On the road to Cincinnati

Quick post today as I am leaving for Cincinnati in about 30 minutes to go watch the Braves/Reds game.

The Braves beat the Reds 4-3 last night thanks to 10 walks given up by CIN pitching.

Ball State beat Western Michigan 8-6.

Brownsburg beat Hamilton SE 16-12 in 9 innings. Dalton Wentz got the win for the Dogs.

All three teams play those same opponents today.

"We won today, that's one, if we win tomorrow, that's two, if we win the next one that's called a winning streak"

The Braves travel to Cincinnati to take on the Reds this weekend. The Braves are trying to get back on track after losing two of three to the Nationals (or if you are MLB uniform maker Majestic Athletic, the Natinals). The pitching matchups look good for Atlanta. Javier Vasquez will pitch against Edinson Volquez tonight. Derek Lowe and Bronson Arroyo pitch on Sunday. Kenshin Kawakami and Micah Owings pitch on Sunday. I like the Braves starters in all three of those games. However, the ATL bullpen has been inconsistent, but very good over the last week.

Brownsburg got on the board early and often against Noblesville on Thursday. The Dogs scored 6 runs in the first 5 innings to win 7-2. Alex McGowan got the win and Dalton Wentz got the save. Kevin Blessinger hit two home runs to lead the offense. Brownsburg is tied for the HCC conference lead with Westfield. BBurg plays Hamilton SE on Friday and Saturday. In the latest USA Today national high school baseball poll, Brownsburg is ranked 25th.

In the #1/#2 battle in softball, #2 Avon beat #1 Center Grove, 3-1. Avon's Jenny Esparza struck out 18 batters. Helen Rogers had 2 hits, including a double, a run scored, and an RBI.

"Ball 4, Ball 8, Ball 12, How can guys lay off pitches that close?"

The Braves were handed a win last night by the Nationals 1-0. A fielders choice and three straight walks created the only run of the game. Jair Jurrjens threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout baseball to lower his ERA to 1.42. Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano completed the shutout. However, the offense is still struggling, getting only 6 hits. The Braves are off today and will travel to Cincinnati for a three-game series starting Friday. I will be attending the Saturday game at Great American Ballpark.

The Ball State baseball team had their first victory over a ranked opponent in three years as they feasted on the bullpen of #23 Ohio State winning 20-8. BSU was down 5-0 after five innings when OSU took their starter out of the game after only 57 pitches. From then on, the Cardinals scored 20 runs in the next 4 innings to put the game away. Kolbrin Vitek and Zach Dygert each had 3 hits and 6 RBI. Ball State hosts Western Michigan in a three-game series this weekend. BSU is 2 games behind in the MAC West Division.

Brownsburg and Noblesville finally played last night and it was a sloppy game, errors, balks, and a lot of base runners. Brownsburg won 7-4, getting three runs in the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie. Justin Hartnagel had a huge 2-run double in the sixth. Matt Duncan started on the mound and pitched 4 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs. Dalton Wentz finished the game and got the win. He also gave up his first run of the season. The pitchers combined for 12 K's. There were at least 3 scouts in attendance to take a look at Dalton Wentz. The teams play at Noblesville tonight at 630p.

If you are looking for #1 vs #2 matchups, the next few days are just what you're looking for. Tonight at Avon High School, #2 Avon plays #1 Center Grove in softball. The teams have given up 11 runs between them in 19 games. This looks like it may be a game where the first team to score will win the game.....in 13 innings. Next Tuesday, the baseball #1 and #2 play each other when Lake Central travels to Crown Point.

"Come on Dorn, get in front of the damn ball. Don't give me this 'ole' bullshit"

If you haven't noticed, this week's theme is quotes from the movie "Major League". The title of this post describes the lack of fielding by Roger Dorn in the movie. This can also apply to the fielding of the Atlanta Braves last night. Chipper Jones and Matt Diaz made errors that led to two unearned runs allowing the Nationals to beat the Braves 4-3. The pitching was spectacular. Kenshin Kawakami allowed 2 earned runs in 5 innings, but could not get out of the sixth inning due to the errors by Jones and Diaz. The bullpen was good again, throwing three shutout innings. The Braves tallied 9 hits and had some chances to win, but could not get the job done. The series ends tonight as Jair Jurrjens takes the mound for the Braves.

The Ball State baseball team travels to Columbus, Ohio today to play #23 Ohio State. game time is 635p. It will be a battle of freshman as Cal Bowling will start on the mound for the Cardinals and Ross Oltorik will start for OSU.

Brownsburg's much-awaited series with Noblesville will be rescheduled for a later date. Noblesville plays Zionsville on Thursday and Saturday with their prom on Friday. Brownsburg plays Hamilton SE on Friday and Saturday. I will keep you updated on the rescheduled dates for the Noblesville series.

"In case you haven't noticed, and judging by the attendance, you haven't"

An announced attendance of 12,473 "watched" the Braves lose to the Nationals 3-2. After the two-hour rain delay to start the game and the 30 minute rain delay in the 8th inning, about 100 people were still around at the end. The Braves offense was back to its horrible ways again. They had 6 hits, but 4 of them were for extra bases. Matt Diaz had a double and a two-run homer to account for the only runs. Derek Lowe threw six innings and gave up the three Washington runs. For the second straight game, the bullpen pitched well in two shutout innings. The teams play again tonight at 705p. Kenshin Kawakami will pitch for the Braves.

The Ball State baseball team plays #23 Ohio State on Wednesday. But, the big news out of BSU is that the women's basketball team was named the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Tournament winner. Their win over Tennessee was a great moment in BSU history and the first time that the Lady Vols were beaten before the sweet 16. $5,000 will be added to the general scholarship fund of Ball State University. Congratulations, ladies!

The Brownsburg/Noblesville baseball game was rained out last night. According to an e-mail from the AD, tonight's game is scheduled to be played at Brownsburg and Wednesday's game will be at Noblesville. Brownsburg is ranked #4 in the state. Noblesville is #12.

"Hello. Do you know us? We're a major league baseball team."

With Chipper Jones back in the lineup, the Braves finally broke their 5-game losing streak and beat the Pirates 11-1. The Braves are 6-1 with Chipper in the lineup and 0-5 when he does not play. Javier Vasquez started for the Braves and was brilliant, throwing 6 shutout innings. The bullpen was good also, giving up one run in 3 innings of work. Jordan Schafer had 3 hits and Martin Prado, Jeff Francouer, and David Ross each had three RBI. The Braves go to Washington on Monday to play the Nationals. Derek Lowe gets the start for Atlanta.

Brownsburg's baseball team hosts Noblesville today, but it's still raining and the game may get moved to another date.

We want another one, just like the other one, repeat (clap-clap) repeat!

The Braves got beat by the Pirates 10-0. It was the same game they have been playing for the last 5. Four hits (two by Omar Infante), zero runs, bullpen gives up 5 runs in 2 1/3 innings, and the Braves 5th loss in a row. In the last five games, the Braves are batting .190 and scoring 1.4 runs per game. The bullpen has a 7.75 ERA for the season. We will get some better offense when Chipper Jones and Yunel Escobar come back, which could be today, but without a bullpen this could be another wasted season. The final game of the Pirates series is at 135p today.

Ball State played a double-header against Central Michigan and split the games. They lost the first 12-8 and won the second 12-4. They are two games behind Toledo for the MAC West division lead. They play top-30 ranked Ohio State on Wednesday then host Western Michigan next weekend in conference play.

The Brownsburg Bulldogs beat Lebanon on Saturday 11-1. Matt Bowman got the win for BBurg. They host highly-ranked Noblesville on Monday in a Hoosier Crossroads Conference match up.