We didn't see the ace dominance of Tommy Hanson last night, but we did see an ace's ability to work through trouble and get big strikeouts without his best stuff or command. Hanson struggled with location all night, walking 5 and allowing 9 hits, but some crafty pitching allowed him to escape all those baserunners while only allowing 2 runs en route to his first major league victory.
The bullpen came on for the final 10 outs and held the Orioles scoreless the rest of the way.
Yunel Escobar added the early offense with a 2-run homerun in the first inning. Brian McCann went 4-for-4, including a pair of run-scoring singles. Everyone in the lineup got a hit except for the struggling Kelly Johnson (now just 6-for-his-last-41) and the surprising recent struggle of Chipper Jones (0-for-his-last-12). Chipper's struggles are surprising because they come one the heels of an 8-for-13 stretch -- but that's baseball, sometimes the ball drops for you, sometimes it doesn't.
This is the kind of game the Braves should be playing -- ample offense to go along with good-to-great pitching.
0 recs | 7 comments
I think you can blame Chipper's struggles on a really low .000 BABIP in this stretch.
MichaelProcton - June 13, 2009
I honestly wish we could put him on the DL so his foot can get 100% but our offense isnt strong enough to allow that.
drumzalicious - June 13, 2009
I think DHing him should help a bit. Do we know exactly what is wrong with his foot?
dlkinser86 - June 13, 2009
This is why infante is really missed.
That a boy - June 13, 2009
He's got really bad bunions.
MichaelProcton - June 13, 2009
kotchman needs to come back so we can play martin at 2nd
Heyward is the next crime dog - June 13, 2009
Dont post much, just thought I'd share this.
Unfortunately, Fernando Nieve looks pretty good today for the Muts. I was looking back through his stats, and he had a decent WHIP, K/9, and BB/9 through his minor league years. His H/9 went way up after Tommy John surgery in 2007, and then after a promotion late last year with the Astros he had a nice K/9 but had a problem with the long ball it seems. Astros cut him during spring training (very foolishly trying to get him through waivers early in the spring) and the Muts claimed him. They then snuck him down to AAA late in the spring when rosters were already full. Lucky for them their pitching is so baron, they could afford to take a risk on him. He seems to have gotten his control back, and so far this year hitters have not blasted them over the fences (albeit in AAA). He shut down the Stankees today for his first start. He’s 26 and throws mid-to-upper 90’s. He was a #5 prospect a few years ago with the Astros. Kinda sux cause that’s possibly one hole filled (mid rotation starter) for them without giving up anything. Well any good news for the Mets ruins my day usually, so we need to get this one tonight to help me clear my throat of the … foul taste…..
BabyGoatEater - June 13, 2009
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