straight save. Chipper Jones is batting .362 through Sunday, leading the league with 1 week to go.

The Redskins beat Arizona yesterday 24-17. Jason Campbell was very efficient, completing 22 of 30 passes for 193 yards and 2 TDs. Clinton Portis rushed for 68 yards and a TD. Santana Moss had 7 catches for 75 yards and a TD. Chris Cooley had 7 catches for 72 yards. Todd Yoder had 2 catches for 4 yards and a TD. Rocky McIntosh led the defense with 10 tackles and Carlos Rogers had an interception. The Redskins are now 2-1 and will face the hated Cowboys next Sunday at 415p.

Ball State's football team is rising in the polls. They are now 36th in the USA Today poll and 38th in the AP poll. In the Colley computer ratings, they are ranked 9th.

A program changing performance

The Ball State football team beat IU 42-20 last night. It was the first win against a BCS opponent in the team's history. Five years ago, the BSU football team received $1 million dollars to get beat up by the likes of Auburn, Clemson, Iowa, and Purdue and now we are bringing in teams or trading home-and-home series with the big boys. This victory means so much to this program that I can't explain it in words.

The big win was dampened by a neck injury suffered by wide receiver Dante Love. Late in the second quarter he was hit head on by an IU player and was knocked out. He laid on the field for 20 minutes while the medical staff put him on a stretcher and carted him off the field. He was transported to Methodist hospital in Indianapolis. He had "numbness and tingling" while still on the field. His condition is not know at this time. My thoughts are with him.

As for the game, MiQuale Lewis ran for 166 yards and 4 TDs as the BSU offensive line made huge gaping holes for him to run through. QB Nate Davis was 16-25 for 239 yards with a TD and he ran for 31 yards including a huge first down run in the fourth quarter. Miles Trempe caught 2 passes for 80 yards and a TD. Tight end Darius Hill caught 5 passes for 69 yards. The defense played well also with 2 sacks, 2 interceptions including one for a TD by Sean Baker , who was the national defensive player of the week last week. A great all-around game for the Cardinals. They will host Kent State next Saturday for homecoming at noon. GO CARDS!!!!

Can't win, even at home

The Braves were swept in their season home series with Philly last night, losing 4-3. Philly has won all 9 games played at Turner Field this year. You can't fault anybody for this loss. Mike Hampton was brilliant, pitching 7 innings and giving up only 2 earned runs. Two runs were unearned on errors by Josh Anderson and Chipper Jones. Julian Tavarez and Jeff Bennett threw scoreless innings of relief. The offense was well spread out as nobody had more than one hit or RBI. Casey Kotchman hit his first homer as a Brave and Kelly Johnson extended his hitting streak to 16 games. The Braves host the Mets tonight at 710p. Jo Jo Reyes will pitch for the Braves and Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets.

The BSU/IU game still has IU as a 3-point favorite, however the over/under has moved to 61. That's a lot of points.....

Never had a chance

The Phillies scored 4 runs in the first inning in route to a 6-1 victory over the Braves last night. Jair Jurrjens gave up those 4 runs in the first and only threw 4 more innings after that. He took the loss and is now 13-10 on the season. Vladimir Nunez gave up one run in 2-1/3 innings and Blaine Boyer gave up the other run in his 1-2/3 innings. Casey Kotchman and Jeff Francoeur had 2 hits each. Greg Norton had a pinch-hit RBI. Norton's OPS as a pinch-hitter this year is 1.046, his OPS+ is 159 (100 is the league average OPS+).

Ball State's football team travels to IU on Saturday for a 7pm game. The line has dropped to IU -3. The over/under has been set at 60. Neither defense is very good, but the last two games in this series has gone under the total (47 in 2006, 58 in 2008). It should be a fun game and a good test to see if Ball State is ready for the big time.

Same, Same, Same

The Braves led the Phillies 7-4 after 6 innings, then what usually happens happened. The bullpen gave up 2 runs in both the 7th and 8th innings to allow the Phillies to take the lead. The Braves had a chance to win in the bottom of the ninth, but Gregor Blanco struck out with the bases loaded and the Phillies won the game 8-7. 22-year-old James Parr started for the Braves and gave up 4 runs in 4-1/3 innings. His ERA is still a very good 2.20. Kelly Johnson extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a pinch-hit single. He also had 2 RBI in the game. Brian McCann had 3 hits and 2 RBI while Casey Kotchman had 2 RBI. Chipper Jones had a hit and is now leading the NL in batting average over Albert Pujols (.365 to .357). Will Ohman, Julian Tavarez, and Mike Gonzalez all gave up runs in relief. Buddy Carlyle, Jeff Bennett, and Jorge Julio pitched scoreless relief. The two teams play tonight at 710p. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves and JA Happ will pitch for Philly.

Not too much today

The Braves host Philly tonight and try to spoil the hopes of the Phillies in the playoff hunt.

Ball State goes to Bloomington to face IU on Saturday night. IU is a 3.5 point favorite, which basically makes this game pretty even. If the home team is only a three point favorite, the teams would be even on a neutral field.

The Redskins host Arizona on Sunday. They are a 3 point favorite. This looks to be a pretty even game also.

The day of big comebacks!

The Braves used a 5-run ninth inning to beat the Mets 7-4. Greg Norton had a pinch-hit 3-run HR to give the Braves the lead for good. Chipper Jones was 3-for-5. Jorge Campillo had a little trouble as the starting pitcher. In 3-2/3 innings, he gave up 4 runs (3 earned), but it took him 87 pitches to do it. However, he was saved by the bullpen, which has been decent lately. Jeff Bennett, Will Ohman, Julian Tavarez, Jorge Julio, and Mike Gonzalez all threw shutout inning of relief. The Braves have an off day on Monday before hosting Philadelphia on Tuesday.

The Redskins were behind for most of the game yesterday, but a 67-yard TD pass from Jason Campbell to Santana Moss with 3 minutes left gave the Skins a 29-24 victory over the Saints. Campbell threw for 321 yards and a TD. Clinton Portis had 96 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Moss caught 7 balls for 164 yards and a TD. Shaun Suisham was 3-for-5 on field goals. But the biggest play was by safety Chris Horton who had two interceptions, including one with a minute left to seal the victory. The Redskins play Arizona next Sunday.

BSU 3-0 for the first time in a long time

The Ball State football team had a slow start, but eventually kicked it into gear and beat Akron 41-24. A Nate Davis interception and a Dante Love fumble kept it close in the first half. BSU led 17-10 at halftime. However, the defense played well in the second half and the offense ran all over Akron to win the game. Freshman strong safety Sean Baker had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and added three interceptions. MiQuale Lewis ran for 154 yards and 2 TDs. Davis was 24 of 36 passing for 300 yards and 2 TDs. Dante Love had 7 catches for 97 yards while Darius Hill and Briggs Orsbon each had a touchdown catch. Kicker Ian McGarvey had field goals of 31 and 32 yards and five extra points. The Cardinals travel to Bloomington next Saturday to play Indiana. It will be a good test for this team to see if they can get over the hump by beating one of the weaker Big 10 teams.

The Washington Redskins have their home opener against the Saints today at 1pm. I hope the Skins offense has a better day than they did last week or this could get ugly.

The Braves split a DH with the Mets yesterday winning the first game 3-2 and losing the second game 5-0. The teams play at 1pm today. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves and Oliver Perez will pitch for the Mets.

Let's go Cards!!

The Ball State football team travels to Akron for it's first road game of the year. Game time is 100p. BSU is a 7 point favorite. Go Cards!!!

The Braves game was rained out last night, as were 5 other games in the majors. The Mets and Braves will play a double-header starting at 355p. Game one will be on FOX and will have Mike Hampton pitching for the Braves and Johan Santana pitching for the Mets. Game two will have Jo Jo Reyes throwing for the Braves and Jonathon Niese tossing for the Mets.

Playing better to end the year

The Braves used a 5-run sixth inning to beat the Rockies last night 8-4. Jair Jurrjens got his team-leading 13th win by pitching 6 innings, giving up 4 runs and striking out 10 Rockies hitters. Jorge Julio, Julian Tavarez, and Mike Gonzalez all pitched one shutout inning each. Yunel Escobar was 3-for-3 with 3 RBI, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. He is batting .410 during the streak. Gregor Blanco was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Chipper Jones was 1-for-4 and is batting .362 for the season. He and Albert Pujols are neck-and-neck for the batting title. Jeff Francouer left 8 men on base on Thursday as he is still struggling at the plate. The player of the week for the Braves has to be Kelly Johnson. Johnson extended his hitting streak to 10 games last night. He is batting .463 during the streak.

Bullpen blows it, then gets the win

The Braves beat the Rockies last night 9-5. James Parr had his second straight 6-inning scoreless start, giving him 12 scoreless innings to start his career. However, the bullpen gave up 4 runs in the 7th to allow Colorado to tie the game. Overworked Blaine Boyer gave up 3 runs in the 7th without getting a batter out. Jeff Bennett was credited with a blown save, but since the Braves scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th, he also gets the win. Chipper Jones and Brian McCann each had 3 hits to lead the offense. Jones also scored 3 runs. Josh Anderson and Kelly Johnson each had 2 RBI.

A Strange Game

The Braves beat the Rockies 5-4 in 10 innings last night. The winning run was scored on a walk-off balk by Colorado pitcher Taylor Buchholz bringing Kelly Johnson home to score. Jorge Campillo started for the Braves and gave up 3 runs in 6-1/3 innings. The bullpen only gave up 1 run the rest of the game. However, that one run was given up by Mike Gonzalez and it caused him to blow his first save in three years. On offense, five different players had 2 hits and Casey Kotchman had 2 RBI, even though he left 8 guys on base. Chipper Jones was 2 for 4 to bring his average to .359, two points behind league leader Albert Pujols. Game two of the series is tonight at 710p. James Parr tries to continue his brilliant debut season for the big club while veteran Livan Hernandez will pitch for the Rockies. Hernandez is 3-15 lifetime against the Braves.

Let's have a good end to the season

The Braves were off yesterday. They host the Rockies tonight at 710p. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves and Aaron Cook will pitch for Colorado. Campillo is 7-7 this season and Cook is 16-9. On a good note, Martin Prado led baseball in batting average for the month of August (.432). It going to be tough to have a good end to the season. After the series with Colorado, the Braves play two series each with the division leaders Mets and Phillies, then finish with a series against Houston. The best we can hope for is to ruin the chances of one of those teams while Atlanta tries to see what their own young players can do.

The Ball State football team travels to Akron this Saturday for a 1pm kickoff. They are currently 7 point favorites. I can't remember the last time that the Cardinals were favored by a touchdown on the road.....

The Redskins host New Orleans on Sunday. The Skins are currently a one-point favorite. If the Washington offense can't get on track, this could be a long season.

The horrible, horrible bullpen

The Braves played another extra inning game yesterday, and had the same result, as they lost to the Nationals 7-4 in 14 innings. Jo Jo Reyes pitched 6 strong innings and only gave up 1 run. Of course, the bullpen could not hold the lead. Julian Tavarez gave up a run, Blaine Boyer gave up 2 runs, then Jeff Bennett gave up three runs in the 14th inning. Boyer has been terrible lately, giving up 10 earned runs in his last 8 1/3 innings (10.80 ERA). This is probably due to over work as he has pitched in 74 games this year. Most of the bullpen is running into this same issue. It all stems from the starting pitching and it's inability to get through 6 innings per start. Anyways, the offense scored 4 runs, which should win most ball games. Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar each had three hits. Jones had 3 RBI. The Braves are off today and host Colorado on Tuesday.

NFC East Cheerleaders

What is football without cheerleaders? Over the next few weeks, I'll be going through the divisions and showing the links to the cheerleader pages, as well as a few photos for you enjoyment. First up, the NFC East which only has three teams with a cheerleader squad because the Giants do not have one. This division may have the best overall cheerleaders. The Redskins squad is hot, the Eagles have their lingerie calendar and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders are the most iconic of all. Here we go...

The Washington Redskins




The Philadelphia Eagles




The Dallas Cowboys

A game of inches

The Braves lost to the Nationals last night, 8-5 in 10 innings. The Braves were down 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded when Kelly Johnson hit a shot to the gap that looked like it would win the game. However, the ball bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double and only two runs would score instead of the three that were on base to win the ballgame. The bullpen could not hold the game as Mike Gonzalez gave up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning to take the loss. Johnson, Casey Kotchman, and Jeff Francoeur each had 2 hits. Johnson had 2 RBI and is blistering hot in his last 5 games. In that span, he is 13-22 (.591) with 10 RBI. The final game of the series is today at 135p. Jo Jo Reyes pitches for the Braves and Collin Balester will pitch for Washington.

Today is also the start of the NFL season for most teams. I'll have a post on that later.

A great day for Ball State

The Ball State football team beat Navy 35-23 in front of 22,000 fans and a national TV audience on ESPN. A university record 10,000+ students attended the game. BSU took a quick 14-6 lead after trading touchdowns and field goals in the first quarter. Another Navy field goal and a Nate Davis touchdown pass made the game 21-9 towards the end of the second half. However, Davis threw an interception and Navy scored a touchdown going into the half. BSU led 21-16 at the half. Navy took the kickoff in the second half and scored a touchdown in 2 minutes to take the lead 23-21. At this point Ball State had not stopped Navy on any possession. BSU got the lead back with another Davis TD pass and led 28-23 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the BSU defense stood its ground on a 4th and 1 inside the 5 and and had interception inside the 20 by DB BJ Hill to stave off any kind of Navy rally. Davis threw another TD pass to make the final score 35-23. Davis threw for 326 yards and 4 TDs with 2 INTs. Dante Love had 9 catches for 165 yards and 2 TDs and he ran 6 times for 37 yards and a TD. MiQuale Lewis ran the ball 21 times for 114 yards. BSU goes to Akron next Saturday for a 1pm start. GO CARDS!!!

The Atlanta Braves used a 7 run third inning to beat the Nationals 10-5 on Friday night. Jair Jurrjens gave up 1 run in 5 innings to get the win. Kelly Johnson had 3 hits and 2 RBI to lead the offense. The teams play game three of the series at 710p tonight. Mike Hampton pitches for the Braves and Tim Redding will pitch for the Nats.

Hope for the future, because the present sucks

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I was excited to see 22-year-old pitcher James Parr pitch sometime this month. What I didn't know is that he would start the game against the Nationals last night and throw 6 shutout innings in his first major league game. He had 3 strikeouts and gave up 3 walks and 2 hits while never throwing a pitch over 88 MPH. Jeff Bennett and Julian Tavarez received holds for their scoreless inning and Mike Gonzalez pitched the ninth for his ninth save of the season. Gonzalez has not blown a save since June 2004, saving 39 games in that span. The Braves two runs were scored on a Brian McCann sac fly and a Gregor Blanco fielders choice. Kelly Johnson had 2 hits for Atlanta. They play again Friday night at 735p. Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves, Jason Bergman throws for the Nats. The Braves are 61-80, 18.5 games behind in the NL East.

The Redskins were pitiful last night, losing to the Giants 16-7. The defense played well after allowing a touchdown on the first drive, only allowing 3 field goals for the rest of the game. The offense was not good at all. Jason Campbell was 15 of 27 for 133 yards. Clinton Portis had an average game with 23 carries for 84 yards. Antwan Randle El had 7 catches for 73 yards. The offense had a grand total of 205 yards for the game. That will not win many games in the NFL. London Fletcher had 17 tackles and Fred Smoot had 8 tackles and an interception. Smoot was injured in the second half with a bruised back and did not return.

The biggest game in Ball State football history is tonight. The Cardinals host Navy and the game is being shown nationwide on ESPN. BSU is a 7 point favorite and the over/under is 60 1/2. This is a great chance to tell the nation about Ball State University, the town of Muncie, and the state of Indiana. GO CARDS!!!!!

Is the season over yet?

The Braves lost to the Marlins yesterday 5-3 in front of a sparse crowd of just over 11,000 people in Miami. Jorge Campillo only went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs. Will Ohman and Vladimir Nunez each gave up a run in their inning of work. Jeff Ridgway pitched a scoreless eighth in his second time on the mound since his call-up from Richmond. Kelly Johnson had 2 hits and 2 RBI to led the offense. The Braves host Washington to start a four-game series tonight. Jo-Jo Reyes will pitch for Atlanta, Shairon Martis will get his first start of the season for the Nationals. Game time is 700p.

One of the players that I am looking forward to seeing pitch for Atlanta is James Parr. He is only 22 years old and was called up to the big club when the rosters expanded on September 1st. In his 150 innings at AA Mississippi and AAA Richmond he put up some pretty good numbers. His ERA is 3.52 this year with a 1.24 WHIP. He also had 125 strikeouts in 150 innings. He is only 22 years old, so they may want to ease him in to the ball game at certain points. But, we have also seen how good numbers in AAA do not correspond to good numbers in Atlanta (see Jo Jo Reyes, Charlie Morton, and Chuck James).

Also, today is the start of the NFL season with my Redskins going to New York to face the Giants. Game time is 7pm. The Redskins are 4.5 point underdogs.

Ball State hosts Navy tomorrow in a nationally televised game on ESPN. BSU is a 7 point favorite, with and over/under of 60. That seems about right. BSU beat Navy at Navy last year 34-31 in overtime. Hopefully, the crowd will be more that the 13,000 that showed up for opening night last week. That was disappointing.

Is that a football score?

The Braves missed an extra point last night, but still beat the Marlins 16-14. Obviously the pitching was not too good, but there were a few bright spots for the Braves. Julian Tavarez threw 1-2/3 innings of shutout ball and Mike Gonzalez pitched a scoreless ninth for his 8th save of the year. The offense had 21 hits. Omar Infante and Kelly Johnson had 4 hits each. Martin Prado added three hits. Prado has 18 hits in his last 10 games. Johnson had 4 RBI and Jeff Francoeur knocked in 3. The rubber game of the series is this afternoon at 110p. Jorge Campillo pitches for the Braves. Chris Volstad will pitch for Florida.

The Redskins open up the NFL season on Thursday against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Currently, the Giants are a 4 point favorite, which is just about right considering the teams are fairly even and the Giants are playing at home. It will be interesting to see how the Jim Zorn era will start in Washington. GO SKINS!!!!

not playing well

The Braves have lost four in a row after losing to the Marlins on Monday 4-3. Mike Hampton was solid on the mound giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. Jeff Bennett threw 2 more innings of solid relief. Then Mike Gonzalez came in and took the loss. The ninth inning was walk, sac bunt, intentional walk, walk, sac fly RBI, game over. The young ones had a decent game. Josh Anderson had 3 hits and Brandon Jones and Jeff Francoeur had 2 hits each. The two teams play today at 710p. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves and Anibal Sanchez will pitch for the Marlins.

#18 Tennessee was beaten by UCLA in overtime last night. This week, Ball State hosts Navy on Friday night. The game will be on ESPN. Ball State is currently favored by 8 points. I think that may be too much, but we will see.

Can't beat the bad teams, part 2

The Braves lost to the Nationals last night, 9-8 in 10 innings. Vladimir Nunez walked in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Jo Jo Reyes gave up 4 runs in 4 innings on 94 pitches. He was struggling out there. Buddy Carlyle gave up 3 runs in his one inning. Jeff Bennett, Will Ohman, and Julian Tavarez pitched well in relief. Bennett has been pitching well as the long reliever/spot starter. His ERA over his last 10 games is 3.27. The offense had 14 hits. Martin Prado was 3 for5 with 2 RBI. Prado is batting .418 in his last 10 games. Josh Anderson, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, and Kelly Johnson added two hits a piece. Jones and McCann each had 2 RBI. The final game of the series is today at 135p. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves. Collin Balester will pitch for Washington.

In college football yesterday , there were a few upsets. #17 Virginia Tech and #25 Pitt were beaten by unranked teams. #9 Clemson and #20 Illinois were beaten by ranked teams. For the second year in a row, Michigan was beaten in its home opener. This time they were beaten by Utah. It was a tough start for Rich Rodriguez and the Wolverines.

Can't even beat the bad teams

The Braves were beaten by the Nationals last night, 7-3. The Nationals have the worst record in all of baseball. Jorge Campillo was rocked, giving up 5 runs in 3-2/3 innings. Newly acquired Elmer Dessens gave up 2 runs in 1-2/3 innings in his season debut. Brian McCann had 2 hits and Greg Norton hit a pinch-hit homer. The two teams play again tonight at 710p. Jo-Jo Reyes pitched for the Braves. Jason Bergman pitches for Washington.

There are two games between ranked team in college football this weekend. Alabama plays Clemson and Missouri plays Illinois. Most of the other ranked teams are playing a soft opponent this week.

Quick post today

The Braves beat the Marlins, 4-2. That's a big surprise.

Ball State beat Division 1-AA Northeastern 48-14, no surprise at all.

See you tomorrow.

Out with the old, in with the new

The Braves lost to the Marlins last night, 4-1. Mike Hampton pitched a great game, giving up 3 runs in 8 innings. Blaine Boyer gave up a run in the ninth. Boyer has given up 10 runs in his last 7-2/3 innings.....not good! Jeff Francoeur had 2 hits and Martin Prado had the only RBI. Game three of the series is tonight at 710p. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves and Anibal Sanchez will pitch for the Marlins.

Mark Kotsay was traded to the Red Sox yesterday for minor league outfielder Luis Sumoza. Sumoza has just turned 20 and is playing pretty well in low class A ball. He is batting .301 with 11 homers in 51 games. Josh Anderson was called up from Richmond to take Kotsay's spot on the roster. Chipper Jones is second in the league in batting average, just .001 behind Albert Pujols.

But, the big story of the day is the start of college football. My alma mater, Ball State, starts it season tonight by hosting Northeastern. BSU is coming off of a season where they went to their first bowl game since 1996, which happened to be the fall of my senior year. According to the Sagarin ratings, BSU is a 13 point favorite. Game time is 7pm. GO CARDS!!!!

Great at the ends, bad in the middle

The Braves started the game off well against the Marlins, taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. However, they were down 9-6 going into the bottom of the ninth. But, in a game reminiscent of the great teams of the 90's, the Braves scored 4 runs in the ninth to win the game 10-9. Yunel Escobar had the game winning single. All 8 starters had hits and 7 of the 8 had a RBI. Will Ohman got the win, taking Jair Jurrjens off the hook for his 6 run, 3 inning performance. Chipper Jones played in his 2,000th game, setting an Atlanta record. He is third in Braves history behind Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews in games played. The Braves and Marlins play again on Wednesday at 710p. Mike Hampton will pitch for the Braves and Josh Johnson will pitch for the Marlins.

There is news hitting the wire that Mark Kotsay could be traded to the Red Sox in the next few days. With Manny Ramirez gone, JD Drew hurt, and Coco Crisp not producing, the Red Sox need another outfielder to fill a spot. Kotsay probably was not going to stay on the Braves roster past this year anyway, so if we can get something for him, that would be a good thing.

It can't get much worse...

The Braves play the Marlins tonight at 710p. Jair Jurrjens pitches for Atlanta, Scott Olsen for Florida. The Braves are 9-21 in their last 30 games. But, it's almost time for the rosters to expand to 40 players so that we can see some of the young talent coming up through the ranks, so that could give us some hope for next year.

Is it bad that 2 Atlanta pitchers lead the league in appearances? Blaine Boyer and Will Ohman both have pitched in 69 games. However, Ohman has been decent with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. On the other hand, Boyer has not been good. His ERA is 5.16 and his WHIP is 1.27. On offense, Chipper Jones leads the league in batting average, but just barely, over Albert Pujols. Those are the only Braves on top of the leader board in the NL.

Some bright spots, but still a loss

The Braves were beaten by the Cardinals yesterday, 6-3. Jo Jo Reyes had a rough outing, giving up 5 earned runs in 5-2/3 innings. Manny Acosta pitched for the first time since July 6th and threw two scoreless innings. Martin Prado had 2 hits to raise his average to .339 for the season and .405 in his last 10 games. Chipper Jones was 1 for 3 and is now tied for the league lead in batting average with Albert Pujols. The minor league season ends next Monday, so it should be time to see some of our younger stars get some playing time for the big club. The Braves have an off day today, then play Florida on Tuesday.

The minor league teams for the Braves have not done very well this season. There are a few good teams, Myrtle Beach is 84-48 and is 15 games ahead of second place. The Danville Braves are 33-32. Mississippi and the GCL Braves are in second place. Rome, the DSL Braves, and the AAA Richmond Braves are all 12-27 games out of first place, so this is their last week of games.

Braves win! Braves win!

One day after getting blown out by the Cardinals, the Braves showed some fight in scratching out a 8-4 victory yesterday afternoon. Jorge Campillo started and gave up 3 runs in 5 innings, but ended without a decision. Buddy Carlyle threw two innings of scoreless relief to pick up his first win of the season. Carlyle has been great out of the bullpen only giving up 2 runs in his last 15 innings. Yunel Escobar and Martin Prado each had three hits. The guys really hustled in the game. Prado beat out a simple grounder to second for a base hit and Kelly Johnson had a 14 pitch at-bat in the ninth inning as the Braves added three insurance runs in the inning. Game three of the series is at 215p today. Jo Jo Reyes pitches for the Braves, Braden Looper pitches for the Cards.

The US mens basketball team beat Spain for the gold medal, 118-107. The US womens basketball team beat Australia 92-67 to win their gold medal. The closing ceremonies are tonight. The US will win the total medal count, but the Chinese will have to most gold medals. Most of China's medals have come in events that are judged.

Cardinals 18, Braves 3

Just call up the players from Richmond, Mississippi, and Myrtle Beach and let the players who actually want to play baseball have a spot on the major league roster.

Is the bullpen really this bad?

The Braves lost again last night to the Mets, 5-4. Mike Hampton pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs. Jeff Bennett was credited with a hold although the tying run was charged to him after Will Ohman blew the save. Julian Tavarez was solid over 1-1/3 innings and Vladimir Nunez gave up the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. The offense was OK. Yunel Escobar and Brian McCann each had three hits and McCann had 2 RBI. With another loss, the Braves should start playing the youngsters (more than they have already) and look towards next year. They travel to St Louis to face the Cardinals tonight at 815p. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves and Adam Wainwright (a former Brave) will pitch for the Cardinals.

In the Olympics, both beach volleyball teams won gold medals. In indoor volleyball, both teams are in the gold medal games. The baseball team was crushed by Cuba in the semi-finals. The men's basketball team plays Argentina in the semi-finals. The women's basketball team is in the gold medal game.

WOW! (good and bad)

The lowly Braves were beaten by the Mets last night, 6-3. They are now 1-9 in their last 10 games. Jair Jurrjens took the loss and Gregor Blanco had 2 of the 3 Atlanta hits in the game. Tom Glavine had an MRI that showed he does not have ligament damage. Casey Kotchman was put on the bereavement list to be with his mother, who is ill. Brandon Jones was called up to take Kotchman's place on the roster. The final game of the series is tonight. Oft-injured pitchers Mike Hampton and Pedro Martinez will pitch. Game time is 710p.

Usain Bolt demolished the competition in the 200m dash last night. He won by .52 seconds and set a world record that no one thought could ever be broken.

The US softball team lost for the first time in the last 3 Olympics, losing to Japan 3-1 in the gold medal game. A silver medal has to be a disappointment for a team that has rolled through most world competitions.

The women's basketball team is in a tough game with Russia, only leading by 1 at the half, 33-32.

A little offense, but no bullpen...again

The Braves continued their downward spiral into oblivion with a 7-3 loss to the Mets last night. Leading 3-2 after seven innings, behind a 2-run, 6 inning performance by Jo Jo Reyes, the bullpen gave up 5 runs in the 8th to give the game away. Jeff Bennett took the loss and Will Ohman got a blown save for their efforts. Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, Omar Infante, and Martin Prado each had 2 hits. Jones extended his hitting streak to 10 games since coming off of the DL. The teams play at 710p tonight. Jair Jurrjens will face Mike Pelfrey. Both pitchers are 11-8 with ERAs under 4.00, so it should be a pretty decent game.

The Jeffersonville little league team was eliminated from the LLWS yesterday. The team was 0-3 in pool play. Watch out for these guys about 3-4 years from now as they could make a run to the Indiana high school state championship.

Where's the offense, part 2

Once again, the Braves pitched a decent game but could not score enough runs to get the win, losing to the Giants 5-0. Jorge Campillo gave up 3 runs in the first 5 innings and solo runs in the 6th and 7th. He pitched 6 2-/3 innings and all 5 runs were earned. Seven players had one hit each, but none of them could produce a run. In 3 of the 4 games against the Giants, the Braves scored 0 or 1 runs. You'll never win games scoring that many runs. The Braves go to New York tonight to face the Mets, game time is 710p. Jo Jo Reyes will pitch for the Braves and Oliver Perez will toss for the Mets.

In other MLB news, the Padres are going to trade Greg Maddux to the Dodgers. While Maddux has not been his former self, he is still a solid pitcher. He goes out there every 5th day and averages 6 innings per start. His ERA is league average and his wisdom could help some of the young pitchers on the staff that have never been in a playoff situation before. He should fit into the rotation at the 3 or 4 hole and give the Dodgers another solid arm on the mound for the stretch run. Not too bad for a 42 year old future hall of fame pitcher.

In Olympic news, the beach volleyball team of Walsh and May swept the Brazilian team to make the gold medal match on Wednesday night (US) /Thursday morning (Beijing). Shawn Johnson finally won a gold medal in the balance beam event final after getting 3 silvers in the previous week. Fellow gymnast Nastia Liukin ended up with a gold, 3 silvers, and a bronze medal.

Where is the offense?

The Braves lost to the Giants Sunday afternoon, 3-1. Charlie Morton pitched 6 innings only giving up 3 runs. It was his 3rd quality start in his last four games, but the Braves are 1-3 in those games. It's OK to not hit when you are facing the ace of the staff, as Atlanta did on Sunday, however it is not OK when the team can't hit the fourth or fifth starter on the opponent's staff. Game four of the series is at 435p today. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves and Barry Zito will pitch for the Giants. The Braves are 12 games out of the NL East lead and 14.5 games out of the wild card spot.

Best pitching of the day: Roy Oswalt, Astros - 8 IP, 1 H, 10 K

Worst pitching: Brian Bannister, Royals - 1 IP, 10 H, 10 ER

Best Hitting: Melvin Mora, Orioles - 5 for 6, 4 R, 6 RBI, 2 HR, 2 2B

Worst Hitting: Delmon Young, Twins - 0 for 5, K, GIDP

Some surprises, and others, not so much

The Braves jumped on the Giants early and came away with an 11-5 victory last night. Mike Hampton had his second quality start in the last three games pitching 6 innings and giving up 2 runs. Jeff Francoeur had 4 hits and 2 RBI. Nine different players had RBI and ten players had a hit in the game. Game 3 of the series is at 135p this afternoon. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves and Tim Lincecum will pitch for the Giants.

The Olympics did not have many surprises last night. Micheal Phelps won his eighth gold medal of these Olympics, breaking the record held by Mark Spitz since 1972. The US softball team has now won 20 straight in the Olympic games. They are 6-0 in these Olympics and have outscored their opponents 44-1. Rafael Nadal proved why he is the number one tennis player in the world by winning the gold medal in tennis.

"He can't do the hitting"

The Braves lost to the Giants last night 5-1. Jair Jurrjens started for the Braves and gave up 2 runs in 7 innings, but still took the loss because the offense can't hit. The bullpen didn't help a lot either, giving up 3 runs in 2 innings. Mark Kotsay had 2 hits for the pitiful offense. The teams play again on Saturday night at 710p. Mike Hampton will pitch for the Braves, Johnathan Sanchez pitches for the Giants.

It was a night of close finishes in the Olympics. American record holder Tyson Gay did not make the finals in the 100 meter dash, finishing .02 seconds away from fourth place in his heat. Michael Phelps won his 7th gold medal by .01 seconds. He has one more event, the 400m medley relay, to achieve something that no one has ever done in a single Olympic games, win 8 gold medals.

The cycle? A cycle of losing....

Mark Kotsay hit for the cycle last night. It was only the second time that a Braves player has hit for the cycle (Albert Hall 1987). However, it didn't help as the Braves were swept by the Cubs 11-7. It was an efficient beating as the Cubs scored at least two runs in 5 of the 9 innings. Tom Glavine returned from the DL and gave up 7 runs in 4 innings. Buddy Carlyle and Blaine Boyer (gasp?) gave up two runs each in their inning of relief. Julian Tavarez, Vladimir Nunez, and Will Ohman each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Kotsay was 5 for 5 with 2 RBI. Jeff Francoeur was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and Martin Prado had 2 hits. The Braves were outscored 29-9 in the series. Atlanta hosts San Fransisco in a four game wrap around series. Friday's game time is 735p. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves and Matt Cain will pitch for the Giants.

Micheal Phelps won his 6th gold medal last night. Nastia Luikin won the gold medal in the women's gymnastics all-around with a graceful performance. Shawn Johnson was steady, as usual, and ended up with the silver medal.

A big no-show

The Braves got smashed in both games of a double header against the Cubs yesterday, 10-2 and 8-0. In game one, Charlie Morton gave up 4 runs in 2-1/3 innings to take the loss. Since July 1, he has an ERA of 6.92. Of course, the bullpen was no help either, giving up 6 runs in 6-2/3 innings. Omar Infante had three hit to lead the offense. He is batting .361 in his last 10 games. In game two, the Cubs got four runs off Jorge Campillo in the first inning and never looked back. The Braves could only muster 3 hits in the entire game, with Yunel Escobar having two of those hits. Game three of the series is at 710p tonight. Tom Glavine returns to the mound for the first time since June 10th. Ted Lilly will pitch for the Cubs.

The US Men's basketball team will have a change to avenge their 2006 World Championship loss to Greece this morning. Game time is 8am EST.

The women's basketball team is having no problems so far, winning every game by at least 40 points.

Rain, rain, go away

The Braves were rained out last night. The game will be made up today starting at 110p. Charlie Morton will face Jason Marquis. In the second game, Jorge Campillo will face Rich Harden. Game two will start at 710p.

Micheal Phelps secured his 5th gold medal of these Olympic games and 11th overall to make him the most decorated swimmer of all-time and the athlete with the most gold medals in any sport.

The US women's gymnastics team had a tough time last night, finishing second to the Chinese pre-school team, um, I mean their Olympic team. While all of the press is talking about Alicia Sacramone's two falls, I think they were tense from the start. They were down 1.125 through two rotations and I thought they needed to be closer than that at that point. The Chinese fell off the beam to allow the US a chance, but Sacramone's fall on her entry onto the beam and Nastia Liukin's balance troubles gave that margin right back to China. After the third rotation, the US was still down a full point, which meant they had to hit everything perfectly....and they didn't. Sacramone fell early in her floor exercise routine and Liukin and Shawn Johnson both stepped out of bounds. That left China with three victory routines on the floor, and they executed perfectly. China won by 2.3 points, so the two falls and the two step-outs didn't matter as those only total 1.8 points deducted. It's a little depressing, but a silver medal is pretty damn good if you ask me.

The games continue...

The Braves host the Cubs tonight at 710p. Charlie Morton pitches for the Braves, Rich Harden will pitch for the Cubbies.

Micheal Phelps won his third gold medal in three tries, winning the 200m freestlye last night. He is halfway through his 17 swims and still on pace to get his 8 gold medals.

The US men's gymnastics team got the bronze. The team had no Olympic experience, but started out well and was second after 4 of the 6 rotations. However, their weakest events were on rotations 5 and 6, so they settled for a well-deserved and unexpected bronze medal.

The Men's basketball team is playing Angola right now and lead 29-18 in the first quarter. This is the last of their "warmup" pool games before they face Greece, Spain, and Germany over the next 6 days. The women's team is 2-0 and they play Mali, Spain, and New Zealand to finish pool play. The women have won their first two games by an average of 42 points.

Back to earth

The Braves hit a brick wall called Brandon Webb as he gave up only one run in 6 innings to lead the D-Backs to a 4-1 victory. Mike Hampton struggled for Atlanta, giving up all 6 runs in his 4 innings pitched. Vladimir Nunez threw 2 innings of shutout ball and Julian Tavarez and Blaine Boyer threw one inning each. Omar Infante was 2 for 3 with the only RBI of the game for the Braves. The Braves have the day off today before hosting the Cubs for a three game series starting Tuesday.

If you didn't see it live, you have to watch the Olympic Men's swimming 4x100 freestyle relay team. They came from behind to beat the trash-talking French after being behind by about a second with 100 meters to go. It's been said that it was the best relay race ever ran, and judging by the times put up, I think they may be right. South Africa broke the world record.....and finished FIFTH!!!!

Bernie Mac died on Saturday at the age of 50. He was a great comedy man. I liked his roles in the "Ocean's" movies as well as his bit part in Transformers. He was always funny on the Bernie Mac show and was one of the Original Kings of Comedy group. One of my favorite lines of his was in the Bernie Mac show when his TV daughter Vanessa was calling him out on talking in the third person. She said "You ever notice that Bernie Mac is always calling himself Bernie Mac? Bernie Mac so smart. Bernie Mac so great. Bernie Mac just likes to say Bernie Mac." He replied "Now wait a minute, Bernie Mac don't do that." Funny stuff....

Isaac Hayes passed away on Sunday at the age of 65. For the older generation, he was known as a great R&B singer/songwriter who sang the theme song from "Shaft". For the younger generation, he was known as the voice of Chef on South Park.

And since famous deaths always come in threes, someone else should pass away in the next few days.....

Who are these guys?

Somehow, the Braves have won three in a row against the D-Backs with an 11-4 victory Saturday night. Jair Jurrjens gave up 3 earned runs in 6 innings to get his 11th win. Buddy Carlyle threw two innings of shutout ball and Vladimir Nunez threw an inning to finish the game. Brian McCann had 4 RBI to lead the team. Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar had 2 RBI each. Mark Kotsay had 3 hits, while Escobar, McCann, and Omar Infante had 2 hits a piece. The Braves try for the sweep today at 410p. Mike Hampton will pitch for the Braves and Brandon Webb, the NL leader in wins, will pitch for the D-Backs.

The Little League all-stars from Jeffersonville are going to the World Series. In a game that took 11 innings, the Jeffersonville team scored 7 runs in the 11th to break the game open and winn 11-4. The team will begin play at 8pm on Friday, August 15th against the winner from the Mid-Atlantic region. The Mid-Atlantic final will be on ESPN Monday night at 8pm. Maryland will play Pennsylvania in that game.

So, NOW we start playing

The Braves won their second straight game last night over the D-Backs 11-6. Jorge Campillo had an average outing giving up 5 runs in 6-1/3 innings, but he got some help from the bullpen. Will Ohman and Julian Tavarez each picked up a hold, while Jeff Bennett got the save. However, it was the offense that gave a great effort last night. Casey Kotchman and Martin Prado each had 3 hits and Prado had 3 RBI. Four different players had at least two hits and four players had at least 2 RBI. Game three of the series is tonight at 810p. Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves and Dan Haren pitches for the D-Backs.

As of this writing, the US Women's basketball team is crushing the Czech Republic 49-31 in the second half.

In the Little League Great Lakes regional final tonight, Jeffersonville, Indiana will play Mount Vernon, Ohio for the right to advance to the Little League World Series. Jeffersonville beat Mount Vernon 2-0 in the very first game of the regional. The game will be on ESPN at 7pm.

More of the same, except we won this time

The Braves beat the D-Backs last night, 6-4. The Braves led 2-0 after seven innings and scored 4 runs in the top of the eighth. However, the not-so-great Blaine Boyer gave up four runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it a much closer game than it should have been. Charlie Morton pitched 7 shutout innings to get the win and Mike Gonzalez threw 1-1/3 innings to clean up Boyer's mess and get the save. Since July 22, Boyer has given up 10 runs in 6-2/3 innings, not exactly what you want to see from a guy that has pitched in over half of the games this year. The offense did help out a lot. Gregor Blanco, Yunel Escobar, and Brian McCann each had two hits. Escobar had 2 RBI. Mark Kotsay had a solo home run, his 5th of the season. The teams play again tonight at 940p. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves, while Doug Davis will pitch for the D-Backs.

The Olympic opening ceremony has just started as I am writing this e-mail. For the next two weeks, I can become an expert in swimming, gymnastics, and track&field, just like I do every four years. In basketball, the women play Saturday and the men play on Sunday. In Gymnastics, the men's prelims are Saturday and the women's prelims are Sunday. The swimming finals do not start until Sunday. Track&Field does not start until Saturday, August 15th.

The Jeffersonville little league team has made it to the semi-finals of the Great Lakes Region tourney. They play the Jackie Robinson West team from Illinois. Jeffersonville beat the Illinois team 8-7 in pool play earlier in the week. The game is at 430p today. If Jeffersonville wins, they wil be in the championship game, which will be shown live on ESPN at 7pm on Saturday.

The Braves lose another series

The Braves were beaten by the Giants yesterday, 3-2. Atlanta has now lost four straight series. Tim Lincecum threw 8 innings for the Giants, only giving up 2 runs, both on ground out RBIs. Mark Kotsay and Yunel Escobar had the RBIs for the Braves. Brian McCann had three of Atlanta's five hits. Chuck James gave up 3 runs in 4 innings, but actually lowered his ERA to 9.10. Buddy Carlyle, Julian Tavarez, and Will Ohman all threw scoreless relief. The Braves now travel to Arizona for a four game series starting tonight at 940p. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves, while Yusmeiro Petit will pitch for the D-Backs. The Braves are 10.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.

The US Men's soccer team beat Japan 1-0 in their opening game of Olympic pool play. The opening ceremonies are Friday in Beijing.

The Packers have finally traded Brett Favre to the Jets for at least a fourth-round draft pick, depending on how the Jets play this season.

Mike Hampton gets a win

For the first time in three years, Mike Hampton has a W by his name in the box score. Hampton gave up 2 runs in 7 innings to get his first win since August 2005. The Braves won the game 11-4 over the Giants. Kelly Johnson had three hits and scored three runs. Yunel Escobar and Omar Infante each had 2 RBI. The rubber game of the series is at 345p today. Chuck James and his 9.47 ERA will pitch for the Braves, while staff ace Tim Lincecum (11-3, 2.71) will pitch for the Giants. It would be a miracle if we win this game today....

The US women's soccer team is down 2-0 early against Norway. Two defensive breakdowns have allowed the Norwegians to take a quick lead.

Yet another loss...

The Braves lost, again, last night to the Giants, 4-2. Jair Jurrjens gave up 3 earned runs in 6 innings, but the offense was stymied by Matt Cain of the Giants. Omar Infante and Kelly Johnson had 2 hits each to account for 4 of the 7 hits. Infante and Jeff Francoeur each had an RBI. Blaine Boyer and Jeff Bennett each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. The two teams play again tonight at 1015p. Mike Hampton will pitch for the Braves while Jonathan Sanchez will pitch for the Giants.

On the injury front, there is good news and bad news. Brian McCann started for the first time in seven games. He was 0-3 but it was the first time in a week that he has faced live pitching. Chipper Jones is ready to come back from the DL by Friday. Tom Glavine threw 53 pitches in a game for Class A Myrtle Beach, he could be ready to join the Braves by this weekend but he may make one more rehab start. Rafael Soriano was placed on the DL Monday, depleting an already thin bullpen. Tim Hudson will need Tommy John surgery and could be out until next August.

A great game, but a sad day

The Braves beat the Brewers yesterday, 5-0. Jorge Campillo scattered 6 hits over 7 innings to get the win. Jeff Bennett, Will Ohman, and Mike Gonzalez pitched scoreless relief. Kelly Johnson had two hits and Yunel Escobar had 2 RBI. The Braves travel to San Fransisco for a three-game series. Game one is tonight at 1015p. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves and Matt Cain will pitch for the Giants.

Skip Caray, longtime Braves TV and radio announcer passed away yesterday at the age of 68. I remember listening to Skip and his trademark sarcasm when I first started watching the Braves on TBS in the early 80's. At that time, the Braves were so bad that they needed a guy like Skip to add some levity to the ball games. He stuck through the bad teams and was rewarded with a team that won 14 straight division championships and the 1995 World Series. This year, health problems had limited him to doing home games only. Skip was a big part of my life growing up and he will be missed. RIP, Skip Caray.

Good effort, bad result

The Braves played well for seven innings, but got beat by the Brewers 4-2. Charlie Morton pitched well for Atlanta, giving up 2 runs in 7 innings. He was not helped by his offense or his bullpen, as the offense scored two runs in the game and the bullpen gave up two runs in two innings. It won't get any easier today as the Brewers bring Ben Sheets to the mound. Atlanta will counter with Jorge Campillo. Game time is 135p.

Deweycheatumnhowe won the Hambletonian yesterday. He lead wire-to-wire and held off the second choice, Crazed, by half a length.

At Indiana Downs last night, Meadowlands Pace and Hoosier Cup winner Art Official was in the $150,000 Monument Circle and cruised by the field, winning by 3-3/4 lengths. His time of 1:49 4/5 was 1/5 of a second off of the track record. Art Official has now won over $972,000 on the season.

Suckity, Suck, Suck, Suck

The Braves played a horrible game last night, losing to the Brewers 9-0. Jeff Suppan shut down the Braves offense only allowing 5 hits. Chuck James started for the Braves and gave up 6 runs in 2-2/3 innings to take the loss. Royce Ring took his terrible month of July and moved it into August, giving up 2 earned runs in 1 inning of work. In July, Ring gave up 13 earned runs in 5-1/3 innings for a 21.94 ERA. It doesn't get much easier today as CC Sabathia will pitch for the Brewers, Charlie Morton will throw for the Braves. Game time is 355p and the game will be on FOX.

The main event in harness racing is this afternoon as the Hambletonian is running today. Post time is about 240p and the race will be shown on NBC. Deweycheatumnhowe is the favorite, and I don't see a way that he can be beat. Three weeks ago he won the $350,000 Dancer Memorial by 3 lengths and last week he won his Hambo elimination race by over 6 lengths. Crazed may also have a shot. Clark Magistrate (8th post) and Celebrity Secret (9th post) have a chance, but poor post position may hurt their chances.

Finally, a win

The Braves snapped a 5 game losing streak by beating the Cardinals 9-4. Clint Sammons was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI filling in for injured Brian McCann. Sammons also hit his first career home run. Omar Infante also had three hits and a home run. Mike Hampton threw 81 pitches in 5 innings giving up 4 runs on 7 hits. Jeff Bennett threw two innings of relief to get the win. Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez also pitched scoreless innings of relief. The Braves hot the Brewers for a weekend series starting tonight at 735p. Chuck James will pitch for the Braves, Jeff Suppan will pitch for the Brewers.

There were some big trades just before the deadline yesterday. Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers, with Jason Bay goin to the Red Sox, and four prospects going to the Pirates. Ken Griffey Jr was traded to the White Sox for reliever Nick Masset and minor leaguer Danny Richar. Maybe now Griffey will get to that World Series that he has never been to.

Now, about that bullpen...

The Braves had a chance to win last night, but the bullpen could not hold the Cardinals down and the Braves lost 7-2. Jair Jurrjens had another great start giving up 3 runs in 7 innings. However, the bullpen of Blaine Boyer, Royce Ring, and Julian Tavarez gave up four runs in 1-1/3 innings. Will Ohman was the only reliever not to give up a run as he pitched 2/3 of an inning. Omar Infante had three hits while replacing Chipper Jones at third base. Greg Norton, Kelly Johnson, and Jeff Francoeur each had two hits. So far, the Cardinals have outscored the Braves 27-8 in the three games of the series. The final game of the series is tonight at 710p. Mike Hampton will pitch for the Braves and Joel Piniero will pitch for the Cardinals.

Best pitching of the day - Chad Billingsley, Dodgers - 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 8 K

Worst pitching - Nate Robertson, Tigers - 3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER

Best Hitting - Kelly Shoppac, Indians - 5 for 6, 2 HR, 3 2B, 4 R, 3 RBI

Worst Hitting - Miguel Tejada, Astros - 0 for 5, K, CS, ERR

My 100th post

The Braves traded Mark Teixeira to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and a minor league pitcher. I think the trade will be good for both teams. The Angels get a veteran first baseman for their playoff run. The Braves get a younger player (3 years younger) and they cut a huge amount of salary (Teixeira was making $9 million, Kotchman is making $400,000). Teixeira is a slightly better hitter and fielder, but not by much and their difference is definitly not $8.5 million. The other name on the trade block are Will Ohman, Mark Kotsay, and Mike Gonzalez. The trade deadline is Thursday at midnight.

Jair Jurrjens was named rookie of the month in the NL for June. Jorge Campillo pitched 7 strong innings yesterday, only giving up 2 runs. That was about the only good news yesterday. The Braves lost their fourth in a row, losing 8-3 to the Cardinals. The Braves are now 8.5 games behind in the NL East. Tim Hudson is probably lost for the year. Chipper Jones may be done for the year also. Brian McCann is out for a while after getting his bell rung in a home plate collision. It was so bad last night that our 3-4-5 hitters had 9 homers and 59 RBI combined.

But, we are still a young team. All of the regular starters are under 26, except for Chipper and Kotsay. Kotsay may be traded and Chipper may be MVP, so that isn't too bad. The pitching staff is a little older, but still mostly under 30. Hudson is the oldest at 32 years old. Jorge Campillo is 29, Charlie Morton 24, Jo Jo Reyes 23, and Jair Jurrjens is 22. All 8 pitchers in the bullpen are 30 or under. This team has a good core of players, they have just had some bad luck this year with injuries, one-run games, and playing on the road. They will be competitive next year, so we will see....

Vacation

I'll be on vacation this week, so the posts will be sporadic. The Braves are 7.5 games out in the NL East, so they will probably be sellers up to the trade deadline. The three names that have been bantered around the most are Mark Teixeira, Will Ohman, and Mike Gonzalez. One or more of those players will probably be traded before Thursday.

Have a good week, everyone!

Decent start to the weekend

The Braves used a 7 run 9th inning to beat the Phillies last night, 8-2. Brian McCann was 2 for 3 with 5 RBIs and 2 home runs, including a grand slam in the ninth. Gregor Blanco, Jeff Francoeur, Kelly Johnson, and Omar Infante also had two hits each. Jair Jurrjens threw 8 innings of shutout baseball only giving up 3 hits and striking out 6. Will Ohman gave up a meaningless home run to Ryan Howard in the ninth. The two teams play Saturday at 355pm on FOX. Mike Hampton will attempt to make his first start in over two years for the Braves. Cole Hamels will pitch for the Phillies. The Braves are still 6 games behind the Mets in the NL East.

The Brownsburg Little League team had multiple chances to win, but came up short, losing to Jeffersonville in the state championship game by a score of 1-0. Jeffersonville scored in the top of the first, but Brownsburg came back to have runners on 2nd and 3rd in the bottom of the first, but could not get the runners home. Brownsburg had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the second, but did not convert. Congratulations to Brownsburg on a great run in the tournament. I will look forward to watching you at the high school level in 3 or 4 years.

A big weekend

The Braves play the Phillies this weekend in a series that will decide whether the Braves are buyers or sellers up to the trade deadline on July 31. In the best case scenario, the Braves sweep the Phillies and the Mets and Marlins get swept. This would leave Atlanta 3.5 games behind, but still in 4th place in the NL East. If the opposite occurs, the Braves would be 9.5 games behind, also in 4th place. I think that if the Braves are anything more than 5 games behind after this weekend, we should probably trade Teixeira, Ohman, and Gonzalez and see what we can get for them.

The Brownsburg Little League team is one game away from winning the Indiana state championship. They defeated South Bend East Side last night by a score of 9-8. They will play Jeffersonville in the title game tonight at 7pm local time, which I think is 8pm here in Brownsburg. It should be a decent game as both teams have great pitching and defense. Brownsburg has given up 31 runs in 14 games, for an average of 2.2 runs/game. Jeffersonville has given up 22 runs in 12 games for an average of 1.8 runs/game. If you would like to listen to the game, there is a live audio webcast at www.regionsports.com

A harmful loss...

The Braves beat the Marlins last night 9-4, but two key players were injured during the game. Chipper Jones left the game in the fourth inning with a strained hamstring. Tim Hudson left the game after throwing 6 shutout innings with tightness in his shoulder. The offense played well. Gregor Blanco had 4 hits, 3 RBI, and 3 R. Yunel Escobar had 2 hits and 3 RBI. Blaine Boyer, Will Ohman, and Mike Gonzalez pitched scoreless relief while Buddy Carlyle gave up the four Marlin runs in his 1/3 of an inning. The Braves have the day off on Thursday before their do-or-die series against the Phillies starting Friday. I would have to say that we would have to sweep the Phillies this weekend to have any kind of shot at the division title, or at least take 2 of 3. If we don't win 2 of the 3 games against the Phillies, I believe that trades are in order for Mark Teixeira, Will Ohman, Mike Gonzalez, and anyone else we can get some prospects for. Indeed, this is a big weekend....

The Brownsburg Little League team completed pool play with a 10-4 victory over Munster. They finished pool play 3-0 and will play South Bend East Side in the semi-finals tonight. Jeffersonville will play State Park (Chesterton) in the other semi-final. The tournament is now single elimination for the next two games. The championship game is Friday night. The winner will go to the Great Lakes region tournament that will start on July 31.

Turning the tables on us

The Braves, who won 4-0 on Monday, were defeated by that same score on Tuesday by the Marlins. It was a good game, with the exception of one pitch - a three-run homer by Mike Jacobs. Charlie Morton threw 5 2/3 innings for the Braves, giving up all 4 runs but only surrendering 2 hits. However, the 4 walks may have hurt him. Royce Ring, Blaine Boyer, Rafael Soriano, and Julian Tavarez all pitched scoreless relief. The offense was pitiful as Chipper Jones got the only Braves hit of the night. The teams play in the rubber game of the series tonight at 710p. Tim Hudson pitches for the Braves, Ricky Nolasco will pitch for the Marlins. Both pitchers have 10 wins on the season and sub-4.00 ERAs, so look for this game to be a good one also.

The Brownsburg Little League team beat Terre Haute North last night 12-3 in pool play of the Indiana state finals. They are now 2-0 in pool play. They play Munster tonight at 745p. A Brownsburg win or a State Park loss assures them of a spot in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Winning when we have to

The Braves had a flawless performance last night, beating the Marlins 4-0. Jorge Campillo pitched 7 innings of scoreless ball only giving up 2 hits. Will Ohman and Mike Gonzalez threw scoreless innings to finish the game. Mark Teixeira and Mark Kotsay each had two hits. Game two of the series is tonight at 710p. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves and Rick VandenHurk will pitch for the Marlins. The Braves are only 6 games behind in the NL East with the next 5 games against teams that are ahead of them in the standings. By Sunday, we should know if we are going to be buyers or sellers leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

The Brownsburg Little League team has won the first game of pool play in the state finals. They beat State Park (Chesterton) 2-1. The Brownsburg team has now allowed 16 runs in 11 games during their tournament run. They play Terre Haute North at 545p tonight.

When 5 runs per game isn't enough

After a great start to the second half on Friday, the Braves were humiliated by the Nationals over the weekend losing 8-2 on Saturday and 15-6 on Sunday, being outscored 29-15 for the series. Poor pitching was the cause of the disaster. Jair Jurrjens gave up 5 runs in 6 1/3 innings on Saturday. Jo Jo Reyes gave up 6 runs in 2 1/3 innings on Sunday followed in relief by Buddy Carlyle who gave up 6 runs in 1 2/3 innings. It's hard to win when the pitchers put up those numbers. The hitting was OK this weekend. Gregor Blanco had 3 hits on Saturday. Mark Teixeira had 3 hits, 2 homers, and 3 RBI, and Mark Kotsay had 2 hits on Sunday. The Braves travel to Florida today to play the Marlins at 710p. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves, Chris Volstad will pitch for the Marlins. As bad as it seems, the Braves are only 6.5 games behind the Phillies and Mets in the NL East. The Braves and Phillies play this weekend.

Sunday's best/worst:

Best pitching - Matt Garza, Rays - 7 2/3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 6 K

Worst pitching - Miguel Batista, Mariners - 2 IP, 8 R, 7 H,

Best hitting - Pat Burrell, Phillies - 3 for 5, 2 HR, 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI

Worst hitting - Bengie Molina, Giants - 0 for 5, GIDP, ERR

Survived another one

The Braves survived a strong 9th inning rally to defeat the Nationals 7-6. The braves had a 2-run lead in the ninth, but the Nationals loaded the bases with one out. A run scored on a ground out, but Mike Gonzalez pitched out of the jam for his 4th save of the season. Tim Hudson was not on top of his game, giving up 5 runs in 6 2/3 innings, but still got his 10th win of the season. Blaine Boyer and Will Ohman pitched scoreless relief for Atlanta. Brian McCann led the offense with 3 RBI, while Brent Lillibridge added 2 hits and 2 RBI. The two teams play Saturday at 7pm. Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves and John Lannan will pitch for the Nationals.

Pitcher of the Day - CC Sabathia, Brewers - 9 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 10 K

Worst pitcher of the Day - Zack Greinke, Royals - 3 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 3 BB

Hitter of the Day - Nomar Garciaparra, Dodgers - 3 for 5, 2 HR, 3 RBI

Worst hitter of the Day - Ivan Ochoa, Giants - 0 for 4, GIDP, ERR

...aaaaaand we're back

The Braves finally get to play a game tonight as they host the Nationals. Tim Hudson will pitch for the Braves, Tim Redding will pitch for the Nationals. Considering how poorly the Nationals have played, Redding is 7-3 this season so he may be a pitcher to watch.

Thursday's Bests

Best Pitching - Ubaldo Jiminez, Rockies - 7 IP, 5 H, 4 K, 3 ER

Worst Pitching - Johan Santana, Mets - 4 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 5 ER

Best Hitting - Troy Glaus, Cardinals - 2 for 4, 2 HR, 2 RBI

Worst Hitting - Jose Bautista, Pirates - 0 for 4, 2 K, GIDP


I mentioned yesterday that US Women's soccer's leading scorer Abby Wambach broke her leg and would not be able to play. She will be replaced on the roster by Ben Davis graduate Lauren Cheney. Congratulations to Lauren on her selection to the Olympic team!

Total domination

The Brownsburg Little League has won all three age-levels in the district tournaments. The major division won their game, but I do not have a final score. Up to that point, they had only given up 3 runs in 6 games. At that age, pitching usually dominates the early rounds, if not the entire tournament. Brownsburg will play McCutcheon in the Section 1 tournament this weekend in a best of three format. Good luck to all of the Brownsburg teams in their tournaments!

Today is usually the day that baseball starts the second half of the season after the All-Star break, but there are only four games today. The Braves host Washington on Friday night.

The British Open starts today without Tiger Woods. Will it do well on TV without the world's best golfer? We will see....

The Green Bay Packers have alleged that Brett Favre may already have a deal with the Minnesota Vikings and that is the reason that he has asked to be released from the team. Of course, this is tampering, but it would be interesting to see Favre in a Vikings uniform when they play at Lambeau on the opening Monday Night Football game.

The US Womens Soccer team took a hit, literally, yesterday when leading scorer Abby Wambach broke her leg and will now miss the Olympics.

I'm glad that is over with

The AL beat the NL 4-3 in 15 innings in the All-Star game last night. Now, on to some important stuff...

Right now, baseballprospectus.com gives the Braves an 8 percent chance of making the playoffs. That seems about right. They have been playing around .500 ball most of the year, and that will not get you a playoff spot. It looks like it is mostly down to the Phillies and Mets in the NL East, the Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers in the Central, and the Diamondbacks and Dodgers in the West. It took half a season the basically eliminate 9 of the 16 teams in the NL.

It is that time of year when the Little League district tournaments are being played. The Brownsburg teams have won the 9-10 and the 11 year old tourneys and played in the finals of the 12 year old tourney yesterday. I will report the result when I find it.

The terrible, terrible All-Star game

If you need to see an example of how Bud Selig ruined baseball, look no further than the sham that is the All-Star Game. What was once a night where the best pitchers from one league faced the best hitters in the other league for one night only, has now been turned into something that has lost it's way. This game is supposed to be an exhibition, not a serious game. It is supposed to be a way to showcase the best of the best and to show some character and the lighter side of some of the athletes we watch nearly every day. Instead, we get a game that the winning league wins home field advantage in the World Series. So, you get starters from Houston, Atlanta, Colorado, Texas, and Seattle deciding home field advantage in a World Series that in which they have no chance of playing. Do you think we will ever see Randy Johnson throwing over John Kruk's head? How about Larry Walker batting right-handed against Johnson just to have some fun? Not anymore....This time it counts! Well, count me out.

Commissioner Selig also had a hand in inter-league play, which diminishes the All-Star game as a special exhibition. And he was also part of the decision to expand the playoffs with the wild card and to go to the unbalanced schedule where you see other teams that are outside of your division only 6 times all year. And with inter-league play, teams in the same division do not play the same schedule and that is not a fair way to decide a division champion.

I will not be watching the All-Star game tonight. I'm sure there has to be something better one......like a WNBA game or something like that!

Good pitching against the Padres

The Braves pitching staff did a great job in the three game series with the Padres, giving up only 8 runs over the 3 games. In my previous post, I discussed the 4-0 loss on Friday night. On Saturday, the Braves won 4-1. Charlie Morton gave up the 1 run in 5 1/3 innings to get the win. Will Ohman, Blaine Boyer, and Mike Gonzalez held the Padres in check the rest of the way. Chipper Jones had 3 hits, and Jeff Francoeur had 2 hits and 2 RBI. Brent Lillibridge had 2 hits and his first career home run. On Sunday, the Braves scored 3 runs in the top of the first and cruised to a 12-3 victory. Jorge Campillo gave up two runs over 6 innings to get the win. Blaine Boyer, Tim Hudson (yes, Tim Hudson), and Mike Gonzalez finished the game from the bullpen. Brian McCann was 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored and 3 RBI. Brent Lillibridge had 3 hits, while Martin Prado, Mark Teixeira, and Mark Kotsay each had 2 hits. The Braves are off for the next four days as they get three days off for the All-Star break and have Thursday off before hosting Washington on Friday, July 18. The Braves are 6.5 GB the Phillies in the NL East and 7.5 GB the Cardinals for the NL Wild Card.

Best pitching - Ervin Santana, Angels - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 10 K

Worst pitching - Radhames Liz, Orioles - 2 1/3 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 3 HR

Best hitting - Shane Victorino, Phillies - 3 for 3, 2 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

Worst hitting - Andruw Jones, Dodgers - 0 for 5, 5 K

The season is slowly dying

The Braves were shutout by the Padres last night, 4-0. Jake Peavy scattered 4 hits over 7 innings for the Padres. Jo Jo Reyes gave up 2 runs and 5 hits in 4 innings for the Braves. Buddy Carlyle threw three good innings in relief, only giving up 1 earned run. Will Ohman threw a scoreless eighth. Brian McCann had three hits and Mark Kotsay had two hits for most of the Braves offense. The two teams play at 1005p tonight. Charlie Morton will pitch for the Braves, Greg Maddux for the Padres. The Braves are now 7.5 GB the Phillies in the NL East.

Friday's best/worst:

Best pitcher - Roy Halladay, Blue Jays - 9 IP, 2H, 8 K, 0 R

Worst pitcher - Jon Garland, White Sox - 2 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 10 H

Best hitter - Ron Belliard, Nationals - 3 for 4, 2 HR, 2B, 2 R, 5 RBI

Worst hitter - Gregor Blanco, Braves - 0 for 4, 2 K, CS, ERR

Last gasp before the break

The Braves play in San Diego tonight against the Padres. Game time is 1005pm. Jo Jo Reyes will pitch for the Braves and Jake Peavy will pitch for the Padres. The Braves are 6.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 8 games behind the Brewers for the wild card.

Thursday's Best and Worst:

Best pitching: David Bush, Rockies - 8 IP, 3 H, 13 K, 0 ER

Worst pitching: Scott Feldman, Rangers - 3 2/3 IP, 6H, 8 ER, 5 BB

Best hitting: Howie Kendrick, Angels - 3 for 5, 2 HR, 2B, 3 R, 3 RBI

Worst hitting: Jose Castillo, Giants - 0 for 3, K, 2 ERR

At least we got two hits this time....

The Braves were shut down again by great Dodger pitching as they lost to LA 2-1. LA's Derek Lowe had a perfect game through six innings before Gregor Blanco singled to lead off the seventh. Tim Hudson was solid as usual, pitching 7 innings giving up 2 runs and scattering 4 hits. The only other hit for the Braves was a solo home run by Jeff Francoeur, who looks like he may be getting back to normal after his three-day stint in Double-A. The team is off today. On Friday, the Braves travel to San Diego for the last series before the all-star break.

Best pitching performance of the day: Carlos Zambrano, Cubs - 8 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 5 K

Worst pitching of the day: Garret Olson, Orioles - 3 2/3 IP, 7 R, 7 H, 4 BB

Best hitting of the day: Garrett Atkins, Rockies - 3 for 4, 2 HR, 3 RBI

Worst hitting of the day: Brandon Phillips, Reds - 0 for 4, 1 K, 1 Error

Elton Brand has signed with the 76ers. The teaming of Brand and newly signed Baron Davis only lasted about a week.

Boston scored 18 runs in a thrashing of the Twins.

Good offense + Great pitching = Win

The Braves got ahead 6-0 and held on for a 9-3 victory over the Dodgers last night. Brian McCann had 2 solo home runs, Yunel Escobar had 3 RBI, and Mark Kotsay had 3 hits. Jair Jurrjens gave up 1 run in 6 innings. Will Ohman, Blaine Boyer, and Mike Gonzalez held the Dodgers scoreless from the bullpen. Newly acquired Julian Tavarez gave up one earned run in 1/3 of an inning. The rubber game of the series is tonight at 1010p. It should be a good pitching match up as Tim Hudson will be taking on Derek Lowe.

The Cubs traded for Rich Harden to keep pace with the Brewers signing of CC Sabathia.

Tony Stewart is going to be released from his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing.

Prep star Brandon Jennings is going to play in Europe instead of going to Arizona for a year before making the jump to the NBA. It just goes to show how stupid the NBA rule is. How does this help the kid?

One hit?!?!? That's all we got? One God Damn Hit?

A little comedy from the movie Major League is about the only thing funny about last night's Braves/Dodgers game. LA's Hiroki Kuroda had a perfect game going into the 8th inning until Mark Teixeira doubled for the Braves only hit of the game. Atlanta lost the game 3-0. Jorge Campillo had a decent outing, only giving up 3 runs in 7 innings. Vladimir Nunez threw a perfect eighth inning for the Braves. Game two of the series is at 1010pm tonight. Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves and Chad Billingsley will pitch for the Dodgers.

Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez saved a man's life by giving him the Heimlich maneuver at a restaurant where he and his family were having dinner. Not only is Tony a great football player and one of the best tight ends of all time, but he gives his time and money to many different charities and seems like a very good person. The NFL could use more people like him.

Let's Play Two......almost

The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 7-6 in 17 innings yesterday in a game that took 5 and 1/2 hours to play and was delayed by almost two hours because of rain. It did not look good early as Charlie Morton gave up 6 runs in 6 innings of work, but the bullpen saved the day. I usually don't have many nice things to say about the bullpen, but they are the reason that the Braves won the game yesterday. After Morton left the game, the bullpen did not allow a run in 11 innings. Blaine Boyer, Will Ohman, Mike Gonzalez, Buddy Carlyle, Manny Acosta, and Royce Ring all contributed to the effort. Yunel Escobar was 4 for 9, Chipper Jones was 3 for 5 with 4 walks, Mark Teixeira was 3 for 7 with 3 RBI including the game winner in the 17th. The Braves begin a west coast road trip tonight against the Dodgers at 1010p. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves, Hiroki Kuroda will pitch for the Dodgers. The Braves are 6 games behind in the NL East and 7.5 games behind the Cardinals and Brewers for the wild card spot.

Speaking of the Brewers, they have reportedly made a trade to get CC Sabathia from the Indians. That would definitely help their playoff chances.

Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer in the Mens final at Wimbledon yesterday. It was an epic 5-set match that some people are calling the best of all time. Nadal won the 5th set 9-7.

Ryan Hunter-Reay won the IRL race at Watkins Glen.

Back to the drawing board

The Braves lost their 6th game of their last 7 last night to the Astros 6-1. Jo Jo Reyes gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings to take the loss. The offense was just as poor, only getting 4 runners on base. The teams play on Sunday afternoon at 135p. Charlie Morton pitches for the Braves, Wandi Rodriguez pitches for the Astros.

The Phillies have signed Brad Lidge to a 3-year $37.5 million contract.

Kyle Busch won a wreck-filled race at Daytona last night.

The IRL is at Watkins Glen today. I hate road courses, so I may not watch it.

Always count on your ace

The Braves finally won a game yesterday as staff ace Tim Hudson threw 7 innings of one-run ball to beat the Astros 6-2. The bullpen did OK, with the exception of Blaine Boyer, as usual. Jeff Bennett had a scoreless 2/3 of an inning and Mike Gonzalez threw a scoreless inning. Boyer gave up one run on two hits in 1/3 of an inning, making it three games in a row that he has given up a run. He has given up 6 runs in his last 8 2/3 innings. The offense looked like it had some life. Chipper Jones and Brian McCann each had two hits. Kelly Johnson hit a two-run homer. Jason Perry had an RBI triple in his first major-league at-bat, filling in for the recently demoted Jeff Francoeur. The two teams battle again on Saturday night at 710p. Jo Jo Reyes pitches for the Braves, Chris Sampson throws for the Astros.

Venus Williams beat her sister Serena in the Ladies Wimbledon final. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play in the Mens final on Sunday.

Albert Pujlos became the fifth youngest player to hit 300 HRs.

The lowest of the low

The Braves were swept by the Phillies last night, losing 4-1. Jair Jurrjens gave up 3 solo homers and an additional run over 7 innings of work to take the loss. It was his first loss since May 12th and he is now 8-4 on the season. Cole Hamels shut down the Braves, only giving up 5 hits and coming one out away from pitching a compete game. With the loss the Braves are now 7 games behind Philly in the NL East. They start a series with Houston tonight at 735p. Tim Hudson will pitch for the Braves, Brian Moehler will pitch for the Astros.

The big news after the game was the optioning of Jeff Francoeur to AA Mississippi. He was batting .234 and was 4 for 33 in his last 10 games. The Braves hope he can get back on track at Mississippi and come back to Atlanta after the All-Star break.

Struggling

The Braves dropped another game to the Phillies last night, 7-3. Jorge Campillo gave up 5 runs in 5 innings of work. Blaine Boyer gave up another run in relief. He has given up 6 runs in his last 10 innings. Royce Ring gave up his first run since May 23rd, a span of 11 innings. Jeff Bennett and Will Ohman threw scoreless innings of relief. Ruben Gotay and Chipper Jones both had solo home runs to lead the offense. Game three of the series is tonight at 710p. Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves and Cole Hamels pitches for the Phillies. This is a must-win game for the Braves as they are now 6 games behind the Phillies in the NL East.

The Seattle NBA franchise is moving to Oklahoma City, but the Sonics name will stay in Seattle. I think David Stern and his "buddy" Clay Bennett are setting a bad precedent for the way a franchise should be ran. Moving a team because the public will not pay for renovating an arena that was redone 10 years ago is a pretty bad reason to move a team from its home.

The Rays swept the Red Sox and lead the AL East by 3.5 games. The Rays have the best record in baseball (52-32), followed by the Cubs (51-34).

A-Rod and his wife are splitting up, then A-Rod hits a homer and his team scores 18 runs. I'm not saying there is a correlation, but there's probably a little less stress without a wife to nag you all the time.

You can't recover from a bad start

The Braves were down 5-0 in the third inning and could not recover as the Phillies won 8-3. Charlie Morton gave up 5 runs in 2+ innings. He said that his arm did not have any life and it sure showed last night. The bullpen tried to keep Atlanta in the game. Manny Acosta, Buddy Carlyle, and Will Ohman threw 6 scoreless innings. However, Blaine Boyer gave up 3 runs in 2/3 of an inning to keep the game out of reach. Gregor Blanco and Brian McCann had 2 hits a piece. Greg Norton had 2 RBI on a pinch-hit double. The two teams play again tonight at 710p. Jorge Campillo will pitch for the Braves, Adam Eaton will pitch for the Phillies.

A couple of quick hit headlines....

Baron Davis opts out of his $17.8 million salary with Golden State to sign with the Clippers for 5 years/$65 million.

The Baseball Hall of Fame has received Barry Bonds 756th HR ball. It is designated with an asterisk.

The Tampa Bay Rays have the best record in baseball. Yes, you are reading that correctly.

Quick post

The Braves start an important three-game series against the Phillies tonight at 710p. Charlie Morton will get the start for the Braves. Kyle Kendrick will pitch for the Phillies. If the Braves can take 2 of 3 from the Phils, they would only be three games back in the NL East.

I'm pretty busy today, so I'll post more tomorrow.

Disappointing...

What started out as a good weekend for the Braves ended with two losses to the Blue Jays. The Braves won on Friday as I described in my previous post. However, they lost on Saturday 9-5 and on Sunday 1-0. On Saturday, Mark Teixeira had a home run and Gregor Blanco had 4 hits. Tim Hudson gave up 6 runs in 5 inning to take the loss. On Sunday, AJ Burnett threw 7 shutout innings and struck out 11 Braves. Alex Rios had a double for the Blue Jays for the only RBI of the game. Jo Jo Reyes threw well for the Braves, giving up one run in 7 innings, but took the loss. Gregor Blanco had two of the 5 Braves hits for the day. The Braves have the day off on Monday and host Philly in a three game series starting Tuesday. Atlanta is 4 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 7 games behind the Cardinals in the wild card race.

I went to Hoosier Park Racing and Casino on Saturday night to watch the Hoosier Cup and the Indiana Sires Stakes finals. I made some money on the horse racing that night, but did not do so well in the casino. The casino was very crowded, the walkways did not seem like they were wide enough, and a lot of machines were broken down or out of order. Plus, I did not like their selection of slot machines. I need to give it a second try on a less crowded day before I totally write them off, but unless they switch some things around it will not be a place I will frequent very often. I would rather go to Indiana Downs instead. Their temporary casino facility is spacious and the air circulation is great so you don't get the smokers making the experience less enjoyable. I can only hope the permanent facility is of the same quality.

One step closer to the edge

The Braves beat the Blue Jays last night, 4-0, behind a strong pitching performance from Jair Jurrjens. Jurrjens pitched 8 innings of shutout ball, scattering three hits and striking out 3. Mike Gonzalez threw a perfect ninth inning to finish the game. Jurrjens is 8-3 on the season. Mark Teixeira led the offense, going 2 for 3 with a home run, a double, and 3 RBI. Gregor Blanco had 2 hits and an RBI. The two teams play Saturday afternoon at 107pm. Tim Hudson pitches for the Braves, and recent AAA call-up John Parrish will pitch for the Blue Jays. Atlanta is only 3 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 5 games behind the Cardinals for the wild card.

Tonight I am going to Hoosier Park Racing and Casino. The $500,000 Hoosier Cup is on the card tonight as well as the $100,000 Indiana Sires Stakes finals in all 6 categories. I will also be checking out the brand new casino that was opened at the beginning of June. I will write a review in my next blog post.

Yummy Yummy

The Braves were off yesterday and they play at Toronto this evening. Game time is 707pm. Jair Jurrjens pitches for the Braves. Dustin McGowan will pitch for the Blue Jays.

I went to Victory Field last night to watch the Indianapolis Indians play the Buffalo Bison. Buffalo scored 5 runs in the second inning and held on to win 7-3. The Indians pitching staff was scrambling as the scheduled starting pitcher for the game was called up to the big club in Pittsburgh. I think there were 5 pitchers for the home team over the course of the night. Anyways, I got the ultimate nachos for dinner. For $5.50, the ultimate nachos is probably the most filling and delicious thing I have had at that ballpark. With a large Diet Mountain Dew for $3.50, you can have a meal at the ballpark for $9, which isn't too bad at all. The best seats in the house cost $13 and parking is usually $5. You can spend a day at one of the best minor league ballparks, have a drink and some good food for $27. Plus, you get to see some up and coming prospects and some former major leaguers trying to make it back to the big show. I'd say that is a pretty good deal.