Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News 4/3/14
Good Morning Braves’ Fans!
Here’s how your Atlanta Braves did as they took the series yesterday after noon against the Milwaukee Brewers, 2 games to 1, closing out yesterday behind good pitching from Aaron Harang. The game was largely a pitcher’s duel, both teams neck-and-neck until late in the game when a Chris Johnson homerun helped to decide things. Despite all the collective sighs (and yes, from me as well) when the Braves signed Harang, he was phenomenal yesterday, going over six innings pitched, with just 2 hits and one walk given up! Garza was tough as well, thus the duel, but the Braves held on to win and put together just enough offense, and some great defense, to secure the victory for Harang and the Braves. Check out the stats from the series rubber match yesterday…
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS | Pit | Str | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Heyward RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .808 | 17 | 10 | |
| B.J. Upton CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .083 | .167 | 12 | 11 | SB |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .333 | 1.500 | 20 | 10 | |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .250 | .833 | 14 | 10 | HR |
| Craig Kimbrel P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Justin Upton LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .091 | .258 | 19 | 12 | |
| Jordan Schafer LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | |||
| Dan Uggla 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .182 | .545 | 8 | 6 | |
| Gerald Laird C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .667 | 6 | 5 | |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .550 | 10 | 8 | |
| Aaron Harang P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 6 | 6 | |
| Luis Avilan P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 1 | 1 | |
| David Carpenter P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Ramiro Pena 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | |||
| Team Totals | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | .100 | .356 | 113 | 79 |
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| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit | Str | GB | FB | LD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Harang, W (1-0) | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.00 | 23 | 97 | 63 | 8 | 11 | 5 |
| Luis Avilan, H (1) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| David Carpenter, H (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Craig Kimbrel, S (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0.00 | 30 | 123 | 80 | 9 | 15 | 6 |
via Miami Herald
Injuries mean Braves have little margin for error this season
Eight days before the regular season, the Atlanta Braves placed five pitchers on the disabled list, including two starters who required season-ending elbow surgery (again).
But it’s not as if spring training was a total disaster. The team did manage to make it through camp without inadvertently wandering into a village of cannibals.
Most teams worry about having to limp to the finish line of a season. The Braves instead limped to the start. They opened with three games against the Brewers, followed by three in Washington against a Nationals team that most are picking to win the National League East Division.
Is it over for the Braves before it really begins during the first week?
No. Baseball’s long season allows for slow starts and stretches of mediocrity. History reminds us that when the Atlanta Braves won their only World Series in 1995, they had a record of only 24-20 in mid-June (nearly one-third into a strike-shortened, 144-game season). They were 66-34 the rest of the way to finish with the second-best record in the majors and went on to rare October success.
Similarly, fast starts ensure nothing. Some fans (and media) were preparing for a World Series coronation after last season’s 12-1 start. Eventually, the flaws always show.
The Grand Slam: Chris Johnson’s homer breaks up no-hit bid and leads Braves to victory
DUELING NO-NO’s: The Milwaukee Brewers added Matt Garza on a four-year, $50 million deal in late January while the Atlanta Braves signed veteran Aaron Harang as an 11th hour replacement when injuries in their starting rotation became overwhelming. On Wednesday, you could barely tell the difference in their value as the two starters went head-to-head for six no-hit innings. Atlanta finally broke through in the seventh on Chris Johnson’s monster home run, which turned out to be the game’s only run in the Braves 1-0 victory.
"”It’s one mistake and that’s it. It’s the big leagues,” Garza said. ”You’ve got to pay for things like that, especially with the heater to the four-hole hitter.”"
Logan Schafer put Milwaukee in the hit column with a single a half inning later.
It’s interesting to note only ten runs were scored in the entire three game series. Milwaukee won the opener 2-0 on Monday and the Braves battled back with 5-2 and 1-0 wins respectively.