Braves Finish Off Sweep of Brew Crew
By Editorial Staff
Source: Yardbarker.com
The Braves finished off their nine game road trip with a 5-4 record thanks to a series sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Braves took the series finale by a 9-2 score. During the series the Braves pummeled Milwaukee pitching to the tune of 28 runs, 35 hits, and 5 home runs. That is a stark turn around from the beginning of the road trip that saw series losses in Washington and Philadelphia. Prior to the Milwaukee series the Braves had gone 2-11 and had scored a total of 33 runs so it really was a coming out party for the offense.
The offense has been jump started behind the bats of Eric Hinske and Troy Glaus combined with a triumphant return from injury by Jason Heyward. Even Brooks Conrad who is filling in for an injured Chipper Jones, homered on back to back days against the Brewers.
The series sweep if anything gives the Braves a much needed shot of confidence as they head back home and prepare to open a series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday. The win pulled the Braves into a tie with the Florida Marlins and only 4.5 game behind the division leading Phillies.
Jason Heyward returned from injury during the road trip and Chipper Jones had a pinch hit double in today’s game. The problem with Chipper’s injury isn’t as much offensively as much as being able to move laterally defensively. He will still probably be limited for a few more days. Yunel Escobar is expected to take a rehab assignment and play for the AAA club Gwinnett on Friday before being activated from the Disabled List on Saturday. Kris Medlen will get the start on Saturday once again for the injured Jair Jurrjens who suffered a set back in his rehab earlier this week.
The Braves really have gotten good pitching throughout the season and now that they are starting to get some timely hitting they are putting some wins together. The insertion of Eric Hinske into the starting lineup has paid off and he no doubt needs to remain there at least in the short term. More importantly the team looks a lot looser now as the offensive struggles appeared to be a strain on the whole team. Now if they could just figure out some way to get Nate McLouth going.