Is the bullpen overworked?

The Braves took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning last night, but two singles and a home run later, they were defeated by the Dodgers 5-4. Rafael Soriano was the goat, giving up the three runs on three hits in the ninth without retiring a batter. Soriano is on a pace to throw 75 innings this year. The last time he threw over 70 innings in a season was in 2007. The next season he only threw 14 innings and was hurt most of the year. The ninth inning of Soriano's ruined a great performance by the rest of the team. Derek Lowe gave up 2 runs in 6-1/3 innings while Eric O'Flaherty and Peter Moylan pitched well in relief of Lowe. Chipper Jones had 3 hits, including a solo homer. Matt Diaz had three hits and an RBI, while Adam LaRoche chipped in with 2 hits and an RBI. The teams play tonight at 1010p. It looks to be a good pitching matchup as Jair Jurrjens will pitch for Atlanta against Chad Billingsley.

The Braves are 7.5 games behind Philly in the NL East and are half a game behind the second-place Marlins. Atlanta is 5.5 games behind San Fran in the wild card standings.

Lance Lynn pitches tonight for the Class AA Springfield Cardinals. It looks to be a tough game as his pitching opponent is Texas League ERA leader Samuel Dedundo. Considering that Springfield's offense has the worst batting average in the league, it looks like the best we can hope for Lance is that he pitches 7 innings and allows less than 3 runs to have any chance at a win.

The Braves have no power, but as long as there is decent pitching we'll be OK

The Braves belted out 14 hits, all singles, as they defeated the Padres 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon. Tommy Hanson threw 6 innings and gave up the 2 runs on 5 hits with 5 strikeouts. Garrett Anderson had a big single in the first inning to give Atlanta the lead. The top 3 hitters in the Braves lineup (Nate McLouth, Martin Prado, and Chipper Jones) were 8-for-13 on the day. The Braves go to LA to play the Dodgers on Thursday night. Game time is 1010p. Derek Lowe will pitch for Atlanta.

Atlanta is 6.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 1/2 game behind the second place Marlins. The Braves are 5 games behind the Giants in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn is scheduled to pitch on Friday night for the Class AA Springfield Cardinals. Drew Storen should pitch for Class A Potomac whenever the next save situation comes around over the next few days.

Hey, we finally won a game

The Braves used a 4-run sixth inning to beat the Padres 9-2. Javier Vasquez was solid, as usual, but this time he got some run support. Vasquez pitched 7 innings and gave up 2 runs while striking out 6. The offense was led by Adam LaRoche's 4 hits and Martin Prado's 3 hits and 3 RBI. Matt Diaz had a weird game, going 1-for-5 with a home run and grounded into 3 double plays. The rubber game of the series is at 335 pm this afternoon. Tommy Hanson will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 6.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 1.5 games behind the second-place Marlins. The Braves are 5.5 games behind Colorado in the wild card race.

Around town here, we are all trying to dry out after almost 4 inches of rain were dumped on us yesterday...

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.

The entire world saw how bad we can be

The Braves were on ESPN last night and didn't put up much of a fight, losing to the Dodgers 9-1. One pitch turned the game towards LA. In the 5th inning, the score was 0-0, with two outs, two runners on base, and an 0-2 count to Matt Kemp, Atlanta pitcher Jair Jurrjens threw a pitch right down the middle of the plate that Kemp hit for a three-run homer. The Dodgers never looked back after that. The Braves offense could only get 5 hits, while the Dodgers had 19. Every pitcher for Atlanta gave up at least one run. The Braves have lost 4 of their last 6 games and are slowly losing ground in the playoff race. They try to get back on track when they travel to San Diego tonight to face the Padres. Game time is 1005p. Kenshin Kawakami gets the ball for the Braves.

The Braves are 7 games behind Philly in the NL East and two games behind second place Florida. Atlanta is 5 games behind the Giants and the Rockies for the wild card.

Lance Lynn pitched for the Springfield Cardinals last night and threw well, leaving the game with a 3-1 lead after 6 innings. However, the Springfield bullpen could not close the game, giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth to lose 5-4. Lance gave up 1 run in 6 innings, giving up 6 hits and striking out 5. He has pitched brilliantly as of late, but has not received any help from the offense. In the last 5 games he has pitched, Lynn has quality starts in all 5 of them but is only 2-2. His ERA over that span is 1.40 and he has 30 strikeouts in 32 innings.

What a good game

The Braves beat the Dodgers yesterday 4-3 in a game where the margin was never more than one run. Derek Lowe had an average outing against his former team, throwing 6 innings and giving up three runs. Peter Moylan (16th hold) and Eric O'Flaherty (12th hold) pitched the seventh inning, while Mike Gonzalez (11th hold) pitched the eighth. Close Rafael Soriano finished the game for his 16th save of the year. Chipper Jones was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and Greg Norton had a clutch pinch-hit RBI in the 6th to give the Braves the lead for good. Adam Laroche had 2 hits and a walk in his return to the Atlanta lineup. The teams will play the rubber game of the series tonight at 805p on ESPN. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves.

The Braves are 7 games behind Philly in the NL East and one game behind second place Florida. Atlanta is 4 games behind the Giants and Rockies for the wild card spot.

Lance Lynn will pitch tonight for the class AA Springfield Cardinals. Game time is 330p eastern. A win today would put him in a tie for the Texas League lead in wins. Lance is also in the top 10 in ERA, WHIP, and strikeouts.

Drew Storen will probably pitch either today or tomorrow for class A Potomac. The team usually gives him 1 or 2 days of rest between outings.