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!