Look! We gave up three runs or less......and lost!

The Braves continued their all-pitch, no-hit ways last night losing to the Reds 3-1. The team has lost 14 games when the pitching staff has given up 3 runs or less. Atlanta had their chances as they loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning, but Brian McCann grounded into a 5-2-3 double play that killed the rally. They also had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning when Ryan Church grounded into a double play to cap the evening. There were some good performances, though. Derek Lowe gave up 3 runs in 7 innings with Peter Moylan and Kenshin Kawakami each throwing a scoreless inning in relief. Kawakami has been moved to the bullpen due to the return of Tim Hudson to the rotation. Kawakami has been pitching well, so I hope the change in his role will not affect him. On offense, Matt Diaz was 2-for-3 with a walk. Diaz is batting .480 over the last two weeks. Nate McLouth returned to the lineup and hit a solo home run for the only Atlanta RBI of the game. Game two of the series is tonight at 710p. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 8.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 1 game behind second-place Florida. The Braves are 5 games behind Colorado in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn made his AAA debut last night for the Memphis Redbirds. He threw 6-2/3 innings and gave up 2 runs. However, he did not get much run support and ended up with a no-decision. Lynn had 9 strikeouts and gave up 5 hits and 3 walks.

A disappointing evening for Atlanta and Ball State

I was at the Ball State game last night and it was ugly, as they lost to North Texas 20-10. NTU amassed 512 yards of offense against what was supposed to be a strong Ball State defense. The attendance was good as 8,000+ students were part of the crowd of 16,000 on a nice night for football. The one good thing that could come out of this is that the team can't play much worse than they did on Thursday night. Seven of the 11 starters on offense are freshmen or sophomores, so this may be a rebuilding year that could mirror what happened three years ago when Nate Davis, Dante Love, Darius Hill, etc. were all underclassmen and the team was 5-7 and got beat by the likes of IU and North Dakota State. We will see next Saturday when 1-AA New Hampshire comes to Scheumann Stadium to face the Cardinals.

As if it wasn't enough that I had to sit through BSU getting demolished by a team they were favored to beat by 17 points, I was getting mobile updates on the Braves/Marlins game. Of course, the 6th inning came back to haunt us again as they gave up 6 runs in the inning to turn a 3-1 lead into a 7-3 deficit. I knew things were bad when I saw that Buddy Carlyle was pitching. Carlyle mostly pitches in games that are blowouts. Eight of his 17 games have come when the margin was 4 runs or more. The final score was 8-3 as the Marlins salvaged a split of the series. The Braves host the Reds tonight at 735p. Derek Lowe will pitch against Bronson Arroyo in a repeat matchup of the April 25th game when the Braves got to Arroyo early and beat the Reds 10-2. I was in attendance at that game and had a great time, which is expected when your team wins in the visitors park.

The Braves are 8.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and tied with the Marlins in second place. Atlanta is 4 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn is scheduled to make his AAA debut for the Memphis Redbirds this evening. His opponent will be Oklahoma City and former major league pitcher Kris Benson. Game time is 805p EST.

Drew Storen pitched 1-1/3 innings last night for the AA Harrisburg and got his first win for the Senators. He struck out 3 batters and allowed only one hit. Opponents are batting .077 against him in 12 1/3 innings. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has pretty much ruled out a call-up for Storen. I can understand that, as he has pitched a lot this year and Rizzo doesn't want to start Storen's active roster time before he has to. Expect Drew to get a shot at the major league club next spring.

Baseball is a crazy game

In a game where the Braves gave up 5 runs in an inning, they still had a chance to win but could not get over the hump as they lost to the Marlins 8-7 on a walk-off homer by former Brave Wes Helms. Javier Vasquez was cruising along with a 3-2 lead until the 6th inning when he gave up 3 more runs. Kris Medlen relieved Vasquez and gave up 2 additional runs to put the Braves down 7-3 after 6 innings. However, Atlanta fought back, scoring 3 runs in the 7th on a Chipper Jones pinch-hit double to cut the Marlin lead to 7-6. Yunel Escobar homered in the top of the 9th to tie the game at 7. Mike Gonzalez came on the hold the Marlins in the 9th and got the first batter out, but gave up the game winning homer to Helms. Along with Jones and Escobar helping the offense, Adam LaRoche contributed 3 hits to the cause. Martin Prado did not have a good day at the plate, going 0-for-5 and leaving 6 men on base. Overall, the Braves left 12 men on base. Game four of the series is at 710p tonight. Tommy Hanson will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 7.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and one game ahead of the third-place Marlins. The Braves are 4 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race.

Better late than never

After a three hour rain delay, the Braves beat the Marlins 4-3 on a soggy field in Florida. Tim Hudson returned to the mound for the first time in 13 months and had a solid outing. In 5 1/3 innings he gave up 2 earned runs on 6 hits while striking out 5. The bullpen was also very effective as Peter Moylan, Kris Medlen, Mike Gonzalez, and Rafael Soriano only allowed 1 run and 2 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Brian McCann and Matt Diaz each had two hits and McCann and Garrett Anderson each had an RBI. The other two runs were scored on a double play from Chipper Jones and a balk by Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez. Game three of the series is tonight at 710p. Javier Vasquez will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 7.5 games behind Philly in the NL East and 2 games ahead of the third-place Marlins. The Braves are 3 games behind Colorado in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn is scheduled to pitch Friday for the Springfield Cardinals in what should be his last regular season start. The Texas League playoffs start on September 9th and he may get a start in game one or game two in that series.

The outlook was bleak until the 7th inning

The Braves struggled early, but put up 3 runs in the 7th and 2 runs in the 8th to defeat the Marlins 5-2. Omar Infante had a huge two-run triple in the 7th to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. That hit was followed by a David Ross single to put the Braves ahead for good. Adam Laroche and Yunel Escobar each had a RBI in the 8th inning. Kenshin Kawakami showed why he is deserving of a spot in the rotation by throwing 6 innings and only giving up 1 run. For the month of August, Kawakami had a 2.87 ERA in 6 starts and had a record of 2-2, but that was due to the lack of run support (21 runs in 6 games, 3.5 runs per game). Game two of the series is at 710p tonight. Tim Hudson will take the mound for the first time in over a year, as he has been recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Atlanta is 7.5 games behind Philly in the NL East and one game ahead of third-place Florida. The Braves are 3 games behind the Rockies and Giants in the wild card race.

Drew Storen is making a bid for a MLB roster spot, as he recorded his ninth straight save for the AA Harrisburg Senators last night. He struck out two and had no base runners during his inning of work. Storen has not given up a run in 11 innings and has 9 strikeouts over that span. Opponents are batting .059 against him overall and right-handed batters are 0-for-18.

Tucker Barnhart finished his season on a hot streak for the GCL Reds. In his last 5 games, he batted .333 with a double and 3 walks. Compared to his first 9 games when he batted .152, I would say that he just needed to get adjusted to hitting the ball again. Right now, he is 22nd on the depth chart for catchers in the Reds organization, but he is only 18 years old. Once he gets a full season under his belt, he should move up the ladder pretty quickly.

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.

We beat the Phillies so bad, they didn't play the ninth inning

OK, so maybe rain cut the game short in the eighth inning, but a win is a win, as the Braves beat the Phillies 9-1. Atlanta hit four homers off of Philly's Cliff Lee and ushered him out of the door after 5 innings and 6 runs. The Braves didn't need much more after that as Derek Lowe, Peter Moylan, and Mike Gonzalez held the Phillies to one run over 7 innings. Garrett Anderson was 3-for-4 with a homer 3 RBI and Matt Diaz continued his hot streak going 3-for-5 with a homer and 2 RBI. Over the last month, Diaz is batting .439 with 6 homers and 18 RBI. The rubber game of the series is tonight on ESPN at 805pm. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 7 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and one games ahead of third-place Florida. The Braves are 3.5 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race.

Lance Lynn pitches today for the AA Springfield Cardinals. Game time is 3pm EST.

Drew Storen pitched an inning for the Harrisburg Senators last night and recorded his eighth straight save. He was spotless in his one inning of work. In 10 innings for the AA Senators, Storen has allowed only 2 hits and zero runs. Opponents are batting .065 against him including right-handed batters going 0-for-16.

Tucker Barnhart was 1-for-3 with a RBI and a run scored for the GCL Reds yesterday. In his last 4 games, Barnhart is batting .333 after starting the season batting .152. It's too bad that his last scheduled game in on Monday because it looks like he is getting back into the swing of things, pun intended.