Okay people, you have proven you cannot be trusted. I leave you with the big boys for a week, and I come back to an eight game losing streak. It is perfectly fine, I was not at all busting it working SEC baseball or anything. It is possible that sleep is overrated and leaving the city will never be necessary. On second thought, you guys just need to learn how to handle these boys!

Was it so hard to get Freddy Freeman his Oakley’s? Can nobody deal with FedEx? What took so long? Again, not to worry, the goggles are here, and obviously did the trick with a first at bat home run by Freeman. Granted, it was solo because Brian McCann, who needed me to bring him an IV bag after suffering from the flu, hit a two run homer. Which reminds me, all you who said “it’s just the flu,” have never had the flu. Here’s a hint, when you call in to work with a 24-hour stomach flu, you have misdiagnosed yourself. That is merely a hangover, and while you may feel as if you may die, you will not if you make it long enough to feel that bad. The flu is a different story. They have a shot for a reason! » Continue reading “MUST I DO EVERYTHING AROUND HERE? BRAVES START NEW STREAK…AFTER I GET BACK IN TOWN”

Last night the Braves started their Memorial Day Weekend series to the Washington Nationals and lost 7 to 4. All runs scored by the Nationals were in the first and seventh inning.

The Braves are set to take on the Nationals again today at 4:05 p.m. Probable pitchers are below.

For the Braves we have Mike Minor 2- -4, 6.96 ERA. “The long ball has been Minor’s nemesis in the last month. He has allowed multiple home runs in four of his past five starts, including giving up four solo shots to Cincinnati in his last start. Still, his ERA dropped after that outing.”

For the Nationals we have Stephen Strasburg 4-1, 2.21 ERA. “Despite having forearm tightness, Strasburg is expected to make his next start on Saturday against the Braves. He’s coming off a game in which he hit his first Major League home run against the Orioles.”

Good luck this weekend Bravos lets hope Minor can step it up today!

Braves go into pivotal weekend series with NL East leading Washington Nationals at Turner Field.

Braves swept by Reds in Four on way to weekend Series with Nationals

The Atlanta Braves (26-20) were blown away by the Cincinnati Reds this weekend, losing a four game series to them for the first time since 1980.  Injuries (Chipper has missed five straight games since series with Rays with a bruised lower left leg) and illness (McCann has the flu, missed 3rd straight game & Freddie Freeman has been out with ‘vision problems’) coupled with poor pitching, the Braves lost leads twice in this series.

» Continue reading “Braves Swept by Reds on Way to Divisional Series w/ Nats”

The Braves are making a charge to be relevant in the National League.

The Braves (25-16) are heading into the rubber match of their first inter-league series with the Tampa Bay Rays (25-16) with Tim Hudson starting against their ace James Shields, a lifetime Braves fan. The series has been split so far, with the Fridays’ 5-3 win for the Braves and a 5-2 victory for the Rays. Rookie starting pitcher Randall Delgado was roughed up last night, for the second in three starts allowed a grand slam to dictate the chances of victory. Delgado’s final line: 4IP, 3hits, 4 ER, 2SO, 5 BB and a grand slam, hit by Matt Joyce in the 3rd inning.

However, the Braves line-up has been the MVP of the first half of the season, helping the pitching warm-up through May. Notables: 3B Chipper Jones will be out for his second straight game with a left calf contusion. He will not undergo any MRI’s or x-rays, according to the Braves.com. Facts of note: Braves have the best winning percentage in the Majors since April 10 (after starting season 0-4). The Braves are also in the top 10 in batting average, hits, on base percentage and slugging percentage (4th, 3rd, 6th, & 7th, respectively).

Lifelong Braves fan and Rays ace David Price will not be throwing any heat against Chipper Jones in this series.

SP- David Price
2012 season
6-2, 3.10 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 45 Ks
vs. Braves last 5 years
1-0, 3.60 ERA, 2.20 WHIP, 7 Ks

Check out prospective line-ups here, via MLB.COM:

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_05_20_atlmlb_tbamlb_1&mode=preview&vkey=preview_web_away&c_id=atl#gid=2012_05_20_atlmlb_tbamlb_1&mode=lineups

Information used in this article from mlb.com, braves.mlb.com, ajc.com, espn.com.

After an 0-4 start, the Atlanta Braves are 25-11 since with the best road record in the National League. Most are as surprised as they are excited that the offense has made such a dramatic turn around, except for Randall Delgado. The Braves youngster seems to be the only one not feeling the love from the Atlanta bats. The Braves are at the top in runs scored, yet are scoring a run or less for Delgado. Let’s hope they can battle for him today. He is just a kid- he will take it personal at some point!

INJURY UPDATE: Chipper Jones will likely have a large cheering section that will only see him bring the lineup card out. Chipper’s family made the short trip to Tampa, but a liner to the calf will be doubtful for the next two days. His teammates have probably already given their medical advice- put a glove on it, and call me in the morning!

Tonight the Braves took a shot at the Reds right-hander with the best ERA in baseball, Johnny Cueto. “Cueto has been as good as he’s ever been this season. He hasn’t allowed a run in 16 innings over his past two starts and just one run over his past 23 innings. He has a team-high six quality starts out of seven outings.”

The Braves had 12 hits. Michael Bourn had hits in three consecutive at-bats, Brian McCann had two hits and a homer and Martin Prado was 3-for-4.

“Chipper Jones singled to drive in his 11th run in the past 11 games and move within 13 RBIs of the all-time lead among third basemen. And the Braves are now 17-5 with Jones in the starting lineup this season.”

 Pitching on the mound for the Braves tonight was, Tim Hudson. Hudson pitched seven strong innings, allowing two runs, to move to 145-5 in games over his career when his team supplies four or more runs while he’s on the mound.

Hudson, now 2-1 with a 3.96 ERA in four starts back from the disabled list, could unwind and pitch assertively.

Tomorrow the Braves take on the Miami Marlins at Turner Field. 

Lauren Shantha, Follow Lauren on Twitter @lshantha

There has been much debate over why Dan Uggla was not charged with an for not covering second base as Tyler Pastornicky fielded a Todd Frazier hit ball. Just to clarify, Pastornicky gets the error because the runners were going with the pitch on a full count and two outs.

The first thing you learn playing defense in little league is the play is at first with two outs, so even if the runners had not been in motion, the play was still at first base. (at the very least, the runners were going on contact, making a force out difficult at best. Two outs, run on anything is one of the first rules of base running.) » Continue reading “Braves: Who’s Not on 2nd?”

Don Sutton said on a Braves Radio Network broadcast that he was convinced that Chipper studied theater in the off season. I on the other hand, think it was a mandatory team activity- kind of a Banding People Together team building activity. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go check it out!) If you look at this young season in the musical drama terms, it is shaping up as a rock opera.

Noun 1. Albums of rock music that aspired to the status of art; first appeared in the 1960s.[Wordnet].

Rock operas, concept albums, song cycles and oratorios all differ from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are unrelated to each other in terms of storyline. The rock opera style sometimes overlaps with concept albums, song cycles and oratorios. More recent developments include metal opera and rap opera (sometimes also called hip-hopera). The category a particular work falls into is, to some extent, defined by the intent and self-definition of the work by its creator, as long as the creator’s interpretation does not stray too far from the accepted definition of what constitutes a rock opera. The formal distinction may be that the rock opera tells a coherent (if sometimes sketchy) story, often with first-person lyrics sung by characters; while a concept album or song cycle sets a mood or maintains a theme. Some albums share characteristics of more than one category. Opera consists of individual singers acting out a specific character within a drama. The same is also true of a legitimate rock opera. If a work consists of singers who sing a story, but do not act it out, it is not a rock opera, and should not in the traditional sense, be categorized as such.

Not seeing the correlation? Atlanta is using a collaboration well beyond five part harmony, a variety of instruments, a coherent (if sometimes sketchy) story mostly sketchy, and most importantly, individual singers giving a dramactic performance, not merely singing the lyrics. » Continue reading “Braves Banding Together”

Atlanta Braves @ St. Louis Cardinals
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Mo

Braves 19-12, 11-8 away. 2nd place in N.L. East, .5 games behind Washington Nationals.

- Braves are 3rd in N.L. in runs scored (164), 5th in B.A. (.265)
- LF Martin Prado to play in series.
- Chipper’s last trip to Busch Stadium.

Cardinals 20-11, 8-4 @ home. 1st place in N.L. Central.

- Took Wild Card lead during Braves epic collapse in 2011.
- Coming off series sweep of Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Longtime Braves nemisis Lance Berkman to come off disabled list with strained left calf.
- Leagues National League in wins (20) joining Tampa Bay Rays & Texas Rangers atop MLB.
- Beltran 2nd in league with 10 home runs. Jon Jay 3rd in N.L. with .379 ERA, Furcal 5th with .361 ERA.
- DEFENDING WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS.
- Retiring former manager Tony LaRussa’s number.

Probable Starters:
» Continue reading “SERIES PREVIEW: BRAVES @ CARDINALS”

Cole Hamels received a five game suspension and a undisclosed fine after intentionally hitting Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper with a pitch during Sundays 9-3 loss to the Phillies. Hamel started serving his suspension the day after his clash occurred.

After the game, Hamels said he intentionally hit Harper in the lower back in the first inning.

When you think about his punishment on the grand scheme of things, five games are nothing. At most, Hamels will be missing one game.

 
» Continue reading “Cole Hamel Might Deserve a Little More Than Five Games…”