Brooks Conrad came through again in the clutch for the Braves, but they weren't able to catch the Cubs who scored five runs before the fourth inning.
Tommy Hanson allowed four earned runs to score in his five innings of work but was also plauged by soft hits and poor defense yet again. Hanson did not pitch well, striking out four and walking four, but he allowed just one extra base hit. Hanson received the loss, making him 8-9 on the season. The defense committed three errors, which is seeming to become a trend in Braves losses.
Aramis Ramirez was the Cub's main offensive force today, scoring Kosuke Fukudome from second on a first inning single and plating Castro on a third inning base hit. Rookie Tyler Colvin had two RBI hits today as well. Together, they had half of the Cub's hits and were responisble for four of their five runs scoring.
Gorzelanny gave the Braves trouble, which was semi-expected. The Cub's lefty pitched seven innings and struck out nine, although he did allowe nine base runners. He allowed just one run to score and pitched a very good game overall.
The Braves will try and take the series tomorrow with rookie Mike Minor on the mound. The Phillies are facing Stephen Strasburg and are trailing late, so the Braves 2.5 game lead in the division may remain in tact. For more on the Braves, check out Talking Chop, the best Braves blog on the planet.