Chipper and the bullpen come through again

If this was last year, we would have lost this game as soon as Chuck James came out, with that horrible bullpen, if they would've had to work four innings, we'd be lucky to get out of their with them giving up less than, oh, three or four runs. But it's not last year, it's this year and we have a totally rebuilt bullpen, a great bullpen. After Chuck James, who was dealing before the sixth inning, was chased out of the game thanks to a game tying three-run homer by Ryan Howard, we had to turn to our bullpen a little earlier than expected.

and Mike Gonzalez is currently 1-0 1.59 ERA with a 1.50 WHIP while But our bullpen pitched four scoreless innings in which they allowed a combined one hit. Our biggest transaction from the offseason, Mike Gonzalez, was just plain filthy once again, striking out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard back-to-back in a scoreless eighth inning. If you remember, we traded our left-handed slugging 1st baseman, Adam LaRoche, to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for their lights out closer, Gonzo. It was a move that was frowned upon by some because of the loss of offense, more notably the homeruns. But seeing as how we lead the NL and I believe the Majors in homeruns LaRoche is currently hitting .132/.245/.253 3 HR 11 RBI and Mike Gonzalez is currently 1-0 1.59 ERA with a 1.50 WHIP while. I may be a little biased but I would say we got the best of that deal and oh yeah we got a little prospect named Brent Lillibridge too, who is hitting quite well in AA.

Widely regarded as our top overall prospect and the number one catching prospect in the majors, Jarrod Saltalamacchia made his major league debut. Although he didn't get a hit in the game, he showed me at least a lot of promise. He went 0-2 with a walk and got hit by a pitch, he also threw out Jayson Werth at second in the second inning. Each at-bat he worked the count by taking pitches and fouling off pitch after pitch and nearly missed a double down the right field line that could've scored two runs in the 6th. Later in that at-bat in the sixth he was hit on the upper right arm by a pitch by Freddy Garcia, who was relieved by Geoff Geary right after that. Later in the sixth Salty was thrown out at home by the "Flyin' Hawaiian" Shane Victorino. It is almost a certain thing that Saltalamacchia will be traded sometime this season for pitching help and honestly until last night I had no real problems with that, because he could bring a load of good players and or highly touted prospects but I am now rethinking that. He showed great plate discipline last night, great power as he was about 3 feet from a homerun in his first at-bat and he showed that his defense isn't as big as a question as it was believed to be. I would love to see either him or Brian McCann making the switch to first base that way we can have both of those talented young men in our lineup. But we'll see, something tells me we'll still trade him.

"You're always going to have nerves your first game in the big leagues," he said. "After that first at-bat, I settled down a little bit."

Braves third baseman, Chipper Jones, continued his hot hitting by going 1-3 with a two-run double in the third inning. He also walked for the 19th time this season. Chipper is hitting .318/.421/.692 with 10 HR 22 RBI after tonight, just amazing, simply amazing. And better yet, he's played in all 27 games for the Braves, with no sign of injury or slowing down. Willie Harris is quickly making us forget about Ryan Langerhans as he's already done more in his three games as a Brave than Langerhans did in the 20+ games he was in Atlanta. Harris went 2-3 last night with an RBI single in the 6th scoring Scott Thorman. Harris also made a great diving catch in left field last night to rob former Brave, Wes Helms of a hit in the ninth inning.

"I just want to go out there and earn the respect from my teammates, let them know I play the game hard," said Harris.

WP: Chad Paronto(1-0)
LP: Freddy Garcia(1-2)
SV: Rafael Soriano(2)

HR: PHI- Ryan Howard(4)

The next Braves game is on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. We have John Smoltz going and they have Brett Tomko going. The game starts at 7:35 pm ET and it's on TBS.

News Flash: Mark Redman still sucks

I could honestly finish up this post in very few words, "Mark Redman sucks and he cost the Braves yet another win" and be done with it, but I don't think I will, because a lot of huge story lines emerged from this game. The first major story line happened in the second inning, when Rod Barajas' backswing hit Brian McCann's catching hand and knocked off his glove. He tried to walk it off and return to the game, but he was forced to leave shortly thereafter because he couldn't hold onto Redman's pitch and let it get by him that led to the Phillies first run. Brian was taken to get x-rays on his hand, which were negative, he is currently listed as day-to-day with a bruised left ring finger, the same finger he injured against the Met's last week while trying to put down a bunt. And then again, more bad lucked struck in the top of the ninth inning when Braves back-up catcher, Brayan Pena was struck in the back of the head off another Phillie backswing, this time by rookie, Greg Dobbs.

"You need your fingers to catch a baseball," McCann said. "When one of them is giving you trouble, it's tough to do your job."

It isn't known right now if Brian McCann or Brayan Pena will be able to play tonight against the Freddy Garcia and the Phillies. If neither are able to catch then that could mean, Blue-Chip prospect, Jerrod Saltalamacchia, would be making his major league debut. Saltalamacchia, or "Salty" is currently hitting .309 with 6 homeruns, 7 doubles 13 RBI's and 13 walks in 22 games while in AA Mississippi. If Salty isn't brought up then it would most likely be Corky Miller who is in AAA Richmond or Craig Wilson, who is on our 25-man roster would get the start tonight.

For the Phillies starter, Cole Hamels, he started off really bad giving up three runs in the first inning, but he settled down very quickly. He ended up going 7.1 innings while giving up four runs, all of which were earned, he gave up nine hits, walked three batters and struck out six. Not his greatest performance, but it was enough to hold off the Braves and get the Phillies first win against the Braves.

There was some good parts of this game though, for instance Chipper Jones became the League Leader in homeruns by hitting two last night. His first was a two run homer in the 1st inning and then again in the eighth inning, both came off of Hamels. He passed up Phillies shortstop, Jimmy Rollins who has nine homers, Chipper now has ten. The other good news was our bullpen. They were forced to pitch over seven innings and only allowed two runs, Villarreal went 2.1 innings allowing one run and striking out four, Peter Moylan went three innings allowing one run, a homer to Barajas and striking out one and then Chad Paronto and Steve Colyer both went one inning apiece.

Mark Redman was about as effective as this guy in life. It was thought that his starts couldn't get any worse, I mean the guy was sporting a 10.16 ERA before the game, but somehow he found a way to suck even worse. First of all, he only went 1.2 innings, he gave up 4 runs, struck out one and walked three. And he injured one of our best players, McCann, if Brian wouldn't have had to stretch out his arm to catch the 69 MPH heat Redman was throwing, maybe he wouldn't have been injured. Hopefully he'll get busted for picking up and undercover cop, looking for a good time or something and never has to disgrace the Atlanta Braves uniform again by wearing it.

WP: Cole Hamels(3-1)
LP: *Mark Redman(0-4)
SV: Tom Gordon(5)

HR: ATL- Chipper Jones,2(10) PHI- Rod Barajas(2)

The next Braves game is tonight against the same Phillies, we have Chuck James going and they have Freddy Garcia pitching. The game starts at 7:35 PM ET and it's going to be on ESPN.

*= Fuck that guy

We're going STREAKING walking!

What's the best way to counter getting beat by a walkoff homerun? Winning by a walkoff homerun, of course. In the 9th inning of the Braves game against the Phillies, Andruw Jones connected on a three-run shot with one out against "Six Finger's McGee" aka Antonio Alfonseca. I didn't post what happened Sunday, but we were beaten by the Colorado Rockies on a Matt Holliday walkoff homerun in the 11th inning.

Tim Hudson was playing with a heavy heart as he had just lost his former college teammate, Josh Hancock and his grandmother, but he wanted to play and he pitched yet another gem. He went eight and allowed just four hits, all singles, and one walk. Unfortunately, three of the four hits he gave up came in one inning, the 6th, in which he gave up two runs, one came courtesy of a Chase Utley sacrifice fly that scored Jimmy Rollins and then an RBI single by Ryan Howard that scored Shane Victorino.

In the bottom of the sixth-inning Chipper Jones came back and tied the game at two with a solo shot to center, it was his 8th of the season.

In the eighth inning, we blew a great chance to take the lead for Hudson when Brayan Pena, who came in and hit for Hudson, grounded out to the pitcher with runners at third and second. Mike Gonzalez came in for the ninth to replace Hudson and to say he was excellent was an understatement. He was absolutely lights out, he faced the Phillies best hitters, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell(I use "best" lightly here) all went down almost as fast as they came up. Gonzalez mixed his 94 MPH fastball, 85 MPH slider and his 83 MPH change up so well, he got Utley to pop up, Howard to ground out and struck out Burrell.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kelly Johnson led off the inning with a single. Next up was Edgar Renteria who laid down a bad bunt and the Phillies got KJ at second. Chipper was then walked in favor of Andruw who as you know, ended the game in one swing.

WP: Mike Gonzalez(1-0)
LP: Antonio Alfonseca(1-1)

HR: ATL- Chipper Jones(8) and Andruw Jones(5)

The Braves next game is tonight against the Phillies, they have Cole Hamels going and we have Mark "fuckin" Redman. Spare me!

Note: Braves starter, Tim Hudson, was granted special permission to wear "J.H." on his left shoulder in memory of his fallen teammate, Josh Hancock. And Willie Harris, who was called up when we traded Langerhans, went 1-3 with a walk.

No need for extra baseball today.

Unlike the previous two games, the Atlanta Braves didn't need extra innings to complete the 3-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. Braves starter, Chuck James pitched 5 strong innings allowing just one run, striking out five and walking just one batter. James probably could've went at least another inning, but seeing as how he had already thrown 92 pitches, Bobby Cox went to his rebuilt bullpen. The Braves offense jumped on Phillies starter, Adam Eaton in the first inning when the greatest catcher ever created, Brian McCann hit a 2-run single that scored Chipper Jones and Edgar Renteria. By the way, before I continue, I would like to give Brian McCann's parents a big thumbs up, keep up the good work, we could use another left fielder. Just saying. Our offense struck again in the 5th inning, putting up 6 runs. Kelly Johnson got his first hit of the season, a 2-run homer off of Adam Eaton. Two batters later, Andruw Jones got his first RBI of the young season, scoring Chipper Jones off of a double to deep center. Also knocking in his first run of the year was often criticized on the Braves Journal, Jeff Francoeur's RBI single. And the final two runs came courtesy of Scott Thorman's 2-run double.

Everything went smoothly until the bottom of the ninth, when Macay McBride relieved Tyler Yates. McBride walked the bases loaded and was only able to get one out, a Chase Utley fly out. To avoid anymore damage done by McBride, Cox called for his bullpen and in came Chad Paronto. Paronto, although he's pitched great in the previous two games, didn't fair any better as he walked the first batter he saw and walked in the a Phillies run. He was able strike out Aaron Rowand before walking Shane Victorino and forcing Bobby Cox to go to his bullpen yet again, this time in favor for the electric right arm of Rafael Soriano. Soriano needed only one pitch to end the game as he got Carlos Ruiz to pop out to Edgar Renteria.

So there you have it, the self proclaimed "team to beat in the East" was swept in three games to their hated rivalry. Oh and also, Philadelphia has some pretty shitty fans. First of all they boo their own players, mostly Pat Burrell. Now i'm not saying I like Burrell, cause I don't, but still you gotta feel bad for him a little, I mean the guy is currently leading them in batting average (.364), but yet you wouldn't know it by the fans reaction to him coming to bat. And the other thing I would like to weigh in on is the constant drunk idiots throwing shit on the field. The whole entire game there was paper, plastic bags, and cups constantly being thrown on the field and coming into play. Also towards the end of the game, some pussy threw a beer bottle at Braves' left-fielder Ryan Langerhans. Luckily the fan had an arm like their pitchers and missed. Ha, burrrrrn!!!

WP: Chuck James (1-0)
LP: Adam Eaton (0-1)
SV: Rafael Soriano (1)

HR: Kelly Johnson 1(1)
RBI: Kelly Johnson 2(2), Brian McCann 2(6), Andruw Jones 1(1), Jeff Francoeur 1(1), Scott Thorman 2(3)

The Braves next game will be our Home Opener on Friday versus the fucking New York Mets at 7:35 PM et. We will be handing the ball to recently signed, Mark Redman and the Mets will be going with Oliver Perez.

Thor caps off another extra innings thriller.

This game was an old fashioned pitchers dual. The Phillies' Cole Hamels was lights out in his 7 innings of work, striking out 8 Braves and walking only 1. He did give up 4 hits but all were singles and did no harm. He had his change working on a very cold night in Philadelphia and it was seemingly his go-to pitch when he needed a strike out. Tim Hudson was equally as good last night, he also went 7 innings. But unlike Hamels, Hudson did throw one mistake, a mistake that catcher, Carlos Ruiz jumped all over a Hudson slider in the 5th inning with his first home run of the year. That was the only run Hudson surrendered and 1 of only 2 hits against him. When Mike Gonzalez came into to replace Hudson he gave up a walk to Rollins. Rollins then scored on a double down the line by the Flyin Hawaiian, Shane Victorino, but Victorino decided it was a good idea to try and steal third on Brian McCann, and well Shane quickly learned that you don't run on BMAC, McCann gunned him down at third and it proved to cause the Philles another run because two batters later Chase Utley doubled to deep right, but Jeff Francoeur kept up his reputation by gunning down Ryan Howard at the plate.(Frenchy actually hit Kelly Johnson who then threw out Howard.)

The top of the 9th was when it got very interesting especially when Mr. McCann came up to bat. Jeff Francoeur led off the inning with a double into the right-center gap and the came Brian McCann, and before I tell you what he did, I should mention that I actually called it about 10 minutes before he came up to bat. From the Braves Journal:

Jay10
#218. April 4th, 2007, at 8:18 PM.

Way to redeem your self BMac, but you know what would be even better...another two run homer…

And at 8:26 PM, Brian McCann hit a two-run homerun(2) off of Phillies' closer, Tom "Flash" Gordon to tie the game. I know, I know, I just made Miss Cleo my bitch on that one. In the bottom of the 9th, Rafael Soriano came in and sat the Phillies down in order, including striking out Aaron Rowand to end the inning. In the top of the 11th Scott Thorman came up huge with a clutch, game-winning solo homerun off of Ryan Madsen. Thorman has the greatest nickname for a power hitter, "Thor"the God of Thunder. And Bob Wickman came in the 11th to finish off the game striking out Aaron Rowand once again, to end the game this time. I know it's early but this Braves team is pretty fun to watch, look out Philly and New York, we're coming.

WP: Chad Paronto (1-0)
LP: Ryan Madsen (0-2)
SV: Bob Wickman (1)

HR: Brian McCann 1(2), Scott Thorman 1(1)
RBI: Brian McCann 2(4), Scoott Thorman 1 (1)