Admit it, you cringed when you saw Mike Minor was up against Stephen Strasburg, and it looks like mother nature did too. Friday night’s rain out allowed Freddie Gonzalez to skip the struggling Minor’s start, and give the ball to Brandon Beachy who has been (insert sarcastic tone here) slightly better than Minor this season. The rain also delayed the debut of Andrelton Simmons at shortstop, but by all accounts the youngster is not phased. One last thing, please open your minds and at least look at the reasoning behind batting Beachy eighth with Jose Constanza and Simmons in the line up. It is least disruptive, gives balance, and may possibly allow Simmons to see better pitches. Besides that, the guy that started the whole “pitchers hit eighth” controversy didn’t do so bad with it!

Braves Line Up
Michael Bourn CF
Martin Prado 3B
Brian McCann C
Dan Uggla 2B
Freddy Freeman 1B
Jason Heyward RF
Andrelton Simmons SS
Brandon Beachy P
Jose Constanza LF