Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News 5/11/14
May 9, 2014; Atlanta, GA, USA; Atlanta Braves left fielder Justin Upton (8) reacts in pain after a run down between first base and second base during the fourth inning at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Two in a row, against the same team! The Atlanta Braves seem to be on a roll, or at least a mini roll (that just made me hungry). Even against a struggling team like the Chicago Cubs, two wins in a row (one by a walk-ff and dominant pitching and another by, well, just dominant pitching), and that is a huge morale builder. Let’s hope the Braves can keep it going. They’ll need all the juice they can muster in the next few weeks! Check out the boxscores for both batting and pitching from the Braves victory last night, courtesy of Baseball Reference.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS | Pit | Str | PO | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Heyward RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .206 | .598 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| Justin Upton LF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .296 | .954 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordan Schafer PR-LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .158 | .463 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .311 | .904 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
| Evan Gattis C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .255 | .766 | 10 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .272 | .642 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| B.J. Upton CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .202 | .595 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .265 | .709 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Ervin Santana P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .188 | .375 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .194 | .438 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Ramiro Pena 2B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .205 | .672 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Tyler Pastornicky 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .619 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| David Carpenter P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Craig Kimbrel P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 27 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | .185 | .464 | 96 | 65 | 27 | 12 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit | Str | Ctct | StS | StL | GB | FB | LD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ervin Santana, W (4-0) | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1.99 | 24 | 88 | 56 | 30 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
| David Carpenter, H (7) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.80 | 4 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Craig Kimbrel, S (10) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.51 | 4 | 19 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0.00 | 32 | 122 | 80 | 37 | 17 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 3 |
via Miami Herald
The Miami Herald picked up the recap of Carroll Rogers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Take a look at Carroll’s take on Atlanta’s victory over the Chicago Cubs in game 2 of the 3 game set, last night.
Santana and Braves defeat Cubs with small ball
"ATLANTA — ?ATLANTA – Ervin Santana had waited nine days to get back on the mound, he wasn’t going to let a 67-minute rain delay deter him.After skipping a start to rest a jammed thumb, Santana returned Saturday night to take on Jeff Samardzija and the Cubs, working in and around a lengthy rain delay.Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said they came five or 10 minutes from shutting Santana down, but play resumed just in time for him to complete seven scoreless innings and outlast Samardzija, who worked six scoreless."
Atlanta Braves’ beat reporter, Mark Bowman shares with us how Justin Upton could well sit out the final game of the current Chicago Cubs series. Justin suffered what we hope is a minor injury in last evening’s game, and now has what is being referred to merely as a sore back. To be fair, it’s also been called a contusion. Let’s hope a contusion is all it is! Check out Bowman’s details…
J. Upton likely to sit out series finale with sore back
Left fielder strains back in collision, suffers lower back contusion on hit-by-pitch
"ATLANTA — Braves left fielder Justin Upton was still showing signs of discomfort as he prepared to exit Turner Field with a sore back after Saturday night’s 2-0 win over the Cubs.Upton strained his back in the fourth inning when he took the brunt of a collision as he tagged out Anthony Rizzo in front of second base at the end of a long rundown. He exited two innings later immediately after getting hit in the left side by Jeff Samardzija’s 94-mph fastball.“With the back, it doesn’t have to hit you in the same spot,” Upton said. “I don’t know if it did or didn’t. All I know is my back locked up again.”"
Some say there’s no need to worry about the struggles Craig Kimbrel has experienced this year, including David Miller of Rant Sports. I’m not too worries now, but I believe some of the issues we’re seeing with Kimbrel, in particular his difficulty locating his fastball, are signs of some possible lingering shoulder issues which could bite him hard one of these days. Only time, and perhaps Dr. Andrews, will tell. Check out David Miller’s take.
Craig Kimbrel’s Struggles for Atlanta Braves are Nothing to Worry About
"Even when the Atlanta Braves win they seem to lose a little right now. With the victory in the opening game of the Chicago Cubs‘ series there were problems still abounding. The offense was still not very good. If Dan Uggla is no good because he doesn’t hit, what is to be done when the other guys also don’t hit in the second base hole? On top of the offensive struggles, the early part of the season has allowed Braves closer Craig Kimbrel to look almost human."