Talking Chop

The first and most important aspect of this Houston series, besides breaking the 9-game losing streak and winning three in a row, was how we might look back on this series. This might be when we figured out that this Braves team can win without Chipper Jones, but it can't win without Jason Heyward. In a way, the torch was passed from Chipper to J-Hey this weekend.

Chipper was 0-for-10 with 3 walks in the series. Heyward was 5-for-10 with 2 homeruns, a double, and 6 RBI. Chipper Jones was completely non-existent in this series and we won all three games, and two of them quite decisively. Now Heyward was not the only guy getting hits, but in just about every win his hits or RBIs gave the Braves the lead or keyed a rally that would give the team the lead. This used to be what Chipper Jones was so good at doing.

When the Braves win Chipper hits .222./.391/.444. When they lose he hits .188/.350/.250.
When the Braves win Heyward hits .450/.521/.925. When they lose he hits .098/.260/.244.

That's a stark difference for Heyward, not so much for Chipper. As Heyward goes, so go the Braves.

Here are some more good things from the Braves during the Astros series:

• It's worth repeating that Heyward was 5-for-10 with 6 RBI
• Braves leadoff hitters were 5-for-12, and scored 4 runs
• Troy Glaus was also 5-for-10 with 3 walks and 4 RBI
• Melky Cabrera was 3-for-6 with 2 walks
• The best outing by a starting pitcher was Tommy Hanson, who went 8 dominant innings giving up 2 runs... but Tim Hudson and Derek Lowe only gave up 1 run each in their 6+ and 5 innings of work respectively
• The Braves bullpen pitched 7.1 scoreless innings of relief, walking 3 and striking out 7

The not so good from the Astros series:

• The Braves were only 2-for-5 in stolen base attempts
• As mentioned above, Chipper was 0-for-10 with 3 walks
• Nothing else, really

Obviously this was an exciting series for Braves fans, made so by actually winning games. I knew this Braves team could win, but I was starting to wonder when they would start winning. It is worth saying that we have a chance to collect more of these "wins" when we face the Nationals for three games. Of course, we all should know by now how hard the Nats play the Braves, as if the last four games of last year are any reminder.