Wow, we suck...

The Braves lost to the Mariners last night 10-2. Jorge Campillo was strong for 6 innings, only giving up a single run. He could not get through the 7th, surrendering three runs to allow Seattle to take a 4-1 lead. The bullpen did not help the cause. Will Ohman gave up 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning and Royce Ring gave up an unearned run in the eighth. The offense didn't help much either. Ruben Gotay and Omar Infante had 2 hits each. The rest of the team had three hit scattered among themselves. The two teams play again tonight at 710p. Jair Jurrjens tosses for the Braves, Jarrod Washburn pitches for the Mariners.

North Carolina and LSU played a good game through 8 innings and were tied 3-3 going into the ninth. In the ninth, NC had a double, a walk, a wild pitch, and another walk to load the bases. Tim Federowicz made LSU pay by hitting a grand slam to seal the victory. LSU could not reproduce their late-inning heroics for a third time in the tourney and were eliminated.

The final four is now set for the CWS. Stanford plays Georgia at 2pm today. Fresno State plays NC at 7pm. Stanford and NC need to win to stay alive in the CWS.

One of these days, our luck is gonna change

The Braves had a late rally to tie the game against the Rangers yesterday afternoon, but could not hold on as Texas won 5-4. Atlanta scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 4, but an Ian Kinsler double and a RBI single by Michael Young gave the Rangers the victory. Charlie Morton gave up 3 runs in 5 innings in his second major league start for Atlanta. The bullpen gave up 2 runs in 4 innings. Jeff Ridgway got a blown save and Blaine Boyer got the loss and is 1-5 on the season. Kelly Johnson had 2 hits in an otherwise unspectacular team effort on offense. The Braves are now 3-19 in one-run games. Seattle comes to town this weekend for a three-game series. Jorge Campillo will start for ATL and Erik Bedard will toss for the Mariners.

The LSU/North Carolina CWS game was rained out last night. They will start where they left off with NC leading 2-0 in the top of the first inning. The winner of this game plays Fresno State at 7pm on Saturday. Georgia and Stanford play at 2pm Saturday.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

The Braves scored three runs in the ninth inning to beat the Rangers last night 5-2. Jo Jo Reyes threw 7 innings giving up only 1 earned run and 5 hits. Jeff Bennett pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Mike Gonzalez pitched for the first time in 13 months and threw a scoreless ninth for the save. Chipper Jones was 2 for 5 with a home run, keeping his average at .400. Yunel Escobar had 2 hits and Kelly Johnson had 2 RBI. The rubber game of the series is at 205p this afternoon. Charlie Morton looks to continue his rookie season with his second start for the Braves while Scott Feldman pitches for the Rangers.

Stanford eliminated #1 seed Miami last night by a score of 8 to 3. Miami scored in the top of the first, but did not score again until the seventh when they were behind 8 to 1. Sandbrink and Davis threw 4 innings each for Stanford and Brownsburg High School alum Drew Storen threw the ninth. Stanford plays Georgia on Friday afternoon at 2pm. Stanford needs to beat Georgia twice to make the finals. There is an elimination game tonight at 7pm when LSU plays North Carolina. LSU has been the comeback kids using big ninth innings against UC Irvine in the super regionals and Rice on Tuesday afternoon. Can they do it again? #2 seed North Carolina is trying to make it to the championship series for the third time in a row. Will they be able to continue their winning ways in the tourney? We will find out....

Close, but no cigar

The Braves had a slow start against the Rangers last night and had a chance to win, but lost the game 7-5. Atlanta was down 5-0 through three innings, but came back and had the tying run at the plate with nobody out in the ninth inning. They couldn't get any farther as the Ranger bullpen shut them down. Tim Hudson had a rocky day on the mound giving up 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings. The Braves bullpen kept it close only giving up one run the rest of the way. Jeff Ridgway, Blaine Boyer, and Royce Ring all contributed to the bullpen effort. Brian McCann had two hits and 3 RBI. Brandon Jones continued his hot streak after being called up from Richmond with 2 more hits to raise his average to .476 in the 6 games he has played. Chipper Jones was 0 for 2 to drop his average to .400. The two teams play tonight at 805p. Jo Jo Reyes throws for the ATL and Eric Hurley tosses for the Rangers.

It was an exciting day yesterday at the College World Series. Rice led 5-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning and 5-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, but LSU scored 4 runs in the ninth capped by a Blake Dean 3-run double to clinch the 6-5 win. In the second game, Fresno State kept on chugging along like they are supposed to be in Omaha with a 5-3 win over the #2 seed North Carolina. There is one elimination game today. Miami and Stanford will try to keep their season alive starting at 7pm tonight. Since all of my predictions have been way off so far, I would not put any belief in my picks. But, I am picking Miami to win this game anyway. Maybe it will be some kind of jinx, because I really don't like Miami and Brownsburg alum Drew Storen plays for Stanford.

Look Out! Here comes the spider pig....

The Braves seem to be getting on the right track. They beat the Rockies last night 7-1. Jair Jurrjens threw 7 2/3 innings and did not give up a run. He scattered 8 hits and struck out 7. Five players (C Jones, McCann, Francoeur, B Jones, Blanco) had 2 hits each for the Braves. Chipper Jones, Brandon Jones, and Jeff Francoeur each had 2 RBI. The Braves are 9-5 against the NL West this year and 4-2 against the AL West. The team starts a three-game series at Texas tonight. Tim Hudson will pitch for the Braves and Vicente Padilla will pitch for the Rangers. Game time is 805pm.

Florida State was eliminated from the College World Series last night. The Seminoles were beaten by Miami 7-5. In the night game, Georgia used a clutch 2-out 2-run hit from Matt Cerione in the 7th inning to beat Stanford 4-3. There are two games today at Omaha. #6 Rice plays #7 LSU in an elimination game at 2pm. #2 North Carolina plays Fresno State at 7pm. My picks for today's games are Rice and North Carolina.

The Braves should play in the AL West

The Braves took 2 of 3 games from the Anaheim Angels over the weekend. Atlanta won 5-2 on Friday night. Jo Jo Reyes threw 8 innings of two-run ball and Jeff Bennett threw a scoreless ninth for the save. Mark Teixeira and Gregor Blanco had 3 hits a piece and Blanco had 3 RBI. On Saturday, Charlie Morton made his major league debut on the mound and got the win pitching 6 inning and giving up 3 runs as the Braves won 9-4. The bullpen threw three scoreless innings. Brandon Jones had 3 hits for the Braves. Sunday night was a very good game. The Braves lost 2-0. Jorge Campillo threw a complete game, only giving up a two-run homer to Casey Kotchman to account for the only runs of the game. Yunel Escobar led the offense with two hits. The Braves are now 4-2 against the AL West this year, taking two of three from both Oakland and Anaheim. Atlanta plays Colorado tonight in a make-up game before traveling to Texas to play the Rangers in a three-game series.

It was a bad weekend for the higher seeds in the College World Series. #4 Florida State, #1 Miami, and #6 Rice were all beaten in their first round games. The only higher seed to win was #2 North Carolina over #7 LSU. Florida State and Miami play an elimination game today at 2pm. Miami beat FSU two out of three games earlier this season. Stanford and Georgia play in a winners bracket game at 7pm. I'll pick Miami and Stanford to win the games today.