Frenchy goes bye-bye

The Braves beat the Rockies last night 4-1. Derek Lowe had a great game only giving up 1 run in 6 innings. Eric O'Flaherty pitched an important 2/3 of an inning, striking out the tying run in the 8th. Garrett Anderson and Diory Hernandez each had a double and 2 RBI. The teams play tonight at 8pm on MLB Network. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves.

The big news out of ATL is that the Braves have traded Jeff Francoeur to the Mets for Ryan Church. Church will play right field for the Braves. Ryan is struggling a little this season after posting 4 straight above-average seasons with Washington and New York. Francoeur has only had one above average season in the last four, plus the fan base was getting down on him, so it was a good time to go for Jeff. So, now our outfield consists of Garrett Anderson (free agent from Anaheim), Nate McLouth (2009 trade with Pitt), and Ryan Church (2009 trade with New York). If Tim Hudson can get healthy for the last two months of the season, we could make a run at the playoffs in 2009.

In little league ball, the Brownsburg 12s finished pool play as the #2 overall seed. They beat Eagle Creek 7-3 on Friday night. The Dogs received a bye and will play on Sunday at 3pm. Plainfield got the #1 seed by only giving up 1 run in the 4 pool play games. The BBurg 10-11s lost to WDT on Thursday and beat Ben Davis on Friday. They continue loser's bracket play against Zionsville on Saturday. The Dogs need to win 4 games in a row to win the tournament.

Lance Lynn will pitch tonight for the AA Springfield Cardinals at 8pm EST. Drew Storen threw two innings of scoreless relief for the Class A Hagerstown Suns last night. In his last 9 innings of work, Storen has given up 3 runs on 5 hits, but has zero walks and has struck out 13 batters. I think he is settling in nicely at this level and may be promoted before the end of the season.

The volatility of Mike Gonzalez

The Braves led the Rockies 5-4 through 6 innings last night, but could not hold on to the victory, losing 7-6. The usually solid bullpen duo of Peter Moylan and Mike Gonzalez did not do their jobs. Moylan gave up the tying run in the 7th and Gonzalez gave up 2 more runs in the 8th. Recently, Gonzalez has been good for two games then bad for one game. That pattern has shown over the last month or so. Tommy Hanson started the game and did not pitch well either. In 5 innings of work, Hanson gave up 4 runs and 6 hits. On the good side, Eric O'Flaherty pitched a high-leverage 2/3 of an inning in relief to keep the game tied after Moylan allowed the tying run. Jeff Francoeur was 3-for-4 with 3 doubles, 2 runs, and 2 RBI. The two teams play again tonight at 910p. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves and try to cut down his 6.00+ ERA since the beginning of June.

Two close wins in a row

The Braves survived a close 8 innings with the Cubs before the Chicago defense deflated in the 9th to allow the Braves to win 4-1. Kenshin Kawakami threw a great game on the mound, giving up 1 earned run in 6 innings. The bullpen of Peter Moylan and Mike Gonzalez kept the Cubs off the board in the 7th and 8th and Rafael Soriano got a cheap save in the 9th. In the 9th inning, the Cubs made an error in the outfield that allowed a run to score and a wild pitch that brought home a run. Martin Prado and Casey Kotchman had good days at the plate. Prado got on base 4 times in his 5 plate appearances and Kotchman had a home run and two walks. On the flip side, Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann were 0 for 9 with 7 runners left on base. The Braves play a four-game series with the Rockies this weekend. If they can win 3 of 4, they would reach the all-star break with a 44-44 record, giving them a good chance to make a run at the NL East. Tonight's game starts at 840p. Tommy Hanson will be on the mound for the Braves.

In Little League, the Brownsburg 12 year-olds beat Tri-West 15-2, moving them to 3-0 in pool play. The final game of pool play is on Friday against Eagle Creek, who is also 3-0 in pool play. The Brownsburg 10-11 year olds won their first tourney game and play Westlane-Delaware Trails tonight at 8pm in the semi-finals of the winner's bracket. In the 9-10 year old tourney the Brownsburg 10's made it to the elimination round and received a bye into the quarter finals. Their game will be on Sunday night.

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No run support, but defense and pitching prevailed

The Braves could only manage to score two runs on Tuesday night, but it was enough as they beat the Cubs 2-1. Javier Vasquez had his fourth straight good start, pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 earned run. In his last four outings, Vasquez has thrown 27 innings and only given up 4 runs while striking out 24 batters. The bullpen tandem of Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano each pitched an inning of high-leverage relief. Gonzalez got a hold, while Soriano got the save. Brian McCann was a huge part of the offense as he was 2 for 4 with both RBI for Atlanta. The defense was very good also. Yunel Escobar and Brooks Conrad each had diving plays in the infield to save base hits and Casey Kotchman had his usual great fielding, picking balls out of the dirt and snatching any ground ball that came his way. The teams play the rubber game of the series this afternoon at 220p. Kenshin Kawakami will pitch for the Braves.

In Little League baseball, the Brownsburg 12 year-olds are 2-0 in district pool play. They defeated St Albans 11-0 and beat Ben Davis 5-4. They are scheduled to play Tri-West tonight and Eagle Creek on Friday before going into the double-elimination district tourney. The double-elimination tourney is at Brownsburg, so if you get a chance come down and see some Little League action.

Speaking of former Brownsburg little leaguers, Drew Storen threw 1 2/3 innings on Tuesday night. He struck out 3 batters and did not allow a hit or a run. For the season, Storen is 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings.

Once again, they never had a chance

The Braves were down 4-0 after two innings and never could come back against the Cubs, losing 4-2. Jair Jurrjens struggled early and ended up pitching 6 innings and giving up the 4 runs. Peter Moylan and Manny Acosta each pitched a solid inning of relief. The offense was led by Yunel Escobar, who was 2 for 3 with a walk and a RBI. Garrett Anderson, Matt Diaz, and Martin Prado were poor performers on offense. They were a combined 0 for 13 with 9 runners left on base. The two teams play tonight at 805p on WGN. Javier Vasquez will pitch for the Braves.

They never had a chance

The Braves were behind 3-0 after 2 innings and never had a chance in the game, losing to the Nationals 5-3. Derek Lowe had another poor outing on the mound, giving up 4 runs in 5 1/3 innings. Lowe had a terrible June going 1-3 with a 6.54 ERA, and this outing just continues his slide. Martin Prado was the only bright sport in the offense, going 4 for 4 and increasing his average to .329. Garrett Anderson and Brian McCann did not help things by going 0 for 8 combined and leaving 7 men on base. The Braves start a 3 games series with the Cubs tonight at 705pm. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves.

Lance Lynn threw 5 innings for the Springfield Cardinals last night and got the win. He gave up 2 earned runs, 3 hits, struck out 4 batters, but had 6 walks. He is now 7-2 for Springfield with 47 strikeouts in 66 innings with a 4.05 ERA.

Drew Storen threw an inning for Class A Hagerstown yesterday. He gave up 2 runs on 2 hits with a strikeout in one inning of work. In 8 innings of work, he has 11 strikeouts, but has given up 11 hits and 6 runs for a 6.75 ERA.

I leave for a week and they play well, but when I come back....

The Braves were 5-2 during the week I was in Alaska, however on the day I came back to Indiana, they blew they game in the 8th inning and lost 5-3 to the Nationals. Mike Gonzalez gave up 3 earned runs in 1/3 of an inning to get the loss and Peter Moylan gave up a run to the only batter he faced in the 8th to get a blown save. The bullpen blowup ruined another great start by Tommy Hanson. Hanson pitched 7 innings only giving up 1 earned run and 3 hits while striking out 5 batters. The teams play again today at 135p. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves. The Braves are 3 games behind Philly in the NL East and 5 games out in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn pitches today for the Springfield Cardinals. Game time is 710p eastern.

Drew Storen threw 2 scoreless inning on Thursday while striking out 3 hitters. After a rough start, Storen has only given up 1 run in his last 5 innings, giving up 4 hits and striking out 4.