SB Nation Atlanta - Braves Come Back, Win Series With Walkoffhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2010-08-29T17:50:03-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/14188432010-08-29T17:50:03-04:002010-08-29T17:50:03-04:00Braves Comeback, Win Series With Walkoff
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<p>The Braves were staring right at a series loss with a 6-1 deficit in the seventh inning, but the resilient group came back and took an important game three against the Marlins. Fresh off of being swept by the Rockies, a huge comeback on the final day of a home set against a division rival was exactly what the team needed.</p>
<p>The team scored three runs in the final two innings of the game and won 7-6. In the eighth inning, Eric Hinske hit a two-run double, and both he and Brian McCann scored on an error by Gaby Sanchez to make it a 6-4 contest. In the ninth, Matt Diaz hit a two run homer to score Brooks Conrad. Brian McCann was up three batters later and ended the game with a walkoff home run. </p>
<p>Derek Lowe pitched terribly but the bullpen was able to keep the game in reach with six scoreless innings. Christian Martinez went four innings and allowed just one earned run. His 78-pitch performance was critical. Jonny Venters and Takashi Saito, who earned his second win, also pitched scoreless innings.</p>
<p>Next up is a three-game home set against the New York Mets, starting tomorrow night at 7:10 pm.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/8/29/1657418/braves-comeback-win-series-withBenDuronio2010-08-28T23:58:18-04:002010-08-28T23:58:18-04:00Braves End Losing Streak, Stomp Marlins 12-3
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<p>The Braves’ offense was all the way turnt up for this one, as the Braves put up 6 runs in the second inning and continued to pile up runs throughout the game. Matt Diaz lead off the bottom half of the second inning with a solo home run and Brian McCann capped it with a bases clearing double. Prado matched a career best 5 RBIs, including a 2-run home run off Burke Badenhop in the seventh. Eric Hinske, relieving Derrek Lee of first base duties, also went deep Saturday night. Lee was removed for precautionary reasons with a right side strain. After the game, Bobby Cox noted that Lee may be held out from the series finale Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>On the other side of the ball, Tim Hudson continued his Cy Young caliber performance, giving up 1 earned run over 7 innings, while striking out a career best, 13 batters. This win puts Hudson at 15-5 on the season with a 2.24 <span class="caps">ERA</span>. Hudson earned a standing ovation from the Turner Field crowd after he struck out the first two batters of the game, surpassing the 1,500 strikeout mark for his career.<br>
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The Braves’ NL East division lead holds steady at 2 games, as the Phillies beat the Padres 3-1 Saturday afternoon. Head on over to <a href="http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/8/28/1656331/hudson-dominates-braves-offense">Talking Chop </a>for further analysis.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/8/28/1656482/braves-end-losing-streak-marlinsMatt Taylor2010-08-28T09:13:00-04:002010-08-28T09:13:00-04:00Talking Chop Recaps Friday Night's Braves 7-1 Loss To Marlins
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<p><a href="http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/8/27/1654964/just-one-of-those-days-as-marlins">From Talking Chop</a>:</p>
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<p>Did the Braves dig up a Native American burial ground on their way out of Chicago? Maybe Bobby Cox inherited the Cubs’ curse when Lou Piniella retired? OK, so it’s probably just garden-variety ineptitude, not some sort of mystical curse. At any rate, not much has gone right since the Braves left Chicago.</p>
<p>Tommy Hanson gave up 4 home runs (all solo shots, but still… not very good). The Braves’ offense made Chris Volstad look like Josh Johnson for the first 7 innings. And just to make things a bit more embarrassing, the Braves’ defense looked worse than my nephew’s little league team at times. It was pretty much a thorough domination by the Marlins. To add wetness to injury, it even rained in the 9th inning.</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/8/28/1655444/talking-chop-recaps-friday-nightsJason Kirk2010-08-27T19:06:20-04:002010-08-27T19:06:20-04:00Braves Host Weekend Set With Marlins
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<p><i>This post was written by our own Ben Duronio, who's experiencing technical difficulties:</i></p>
<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Braves</a> come back to Atlanta where they have a 44-17 record, the best in the Majors, to play the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/teams/florida-marlins">Florida Marlins</a> for three games. <span>Craig Kimbrel</span> has joined the big club as <span>Mike Minor</span> was optioned to the GCL Braves team to get some work and will be recalled for his start on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Braves are sending <span>Tommy Hanson</span> tonight and will square off against right-hander <span>Chris Volstad</span>. Here is a short preview from pacgnosis at <a href="http://talkingchop.com">Talking Chop</a>:</p>
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<p>Pitching Matchups</p>
<p>Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET: Tommy Hanson (5.88 IP/S, 3.53 ERA, 3.12 FIP) vs. Chris Volstad (5.68 IP/S, 4.82 ERA, 4.44 FIP)</p>
<p>Big Red has been great this year; he's improved all of his controllable peripherals, though his ERA doesn't show it. He actually has a slightly better FIP than the much-more-ballyhooed <span>Ubaldo Jimenez</span>.</p>
<p>Other than the fact that Ubaldo's pitched a lot more innings, I might argue that Tommy has been just as good. It's funny how two guys who've pitched just about as well as each other have such widely differing won-lost records. No, wait. It's not funny, it's just dumb. I have a hard time coming up with anything interesting about Volstad. He's just kind of a generic 4th starter. He's like <span>Derek Lowe</span> without all the ground balls. In other words, he's not great, and we ought to be able to hit him.</p>
<p>Saturday, 7:00 p.m. ET: <span>Tim Hudson</span> (6.83 IP/S, 2.28 ERA, 64.6% GB%) vs. <span>Ricky Nolasco</span> (6.23 IP/S, 4.22 ERA, 3.75 FIP)</p>
<p>I have just one thing to say to Huddy right now: Please, for the love of Smoltz, shave your beard! Not only does it look terrible, but I think it's messing with your ground-ball mojo.</p>
<p>As for Nolasco, he's been his usually self this year: dependable, with lots of strikeouts (8.50 per 9 innings) and hardly any walks (only 1.73 per 9), but with a penchant for getting hit hard at times (including a 1.33 HR/9 innings mark). He reminds me a lot of a less dominant <span>Curt Schilling</span>--big and beefy, with the tendency to give up lots of homers but not many walks. He's coming off two straight scoreless outings in which he struck out 17 men to only 2 walks; of course, he only made it through 6 innings each time, and it was against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bucsdugout.com/">Pirates</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.federalbaseball.com/">Nationals</a>.</p>
<p>Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET: Derek Lowe (5.93 IP/S, 4.33 ERA, 4.22 FIP) vs. Josh Johnson (6.60 IP/S, 2.36 ERA, 2.52 FIP)</p>
<p>Lowe's got his work cut out for him in this one, because I doubt the Braves are going to score many runs off of Josh Johnson. Johnson has matured into a straight-up ace. He does everything well--strike dudes out (8.70 K/9), not walk many (2.20 BB/9), keep the ball in the yard (a staggeringly low 0.37 HR/9), go deep into games, etc. If it weren't for <span>Roy Halladay</span> and <span>Adam Wainwright</span> throwing so many more innings, he'd be my pick for the NL Cy Young so far. Still, he's been pretty mortal lately, putting up a 5.06 ERA in his last 6 starts. Maybe the Braves are catching him at the right time.</p>
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<p>The Braves' division lead now stands at three, so let's hope they can extend that and create some breathing room this weekend. As always, you can check out the open threads for each game over at <a href="http://talkingchop.com">Talking Chop</a>.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2010/8/27/2320047/braves-host-weekend-set-with-marlinsJason Kirk