Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor Note: See what a little bit of offense does? It helps out the pitcher…Aaron Harang was coming off a very poor performance last week and backed it with a great one. Going six innings, only allowing six hits and two runs – our offense should have that covered. The Upton boys did just that…both hitting solo home runs and Chris Johnson added an early RBI double for the Braves to take game one of the series.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.J. Upton CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .203 | .272 | .337 | .609 |
| Tommy La Stella 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .289 | .354 | .322 | .676 |
| Ramiro Pena 2B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .205 | .263 | .341 | .604 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .286 | .374 | .497 | .870 |
| Evan Gattis DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .288 | .342 | .553 | .895 |
| Jason Heyward RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .256 | .341 | .391 | .732 |
| Justin Upton LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .271 | .343 | .504 | .846 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .284 | .303 | .367 | .670 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .254 | .289 | .367 | .657 |
| Gerald Laird C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | .221 | .310 | .273 | .583 |
| Aaron Harang P | |||||||||||
| Anthony Varvaro P | |||||||||||
| Jordan Walden P | |||||||||||
| Craig Kimbrel P | |||||||||||
| Team Totals | 33 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 34 | .182 | .206 | .455 | .660 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Harang, W (6-6) | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3.78 |
| Anthony Varvaro, H (7) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.48 |
| Jordan Walden, H (6) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3.26 |
| Craig Kimbrel, S (22) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.37 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 2.00 |
Atlanta Braves Rumors
Tomahawk Take Editor Notes: Wasn’t a big move and may come back to being a very minor move but the Braves were active and picked up Kanekoa Texeira for their minor league system. Texeira hasn’t pitched since April 20, 2011 and is a career 4.66 ERA kinda pitcher. He sent two seasons in the majors with Seattle and Kansas City. The relief pitcher has thrown 67.2 innings in the bigs with allowing 86 hits and only three home runs.
"The Braves have inked righty Kanekoa Texeira to a minor league deal, according to the MLB transactions page. The 28-year-old, who last threw in the bigs in 2011 with the Royals, threw effectively over each of the last two seasons at Triple-A with the Reds. He had been pitching for the independent Bridgeport Bluefish in 2014 before joining Atlanta."
Braves recall Alex Wood from Triple-A, will start Wednesday
Tomahawk Take Editor Note: When Gavin Floyd went down with the terrible elbow injury, many predicted that Alex Wood would be receiving a phone call to return to the Braves rotation…well that happened and now, Wednesday is his return! Go scoop him up in your fantasy baseball league if no one has yet.
"The Atlanta Braves have recalled starting pitcher Alex Wood from Triple-A Gwinnett and will have him start Wednesday’s game against the Houston Astros.Wood has seen action as both a starter and reliever this season for the Braves. After a string of strong outings in the rotation the Braves moved him to the bullpen to cut down on the number of innings he was on pace for. Later he was sent to Triple-A to stretch out as a starter again."
Three Cuts: Uptons tie MLB record as Braves take down Astros
Tomahawk Take Editor Note: Back in August 2013, Justin Upton and B.J. Upton both hit home runs in three games! THREE GAMES!! The first month playing together…it took 14 months to do this again! But the feat has happened and the brothers have passed the Aaron brothers for hitting homers in the same game. Was it the power of the leadoff spot? I’m almost guaranteeing B.J. is hitting leadoff again Wednesday.
"The Upton collaboration has run into plenty of obstacles at the plate over the past 18 months in Atlanta, but it’s going to be a part of MLB history one way or another. In back-to-back innings, B.J. and Justin Upton went yard in Houston’s Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night, putting them in some pretty recognizable company.The 3-2 win against Houston was the fourth time the two brothers have homered in the same game in their career, the first since April 23 of last season, when Justin was on his hot streak and B.J. had yet to fully realize his 2013 issues with the bat. The Uptons join two sets of brothers — Vladimir and Wilton Guerrero and Jason and Jeremy Giambi — as the only family members to hit a home run in the same game on four separate occasions. The Braves are 4-0 in said games."