Talking Chop

By winning two-of-three against the San Diego Padres, the Braves now have the best record in the National League. Braves starters allowed just four runs over the three games and could have swept the series had Billy Wagner finished off game two. While some bats like Troy Glaus and Martin Prado have been cooler as of late, Jason Heyward, Alex Gonzalez, and Matt Diaz have been picking up their slack. Eric Hinske got hit in the foot, but it was reported that he has no broke bones. Eric is ruled day-to-day with a foot contusion.

Game 1 Recap

Game 2 Recap

Game 3 Recap

What we liked:

Tim Hudson: Huddy earned his 10th win of the season in the rubber game of the series. With the Braves collapsing in game two, Hudson's performance certainly helped pick up the team. Losing the final game would have been a bad way to end the home stand, but Hudson put together a performance of 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K to end the series on a high note.

Jason Heyward: This was the first time we saw Heyward hitting the ball with authority like we had before his thumb injury. He had a great series, going 7-15 with three RBI, three runs, two doubles, and a stolen base. If Heyward gets hot like he had in the beginning part of the season, he is like the Braves most dangerous offensive weapon.

Alex Gonzalez: Sea Bass had a great series as well, going 7-14 with a double and a triple. Gonzalez also had a very good series in the field, making some slick plays in the final two games. He has yet to homer in Atlanta but he does have two doubles and a triple.

Jair Jurrjens: The Curacao Kid opened up the series with one of his best outings of the year. He struck out seven batters in seven innings and allowed just one run. Jurrjens has been pitching like he had in '09 since his return from the DL and has dropped his ERA all the way down to 4.25.

What we didn't like

Billy Wagner: Wags closed out the first game of the series but blew it in the second. As mentioned before, if he saves that game the Braves sweep, but those things are going to happen so you can't be too upset, especially since the Braves won the series. Billy had been dominant for an extremely long stretch before that outing, so he's allowed to have a bad inning once in a while.

Troy Glaus: Troy hasn't been hitting the ball like he did in May. He went 1-10 with two walks in the series. Thankfully, others are hitting behind or in front of him, but it would be great if Troy started mashing homers against lefties along with Matt Diaz. 

Martin Prado: The All-Star second basemen didn't contribute too much in this series. He went just 2-14 with a double and two walks. Prado will pick it back up, his bat control is too good for him not to. It also wasn't as if he was hitting the ball weakly every at bat, he had some hard liners hit right at people.

Number of the Series: 7

Heyward and Gonzalez had seven hits a piece, and Jurrjens and Hudson each went seven innings to win games one and three. Jair also had seven strikeouts in his performance, as mentioned earlier. The Braves now have a seven game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies, who are now in second place as the Mets fall continues. The former No. 7 for the Braves, Jeff Francoeur, is now on the trading block and has lost his job in the Mets outfield. It was funny how many outsiders were hating that trade for the Braves, especially after how Jeff played at the end of last season. Good thing Frank Wren knows what he's doing, how can any Braves follower not have faith in him?