Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Gwinnett Braves
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves took another defeat on Saturday as they’ve now lost 18 of their last 19 games and 11 games in a row. Ugly has become miserable. The Braves have become the laughing-stock of the MLB and horrible water-cooler talk at work. Shelby Miller wasn’t able to get out of the 5th inning as he gave up seven runs.
Braves lose 8-2
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .294 | .368 | .367 |
| Pedro Ciriaco 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | .260 | .271 | .362 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .285 | .368 | .484 |
| Nick Swisher LF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .224 | .317 | .360 |
| Cameron Maybin CF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .268 | .333 | .382 |
| Michael Bourn CF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .227 | .301 | .271 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .256 | .323 | .331 |
| Hector Olivera 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .133 | .188 | .133 |
| Christian Bethancourt C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .177 | .201 | .246 |
| Shelby Miller P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .063 | .118 | .104 |
| Danny Burawa P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Daniel Castro PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | .286 | .300 |
| Ross Detwiler P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Ryan Kelly P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Jace Peterson PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .236 | .310 | .332 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 38 | .156 | .263 | .188 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby Miller, L (5-13) | 4.1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2.86 |
| Danny Burawa | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10.13 |
| Ross Detwiler | 0.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.18 |
| Ryan Kelly | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.10 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 9.00 |
ATLANTA BRAVES: Skidding Miller, Braves can’t handle Harper
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Shelby Miller finally had an off-night on the mound and the offensive teammates couldn’t pick him up. Miller has been incredible this season for the Braves, but he continues to get little to no run support. Shelby needs to put this game and this entire season behind him.
"An All-Star this season, Miller (5-13) has dropped 12 straight decisions and gone 20 starts without a win. He hasn’t won since May 23 despite a reasonable 3.53 ERA over that span.The latest outing spun out of control during a four-run third inning. The frame encapsulated Miller’s hard-luck stretch.Ian Desmond’s simple fly ball turned into a leadoff double when center fielder Cameron Maybin lost track of the flight. On third base with two outs, Desmond raced home on Miller’s wild pitch for a 1-0 lead. Jayson Werth continued the inning with a ground-rule double and scored on Anthony Rendon’s single. Then Harper, now batting .337, capped a 10-pitch at-bat by crushing a 3-2 pitch over the left-center wall for his 33rd home run.“It was a cutter down and away,” Miller said. “What can you do? He got under it. He has a lot of power.”"
G-Braves Drop Series Opener to Charlotte, 4-2
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: A huge blow in Gwinnett’s chances to make the International League playoffs happened on Saturday when they took their second straight lose to the Charlotte Knights 4-2. The Braves remain two games behind the Norfolk Tides for the South Divisional race. Gwinnett needs to win their final two games and Norfolk would have to lose their final two games for Gwinnett to have a shot at the playoffs. This would set up a one-game playoff between the two teams. Gwinnett hasn’t made the post-season since 2009.
"Gwinnett was unable to convert when Garcia walked Mallex Smith and Kazmar in the eighth inning, and right-hander Junior Guerra (S, 7) set the G-Braves down in order in the ninth. Garcia went 2.0 innings with a run allowed on three hits and two walks with three strikeouts.All four of Charlotte’s runs were charged to Smith (L, 6-7), who went 6.2 innings. He gave up nine hits and walked one with two strikeouts. Righty Carlos Fisher pitched a perfect top of the ninth and struck out two batters.Kazmar was the only Gwinnett batter with more than one hit, and none of the G-Braves’ six hits went for extra bases. Kazmar and Jones scored two runs, while Terdoslavich and Yepez each had an RBI."