Braves Set To Take On Pirates
The Braves are all set to take on the Pittsburgh Pirates in a three-game series that begins at 7:35 ET tonight in Atlanta.
Derek Lowe (6-4, 5.30 ERA) will start tonight’s series opener for the Braves, and the Pirates will counter with lefty Zach Duke, who is 3-4 with a 4.47 ERA this season.
Kris Medlen (1-1, 2.57 ERA) will make his fourth start in place of the injured Jair Jurrjens for Atlanta in the second game of the series on Saturday night, and will be opposed by Pittsburgh’s Brian Burres, who is 2-2 with a 5.40 ERA this year.
And the win-starved Kenshin Kawakami (0-7, 4.98 ERA) will start Sunday afternoon’s series finale for the Braves, while lefty Paul Maholm (3-4, 3.98 ERA) will start the finale for the Pirates.
Those are some great pitching matchups, and this should make for a great series, so be sure to come on out to the Ted this weekend and watch the Braves and Pirates play!
Braves Beat Marlins 8-3
Martin Prado, Chipper Jones, Melky Cabrera, and Yunel Escobar combined for nine hits and five runs-batted-in to lead the Braves to an 8-3 win over the Florida Marlins on Thursday night in Miami.
The hot-hitting Prado had three hits and two runs-batted-in, while Jones, Cabrera, and Escobar all had two hits and one rbi apiece as the Braves pounded Florida pitching for 14 hits and eight runs in the game.
Tim Hudson started the game for Atlanta and Ricky Nolasco started for Florida and the game was close through the early innings with the Braves leading 3-2 after four innings after scoring on rbi-doubles by Jones and David Ross and an rbi-single by Prado.
A 77-minute rain delay chased both starters from the game, however, and the Braves quicky pulled away after a scoreless fifth inning, scoring once in the sixth, once in the seventh, and three times in the eighth to win going away.
The Braves’ bullpen was outstanding, with Peter Moylan, Jonny Venters, Takashi Saito, and Billy Wagner combining to pitch 4 and 2/3 scoreless innings, with Moylan (2-0) notching his second win of the season.
Nolasco (4-4) took the loss for the Marlins after allowing eight hits and three runs in his four innings pitched.
The Braves improved to 25-22 with the win, while the loss dropped the Marlins to 24-24.
Braves Rally To Beat Marlins
Tommy Hanson pitched six strong innings to get his fourth win of the season and the Braves scored six seventh inning runs as they rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat the   Florida Marlins 7-3 on Wednesday night in Miami.
Hanson allowed just four hits and two runs in his six innings pitched as he notched his fourth win of the year, and Florida starter Nate Robertson also pitched well, allowing   just two hits and one run in six innings pitched.
The Marlins scored single runs in the first and fifth innings on a solo blast by Hanley Ramirez and an rbi-single by Jorge Cantu, and carried a 2-1 lead into the seventh, but things unraveled for Florida at that point as three Marlins’ relievers (Burke Badenhop, Dan Meyer, and Brian Sanches) surrendered five hits, three walks, and six runs as the Braves rallied from the 2-1 deficit to take a 7-2 seventh inning lead.
The Braves tied the game on an rbi sacrifice fly by Martin Prado, went ahead on a bases loaded walk to Chipper Jones, and then blew the game wide open with four more runs, scoring on a two-run single by Troy Glaus and rbi-singles by Brian McCann and Yunel Escobar.
Peter Moylan and Billy Wagner combined to pitch three innings of one-run ball to close out the game for Atlanta, with Wagner pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
The Braves improved to 24-22 with the win, while the loss dropped the Marlins to 24-23.
Sanchez Pitches Marlins Past Braves
Anibal Sanchez pitched 6 and 1/3 strong innings and won his fourth game of the season as the Florida Marlins beat the Braves 6-4 on Tuesday night in Miami.
Sanchez tossed 6 and 1/3 innings of five-hit, two-run ball at the Braves to get the win, improving his record to 4-2 and lowering his season ERA to 3.23 in the process.
Atlanta starter Kenshin Kawakami pitched six innings of three-run ball, but took the loss for the Braves.
The Marlins scored single runs in the first, third, and fifth innings to open a 3-2 lead, scoring on an rbi-single by Hanley Ramirez, a solo blast by Cameron Maybin, and       an rbi-groundout by Chris Coghlan, and then added three runs in the eighth to put       the game away, scoring on a two-run double by Cody Ross and an rbi single by      Ronny Paulino.
Atlanta scored twice in the third and twice in the ninth, with a two-run double by Brian McCann and a two-run single by Jason Heyward accounting for the Braves’ runs.
Heyward and Martin Prado combined for five of Atlanta’s nine hits, with Heyward going 2-for-4 with two runs-batted-in and Prado going 3-for-5 with a run scored, as they    raised their batting averages to .296 and .314, respectively.
The Marlins improved to 24-22 with the win, while the loss dropped the Braves to 23-22.
Q and A: MarlinManiac’s Michael Jong
Tomahawk Talk recently had the opportunity to run a series of Braves, Marlins, and MLB related questions by Michael Jong of MarlinManiac.com (a GREAT Florida Marlins blog), and with the Braves and Marlins set to play each other this week in a three-game series, the timing couldn’t be better.
Here’s a look at what Michael had to say in response to our questions:
Tomahawk Talk: The baseball “experts” are all over the place in predicting/projecting how the Marlins will do this season. How do you think the Marlins will do this year?
Michael Jong: I think the Marlins are a .500 or so team, around 80-84 wins. The team overplayed its Pythagorean expectation and team WAR totals last season en route to     87 wins and it’s unlikely that some of the overachieving parts, particularly the bullpen, will be as good this year as they were last year.
Tomahawk Talk: What do you like best about the 2010 edition of the Marlins?
Michael Jong: The thing I like the most about the 2010 Marlins is the one-two tandem of Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco. I can be fairly assured that the Fish will have a good shot at winning at least two out of every five games because those two will be going to   the mound. Just having one of those guys would be nice, but having two premium starters in the NL is excellent.
Tomahawk Talk: What is your primary concern about this year’s Marlins team?
Michael Jong: My primary concern about the Fish is their defense. They are currently slightly below average according to most defensive metrics, but they have below average defensive players at six of the nine positions and no premium defenders outside of backup outfielder Brett Carroll. If they can continue to play average defense,     I’ll accept that, but the team is likely to throw around two wins worth of runs away on defense by the end of the year.
Tomahawk Talk: Do you expect the Marlins to make any major player moves at (or before) the trade deadline? And what (if anything) would you like to see the Marlins           do to improve the team?
Michael Jong: I don’t think the Marlins will make any major moves by the trade deadline. If the team is in serious contention, they may bolster the bullpen by adding arms, but those moves will not be for players guaranteed to contribute. Chances are the Marlins  will wing it in terms of any transactions by the deadline, with no major moves being made.
Tomahawk Talk: How would you evaluate the performances of Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez and president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest to date? Are they doing      a good job in your opinion?
Michael Jong: Fredi Gonzalez makes a lot of old school moves of which I am not a fan,   but he handles the players decently enough and does not make egregious errors. He is probably a bit below average as a manager. Larry Beinfest gets a lot of credit for making the team a contender each and every season, and much of it is deserved. I think he is a  bit overrated by those who simply look at the results rather than the process, but he has to be doing something right in order to continue to build this sort of small-market success. He is probably among the top ten front office guys in the game.
Tomahawk Talk: Are the recent issues between Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez over        and done with or is that something that may have a lingering effect on the ballclub?
Michael Jong: You have to suspect that some of it is going to linger. Ramirez has had a reputation for being somewhat lazy and not giving it his all for every play, but few players can deny not dogging it on a play or two. The way Fredi Gonzalez handled it initially had to be part of the reason for Ramirez’ ugly backlash, and I don’t think Ramirez has put that fully behind him. It should not affect the club’s on-field performance, however.
Tomahawk Talk: What are your initial thoughts/impressions of this year’s Braves team?
Michael Jong: I think the Braves have a definite shot at winning the NL East this year,    but it will require a few questions to be answered. There is almost no way that Jason Heyward will continue to play at the pace he is playing, so it is likely that his offensive performance will drop. At the same time, it is doubtful that Nate McLouth will play so poorly all year, so his performance should go up. How that averages out remains to be seen. Also, can the team provide enough offense to supplement their good pitching?
Tomahawk Talk: How do you see the NL East race playing out this year? What’s your projected order-of-finish for the NL East?
Michael Jong: My projected order-of-finish in the NL East is: Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Nationals, Mets.
That has changed slightly with the Nats passing the Mets. New York is completely bereft of starting pitching past Johan Santana and perhaps Mike Pelfrey and Jonathan Niese, but both of those guys are playing a bit over their heads. The rest of the rotation is shot, and the Mets need help defensively. I don’t think they are going anywhere.
Tomahawk Talk: Great stuff, Michael. Thanks for doing the Q and A!
