Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Ender Inciarte Injured
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves held a 4-3 lead until the top of the 7th inning, then three pinch-hit home runs by St. Louis came and the Braves fell to the Cardinals in the opener. Matt Wisler pitched good enough to get the win, but the bullpen didn’t hold their own. Eric O’Flaherty gave up one of the homers and the guy creating all the stir, John Gant, gave up the other two home runs. The Braves only totaled five hits in the ball game – Wisler had one of them – against a pitcher who they’ve historically destroyed. Freddie Freeman continues to struggle during the regular season and is now batting just .100 in 2016.
Braves lose 7-4
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .400 | .250 |
| Drew Stubbs PR-CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .333 | .500 | .333 |
| Erick Aybar SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .167 | .154 | .167 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | .100 | .250 | .400 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .444 | .583 | .778 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .200 | .333 | .200 |
| Hector Olivera LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .200 | .273 | .200 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .333 | .500 | .333 |
| Gordon Beckham 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Matt Wisler P | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .333 | .333 | .333 |
| Daniel Winkler P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Eric O’Flaherty P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Jim Johnson P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| John Gant P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Kelly Johnson PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .000 | .500 | .000 |
| Team Totals | 31 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 38 | .161 | .270 | .161 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Wisler | 6.2 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5.40 |
| Daniel Winkler | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Eric O’Flaherty, L (0-2) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27.00 |
| Jim Johnson | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| John Gant | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9.00 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 7.00 |
Day-to-day with tight hamstring, Inciarte has already opened eyes with Braves
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Braves will have to deal with their first big (possibly minor) injury of the season. Inciarte exited the game in the first inning of Friday night’s game as he tweaked his left hamstring running to first base. He’s listed as day-to-day, but will probably miss some time as precautionary. Drew Stubbs came into the game for Inciarte and will get the majority of the time in his absence. The thought on everyone’s mind will now be Mallex Smith.
"Ender Inciarte pulled up as he headed down the first base line, and once he ran past the bag, turned toward the Braves dugout. Something was wrong.He left Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals with left hamstring tightness, saying after the 7-4 loss that he stopped before it popped. Inciarte is listed as day-to-day — and his absence only underscores just how electric he’s been for Atlanta’s defense.“He’s relentless and usually the good ones are relentless about going after the ball and making the play,” manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “(Jason) Heyward had that trait here, not scared of anything. He has that trait in him. His arm is accurate and good and strong.”"
Atlanta Braves seeking largest spring stadium in Palm Beach County
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Braves are looking for a new Spring Training home for the 2018 season so that they can be closer to other teams that they play frequently. The Braves organization is also looking into a Collier County facility as other Florida areas. The deal with the Wild World of Sports complex at Disney runs out in 2017. They will need to decide soon so that the new facility can be built.
"The Atlanta Braves want to build a $100 million spring training complex with a 10,000-capacity stadium and a dormitory to house their young players, preferably at John Prince Park in suburban Lake Worth, three team officials told Palm Beach County Administrator Verdenia Baker on Friday.The stadium, with 8,000 fixed seats and 2,000 berm and standing-room-only spots, would have a larger capacity than the county’s two other main stadiums, which each are shared by two teams.But the most important question — how to pay for the complex — was not discussed during the 45-minute meeting at Baker’s office in the county Governmental Center.“They didn’t have any real numbers for me. I need numbers. I need a proposal,” Baker said after the meeting, which marked the Braves’ first formal discussions with the county about what kind of facility the team wants."