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