We're trying, but we need some help

The Braves beat the Nationals 4-1 last night behind a complete game from Javier Vasquez. Vasquez gave up a walk on three hits with 7 strikeouts. The only run allowed was a solo homer. On offense, Matt Diaz reached base 4 times while Martin Prado had a home run. The teams play today at 105p. Tommy Hanson will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 6 games behind Philly in the NL East and 3.5 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race with 9 games left. The Phillies lost to the Brewers last night, but the Rockies beat the Cardinals 2-1 with a run in the bottom of the ninth.

Ball State travels to Auburn this evening for a 7pm game. BSU is a 32.5 point underdog while the over/under is 56. At least the odds makers think BSU will score double-digit points now....

Our playoffs start today

The Braves begin a stretch of 10 games in 10 days to finish the season. Seven of those games are against Washington, who has the worst record in baseball, and the other three games are against Florida. Seven of the 10 games are at home. To make the playoffs, I think we have to win 8 of those 10 games. That would give us 90 wins and a good shot at the wild card spot. Tonight's game starts at 705p. Javier Vasquez will start for the Braves.

Atlanta is 7 games behind Philly in the NL East and 3.5 games behind Colorado in the wild card race with 10 games left.

Let's get Bobby one more playoff chance

On a day when manager Bobby Cox announced his retirement after the 2010 season, the Braves beat the Mets 5-2. Tim Hudson gave up 2 runs in 6 innings and the bullpen quartet of O'Flaherty, Moylan, Gonzalez, and Soriano held the Mets scoreless over the final 3 innings. Adam LaRoche was "big man on campus" last night as he was 3-for-5 with 2 RBI. Garrett Anderson added two key hits and Kelly Johnson had 2 RBI. The Braves now travel to Washington for a three-game series that will start on Friday. Javier Vasquez will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta gained a game on Philly and Colorado last night. The Braves are 6.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 4 games behind Colorado with 10 games left.

Speaking of "money games", Ball State will face Auburn on Saturday at 7pm on Fox Sports South. BSU will receive $800,000 to play this game, a game where they are going to get thrashed by 30+ points. But, the money will fund most of the Cardinal sports with the exception of football and basketball, so it is a good thing for the Athletic Department overall. Also, according the Southeast Missourian, the Cardinals will travel to Southeast Missouri State to play the SMS Redhawks on Sept 2, 2010. BSU will pay $275,000 to play this Division 1-AA (I refuse to use the new vernacular) school. Such is life in big time college football.....

Winner, winner......but we stil can't score runs

The Braves beat the Mets last night 3-1 with brilliant pitching and a timely hit. Jair Jurrjens showed why he is one of the best young pitchers in the league by throwing 7 innings of one-run ball. He is now 13-10 on the season with a 2.70 ERA. Peter Moylan pitched the eighth and Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 25th save of the season. Yunel Escobar had a single in the 4th inning that scored two runs and he scored in the ninth on a Adam LaRoche single. The final game of the series is tonight at 710p. Tim Hudson will get the start for the Braves.

Atlanta is 7.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 5 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race with 11 games to go. The Braves are 12-8 over their last 20 games and have not been able to gain ground on either team.

Drew Storen was named the top pitching prospect in the Nationals organization by Baseball America. He should be closing out games in Washington in two years, if not next year.

The odds makers do not like Ball State's chances against Auburn on Saturday. BSU is a 33 point underdog with an over/under of 52. That means that they don't see the Cardinals hitting double digits on offense....which is very possible.

The Braves come out swinging

The Braves scored all 11 of their runs in the first three innings as they beat the Mets 11-3. Derek Lowe gave up 3 runs in 5 innings to get his 15th win of the season. Kenshin Kawakami pitched the final four innings for his first save. Garrett Anderson and Chipper Jones each had a homer in the first two innings. Jones had 4 RBI in the game while Martin Prado had 3 hits. Game two of the series is tonight at 710p. Jair Jurrjens will pitch for the Braves. Atlanta is 8 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 5 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race with 12 games left.

Ball State is a 33-point underdog at Auburn on Saturday. Game time is 7pm. Auburn has a good offense this year and a decent defense. BSU has neither. This is going to be a really ugly game.

Ugly games all around

The Braves lost to the Phillies yesterday 4-2 in a game that included a 2-hour rain delay. Tommy Hanson started for the Braves and gave up 4 runs in 5 innings. Hanson is now 10-4 with a 2.85 ERA and has a decent shot at the NL Rookie of the Year. The bullpen was very good as Kris Medlen, Boone Logan, and Eric O'Flaherty scattered 3 hits over 4 shutout innings to give the Braves a chance. The offense, however, was not productive. The team had 7 hits and left 8 men on base. Matt Diaz gave the Braves a 1-0 lead with a RBI single in the first inning while Brian McCann had a pinch-hit single in the ninth inning to keep Atlanta's hopes alive. However, Nate McLouth struck out as the tying run at the plate to end the game. The Braves travel to New York to face the Mets at 710p tonight. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 8.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 5.5 games behind the Rockies with 13 games left to play. It does not look good.....

The Redskins combined their great defense with some poor offense in defeating the Rams 9-7. Shaun Suisham kicked three field goals and the Skins defense held off the Rams last-ditch effort to get into field goal range with under two minutes to go, but those were the only bright spots. The offense was held to 3.8 yards per rush, in addition to not getting the 1 or 2 yards needed when trying to get a first down. When you have 20 more plays than you opponent and hold the ball for 10 more minutes, you should win the game by more than 2 points. The Skins play the Lions next week as the "easy" part of the schedule continues.

Braves win...again!!! Ball State loses...again!!!!

The Braves continued their good ways by beating the Phillies last night 6-4. The Braves have won 8 of their last 9 games. Javier Vasquez was "lights-out", as usual, pitching 7 innings allowing no runs on three hits and three walks while striking out 6. He is 14-9 on the season with a 2.91 ERA. Braves closer Rafael Soriano had a difficult ninth inning as he gave up 4 runs to make the game closer than it should have been. Adam LaRoche was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI to lead a balanced offense. The final game of the series is today at 135p. Tommy Hanson will pitch for the Braves.

Atlanta is 7.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East and 4.5 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race with 14 games left.

The Ball State football team lost their third straight game this season, and fifth straight loss overall, losing to Army 24-17. Freshman QB Kelly Page struggled again, throwing for 154 yards and 1 TD, but had 3 INTs including the pick-6 that gave Army the lead for good in the middle of the 4th quarter. Backup QB Tanner Justice was 7-for-11 for 100 yards and one INT, but the INT wasn't his fault as he was hit as he let the ball fly. Page also led the team in rushing with 58 yards and a TD. MiQuale Lewis was held in check again running 12 times for 17 yards. Unfortunately, BSU travels to Auburn next week where they will be a 4-touchdown underdog.