That was a disaster

The Braves could only come up with three hits in a 5-0 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night. Tommy Hanson got his second loss of the season by giving up 4 earned runs in 6 innings. Atlanta's three hits were by Chipper Jones, Diory Hernandez, and Greg Norton. Brian McCann left 5 men on base while Garrett Anderson left 3 runners on. The teams play this afternoon at 410p on FOX. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 8 games behind Philly in the NL East and two games behind second place Florida. The Braves are 4 games behind San Fran in the wild card race.

The Braves traded Casey Kotchman to the Red Sox for Adam Laroche. I do not know why they made this trade. The only advantage Laroche has over Kotchman is that he has a little more power. Kotchman is a better hitter, better fielder, younger, and gets paid less than Laroche. I'm sure there is a reason behind the trade, I just don't know what it is.

Brian McCann may have saved the season.....and Mike Gonzalez

The Braves beat the Marlins last night 6-3, but it was an up and down game. The Braves led 3-1 through seven innings on Casey Kotchman's two-run double and a Nate McLouth RBI single. In the 8th inning, Atlanta started Javier Vasquez gave up a solo homer to lead off the inning. Mike Gonzalez relieved Vasquez and allowed the tying run to score. Peter Moylan pitched his way out of a ninth inning mess, then Brian McCann hit a three-run homer in the top of the 10th inning to put the game away. Rafael Soriano pitched the 10th inning for his 15th save of the season. McCann was 3-for-5 in the game with 2 doubles, a homer, 2 runs scored, and 3 RBI. Kotchman was 2-for-3 with 2 walks and 2 RBI. Vasquez was charged with all 3 runs over his 7 1/3 innings. He struck out 8 and only walked one. The Braves host the Dodgers this evening at 735p in the first game of a three-game series. Tommy Hanson will pitch for the Braves.

The Braves are 7 games behind Philly in the NL East and one game behind the Marlins for second place. Atlanta is 4 games behind the Giants in the Wild Card standings.

Drew Storen pitched two innings yesterday for Class A Potomac. He gave up a run in the 8th inning to blow the save, but the Potomac offense scored in the ninth and Drew got the win by pitching a perfect ninth. In his two innings, Storen gave up 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out one batter. It was Storen's first walk issued in 21 innings of work this year.

Expected Result = Actual Result

The Braves were out-manned on the mound last night as they lost to the Marlins 6-3. Kenshin Kawakami gave up 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings to take the loss. Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson threw 6 innings and also hit a home run to help his cause. Garrett Anderson was the only bright spot on offense going 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBI. In his last 5 games, Anderson is 10-for-17 with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 4 RBI. It's nice to see a 37-year-old playing well this late in the season. The final game of the series is tonight at 710p. Javier Vasquez will pitch for the Braves in what is a must-win game to stay alive in the playoff race.

Atlanta is 8 games behind Philly in the NL East and 2 games behind second place Florida. The Braves are 4 games behind San Fran in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn is scheduled to pitch Saturday for the AA Springfield Cardinals. Drew Storen will probably pitch sometime this weekend also as he has been pitching every 3 or 4 days since being called up to Class A Potomac.

Rafael Soriano is not perfect

The Braves snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last night, losing to the Marlins 4-3. The game was tied at two going into the ninth inning when Garrett Anderson hit a solo home run to give the Braves a 3-2 lead. Atlanta turned to their closer Rafael Soriano to shut down the Marlins in the ninth. He walked a batter, then allowed a sac bunt. Pinch-hitter Ross Gload then hit a 3-1 pitch into the right field bleachers to give Florida the victory. Soriano was due to have a bad outing. He had not had a negative WPA outing since June 11th and had not blown a save since May 13th. The rest of the pitching staff had a great game. Jair Jurrjens started and pitched 6 innings and gave up the two runs. Peter Moylan and Mike Gonzalez each threw a scoreless inning of relief. The outlook doesn't look too good tonight when the teams play at 710p. Florida's ace Josh Johnson takes the mound against Atlanta's Kenshin Kawakami. Kawakami has pitched well lately, but Johnson is 9-2 with a sub-3.00 ERA this season.

The Braves are now 8 games behind Philly in the NL East and 1 game behind second-place Florida. Atlanta is 3 games behind in the wild card race.

Drew Storen pitched the ninth inning for Potomac last night. In the inning, he struck out two and allowed no base runners. In three games at Class A Potomac, Storen has struck out 7 of the 14 batters he has faced and allowed only 1 hit.

An off day was a good day

The Braves had an off day yesterday, but that didn't mean that good things did not happen. Atlanta gained half a game on the Rockies in the wild card race and are now 3 games behind Colorado. The Phillies won, so the Braves are 7 games behind Philly in the NL East race. Tim Hudson pitched in a rehab start for Gwinnett and threw very well. In four innings of work, Hudson gave up no runs on 4 hits with 2 strikeouts on 41 pitches. He will pitch three more games at Gwinnett, which would put him on the big club in mid-August at the earliest, although the team may wait until September 1 when the rosters expand to 40 players. The Braves travel to Florida today to face the Marlins in a three game series. Jair Jurrjens will start for the Braves with a game time of 710p.

Lance Lynn had a decent game last night for the Class AA Springfield Cardinals. He went 6 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. He took the loss as Springfield lost 4-3. It was the 4th straight quality start for Lance. In those 4 games he has pitched 26 innings, giving up 4 runs (1.38 ERA) on 19 hits with 8 walks and 25 strikeouts.

We win......but so do the Phillies and Rockies

The Braves jumped on the Brewers late and beat them 10-2. Atlanta led 1-0 after 5 innings, but put up 4 in the 6th and 5 more over the last three innings. Derek Lowe was great in his outing, throwing 6 innings and giving up 2 runs. The offense hit three homers (Brian McCann, Casey Kotchman, Kelly Johnson) and pounded out 12 hits. Nate McLouth made some great plays in the outfield, covering ground like a young Andruw Jones. The Braves are off today, but travel to Florida to meet the Marlins on Tuesday.

The Phillies won, so the Braves are still 6.5 games behind in the NL East. The Rockies also won, which puts Atlanta 3.5 games back in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn takes the mound tonight for the Springfield Cardinals. Game time is 8pm EST.

Good game, we just didn't have enough offense

The Braves kept it close until the 8th inning, but ended up losing to the Brewers 4-0. It was the 10 time that Atlanta has been shutout this year, a mark that leads the majors. Tommy Hanson, fighting off a sore throat, pitched well throwing 7 innings and only giving up 2 runs. Lead-off hitter Nate McLouth had 2 hits, 2 walks, and a stolen base to set the table for the offense, but nobody could get him in. Martin Prado left 5 men on base in his 4 at-bats, as the team left 6 runners for the game. The teams play this afternoon at 205p. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves.

The Phillies won, so the Braves are now 6.5 games back in the NL East. The Rockies also won, which puts the Braves 3.5 games back in the wild card race.

The Brownsburg 10s played TH North in their second game of pool play yesterday. I have not seen a score for that game as of this writing. BBurg plays the district 10 winner at 2pm this afternoon in their final pool play game.

Drew Storen continued his dominance of Class A batters last night by throwing 1-1/3 hitless innings while striking out two for the Potomac Nationals. He has thrown zero walks in 18 innings this season and is holding hitters to a .179 batting average.