Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Gwinnett Eliminated, Bethancourt
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Aaanndd, the Atlanta Braves were swept by the Washington Nationals. The Braves fall to 54-83 for the season and are now one game out of being tied for the worst team in the MLB…the Phillies have a 53-84 record. Are the Braves tanking for the number one draft pick in 2016? I don’t think so. But they are playing some extremely awful baseball right now and should probably be the worst in baseball. This season has been a huge whirlwind for everyone who follows the Braves and everyone inside the organization.
Braves lose 8-4
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Markakis RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .295 | .368 | .370 |
| Jace Peterson 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .236 | .309 | .333 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .284 | .369 | .481 |
| A.J. Pierzynski C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .294 | .335 | .420 |
| Nick Swisher LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .228 | .326 | .364 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .250 | .262 | .464 |
| Matt Wisler P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .048 | .130 | .048 |
| Peter Moylan P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Pedro Ciriaco PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .258 | .269 | .359 |
| Edwin Jackson P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .254 | .320 | .328 |
| Michael Bourn CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .228 | .301 | .271 |
| Manny Banuelos P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Sugar Ray Marimon P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 | .429 | .333 |
| Daniel Castro 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .262 | .295 | .310 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 38 | .212 | .289 | .273 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manny Banuelos, L (1-4) | 2 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5.13 |
| Sugar Ray Marimon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5.91 |
| Matt Wisler | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5.81 |
| Peter Moylan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.05 |
| Edwin Jackson | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3.45 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 7.88 |
Atlanta Braves Rumors
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Bethancourt was given the opportunity earlier in 2015 to win the starting catcher spot in Atlanta, but wasn’t able to seize the moment. He was sent back down to Triple-A Gwinnett to work on his confidence, bat and defense. He looked as though he found all three and the Braves brought him back up to the big leagues. Since being called up on August 24, he has only had three hits in the 11 games he’s played in. His average was .198 and it’s now dropped to .177 for the 2015 season. He’ll need to work extremely hard in the offseason to prove he can still be a major league player. Do remember though before writing him off, he’s only 24-years-old.
"A.J. Pierzynski has enjoyed playing for the Braves and hopes to return in 2016, he tells MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. The veteran catcher will be a free agent this winter, and while Atlanta has Christian Bethancourt as its prospective catcher of the future, there have been signs that the club isn’t satisfied with Bethancourt’s development. There were reports last month that the Braves were also interested in bringing Pierzynski back for another season. Pierzynski signed a one-year, $2MM deal with Atlanta last winter and has already earned an extra $400K via playing-time bonuses, Bowman notes."
G-Braves Even Series with 2-1 Win Over Charlotte
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Gwinnett Braves have been eliminated from playoff contention following their victory on Sunday. Though they won, they needed Norfolk to lose, but they didn’t. With one game left in the 2015 season, Gwinnett is 76-67 which is pretty good considering all the moves the Braves did. Gwinnett hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009.
"The Gwinnett Braves (76-67) manufactured runs in the third and fourth innings and rode great pitching to a 2-1 victory over the Charlotte Knights (74-69) on Sunday at Coolray Field.The win kept the G-Braves’ chances to win the International League South Division alive for at least a few more hours. Gwinnett cut their deficit behind first-place Norfolk (77-65) to 1.5 games, but the Tides were not scheduled to play the Durham Bulls until 5:05 p.m. on Sunday. A Norfolk win at Durham would eliminate the G-Braves from playoff contention.All of the scoring on Sunday came in a two-inning span. Gwinnett took a 1-0 lead in the third, Charlotte tied the game 1-1 in the top of the fourth and the G-Braves regained the lead with a run in the bottom half of the fourth."