Ugh....you have to defend the lead

The Braves led 1-0 and 2-1 against the Padres last night, but could never defend the lead in the bottom half of the inning and eventually ended up with a loss to San Diego 4-2. Kenshin Kawakami pitched well, but gave up single runs in the first, second, and third innings. He ended up pitching 6 innings, giving up the three runs on 8 hits and 4 strikeouts. In his last 5 starts, Kawakami has a 4.13 ERA, which is above the league average, but is 1-3 during that span because the Braves offense has only scored 11 runs in those 5 games. Adam LaRoche was a bright spot on offense as his home run in the second inning gave Atlanta its final lead at 2-1. No other Braves had an extra base hit. The two teams play tonight at 1005p. Javier Vasquez will take the mound in a game that the Braves really need to have.

The loss puts the Braves 7.5 games behind Philly in the NL East and 2.5 games behind second place Florida. Atlanta is 5.5 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race.

Drew Storen recorded his second save for Class A Potomac on Monday night. Storen pitched the final 1 2/3 innings and gave up no runs on one hit with 2 strikeouts. In his 5 games at Potomac, Storen has pitched 8 innings and has given up only 1 run on 3 hits with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts. Opponents are batting .115 against him this year. He's pitching very well and will most likely get a shot at a higher level next year.