The Braves swept the Marlins yesterday, capping the series with a 5-1 victory. Derek Lowe got the win, pitching 5-1/3 innings on three days rest and giving up only 1 run on 7 hits while striking out 9. The bullpen was brilliant once again, allowing 2 hits in 3-1/3 innings. For the series the bullpen was spectacular, throwing 9-2/3 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits and striking out 16 batters. The pitching depth was only rivaled by the depth on offense for the Braves. In Tuesday's game, part-timer's Eric Hinske and Brooks Conrad had huge hits. On Wednesday, Conrad and back-up catcher David Ross sparked the offense. With season-ending injuries to Chipper Jones and Martin Prado, this is the time for the bench to step up. So far, they have done a great job.
The victory puts the Braves 1.5 games ahead of the Padres in the wild card race. The Braves are off on Thursday and host Philly this weekend. The Padres play the Cubs on Thursday and play the Giants this weekend. The Giants lead the Padres by 2 games in the NL West.
Omar Infante was 0-for-4 rendering his fight for the batting title useless at this point in the season. Infante is batting .323 this year. NL batting leader Carlos Gonzalez was 0-for-5, taking his average to .338. Infante needs to get 7 more hits than Gonzalez over the next three games to keep his hopes alive.
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