Braves Win a Close One, After Another Gonzalez Blown Save

The struggles for Braves closer Mike Gonzalez continue as he gave up a solo home run to Stephen Drew in the top of the 9th to tie the game.

But the Braves were able to load the bases in the bottom of the 9th with 1 out. Yunel Escobar then came up and hit a sac fly that drove in Casey Kotchman off Tony Pena to give the Braves the win in the bottom of the 9th. The final score was 4-3 Atlanta.

One bright spot for the Braves was starter Javier Vazquez, who went 7 innings, allowing 2 runs all int eh 1st inning and striking out 10. It was his 2nd consecutive solid start even though he didn’t get the win tonight. At the plate for the Braves Chipper Jones went 1-3 with his 4th home run of the year. Other than that the RBI’s came from a Yunel Escobar sac fly, and a Jordan Schafer RBI single. The Braves bats and closer continue to be the story of the year for the Braves as once again they get a solid outing from their starter jsut to have it blown by Gonzalez. Look for the Braves bats to get going tomorrow against youngster Max Scherzer, who is winless in his major league career.

 

Tonight’s Box Score

Gwinnett Beats Down on the Bison, 9-1

Gwinnett first baseman Barbaro Canizares drove in a season high six runs, as the Gwinnett Braves defeated the Buffalo Bisons 9-1 Wednesday. The Braves improved their record to 16-18 while the Bisons fall to 8-23.

 Canizares started the scoring for the Braves in the 1stwith a bases loaded sacrifice fly to center scoring Gregor Blanco from 3rd. With the Braves holding a 1-0 lead in the 3rd, Canizares ripped a 2-run homer to left giving the Braves a 3-0 advantage. In the 6th inning, with the Braves leading 6-1, Canizares klocked a bases loaded double to center to give the Braves a  9-1 lead.

As for the Braves pitching Charlie Morton was sharp getting his fourth win of the year to push his record to 4-2. Morton worked seven innings, giving up 3 hits and 1earned run while striking out 3. Vladimir Nunez worked a scoreless 8th and 9th. The Braves play the Bison again today at 1:05 pm.

 

 

Last night’s Box Score

Gwinnett Shuts Out Durham 4-0

With another solid pitching performance from Kris Medlen(5-0), the Gwinnett Braves defeated the Durham Bulls by a final score of 4-0. Medlen went 6.2 innings, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 6. With the win and shut out Medlen extended his scoreless innings streak to 20.2 innings on Monday. He also lowerred his ERA to an incredible 0.96!

The G-Braves got their offense from J.C. Holt, who collected to hits while in driving in a run. Brooks Conrad, Brandon Jones and Van Pope all drove in 1 run apiece on Monday. Diory Hernandez,had 1 hit, his team-leading 11th double of the season. The Braves now looking forward, head to Buffalo for a 4 game series against the Buffalo Bisons. The Braves send newly acquired Tony Armas Jr. to the hill at 7:05PM , while Buffalo will send Dillion Gee.

Last Night’s Box Score

Braves Beat the 1st Place Mets 8-3

Tonight the Atlanta Braves have defeated the New York Mets and Johan Santana by a score of……Led by Yunel Escobar and Matt Diaz the Braves scattered 16 hits. Escobar went 3-4 scoring 2 runs and added 1 RBI, while Diaz went 3-5 with 2 RBI’s and scored 1 run. Escobar has had a recent 3-game hot streak, while Diaz has struggled of late so this is good sign for him as he looks to turn his season around.

Derek Lowe also pitched a great game for the Braves, going 6.2 innings, allowing 5 hits, and 2 earned runs, while walking 2 and striking out 1. It was a good rebound from the last outing where he gave up 7 runs. Hopefully Lowe will keep this up. His counterpart Johan Santana went 6.1 innings giving up 2 runs(none earned), walking 1, and striking out 6. Once again Santana was let down by his bullpen and once again D. Lowe was helped out by the bullpen who secured the game for him by shuting down the Mets.

This game marks the 3rd consecutive win for the surging Braves as they look to gain some ground in the standings by beating the New York Mets. Tonight the Braves were helped out by the hot Casey Kotchman, who had 2 hits and added 2 RBI’s. Also Jeff Francouer also added a hit and 1 RBI. It was a big statement win for the 4th place Braves. They look too make it 5 in a row as Jair Jurrjens goes up against Mike Pelfrey.

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight’s Box Score

Kotchman Drives in 3, as Braves Beat the Phillies

Casey Kotchamn continued his recent hot hitting by going 3-5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI’s. Kotchamn gave the Braves a 3-2 lead in the 7th inning with a 2 out, 2-run single and later in the 9th he gave the Braves some breathing room by driving in Greg Norton with a double.  Kotchman said after the game, “I’m just trying to make the most out of my opportunities.” Mike Gonzalez came in and pitched a scoreless 8th inning, while Soriano pitched a perfect 9th to earn his 3rd save and give the win for the now 15-16 Braves.

Along with Kotchman, rookie pitcher Kenshin Kawakami has been hot. He pitched 6 strong innings allowing 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 walks, and striking out 6 batters. This was the second strong outing from Kawakami, who’s strike out numbers have been consistently high, but so haven’t his walks. After the game manager, Bobby Cox said of Kawakami, “He pitched a gutsy game.”

Garret Anderson added 2 hits, 1 RBI, and he also scored a run for the Braves who took 2 of 3 from their division rival Philadelphia Phillies. Chipper Jones went 0-3 and left the game in the 7th inning with a sore elbow and at the moment they are saying he could miss 2-3 games.With Jones out for a few days Omar Infante could see some more playing time. The Braves start a 3 game series with the Mets tomorrow against the New York Mets.

Today’s Box Score