When the pitching is good, the offense is bad

The Braves lost to the Phillies last night, 3-2. Jair Jurrjens gave up 2 earned runs in 7 innings, but did not get any support from the hitters. Atlanta got 5 hits and left 6 men on base. The Braves have a problem scoring runs when their pitching staff gives up 3 runs or less. Here are the records of the NL contenders the Braves are fighting with when the pitching staff gives up 3 runs or less:

 
PHIL  45-7  .865
FLA   46-8  .852
SF    57-12 .826
ATL   53-13 .803
COL   48-12 .800

We have lost 6 more games than the Phillies and 5 more than the Marlins when giving up 3 runs or less. Those games could prove to be really important when it comes to the end of the season.

Atlanta starts a 4 game series with the Marlins tonight. Game time is 710p. Kenshin Kawakami will pitch for the Braves. The Braves are 8 games behind Philly in the NL East and tied with the Marlins for second place. Atlanta is 3.5 games behind the Rockies and Giants in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn had another solid outing for the Springfield Cardinals, pitching 6 innings and only giving up 2 earned runs while striking out 7. He did not get a decision as the bullpen gave up runs in the 8th and 10th innings to lose the game. Lance has a 1.66 ERA in his last 10 games, but is only 4-2. Lynn ranks 2nd in the Texas League in ERA and wins, and is 7th in strikeouts.