Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Ender Inciarte Injury, Ozzie and Swanson
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves beat the Marlins on Saturday behind a fine pitching performance from our 31-year-old prospect Lucas Harrell. This was Harrell’s 63rd career MLB start, but first start since 2014 in the majors. In 2012 for the Houston Astros, he started 32 games, went 11-11 with a 3.76 ERA. For a full recap, go here. In this current four-game series with the Marlins, the Braves have won two games and the Marlins have won one. Braves will go for the series win on Sunday at 8:05pm ET.
Braves WIN 9-1
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jace Peterson 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .295 | .362 | .426 | .789 |
| Chase d’Arnaud CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .271 | .340 | .375 | .715 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .289 | .371 | .511 | .882 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .257 | .336 | .349 | .685 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .236 | .276 | .332 | .608 |
| Erick Aybar SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .220 | .278 | .263 | .541 |
| A.J. Pierzynski C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .199 | .225 | .242 | .467 |
| Emilio Bonifacio LF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | .154 | .214 | .154 | .368 |
| Lucas Harrell P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jeff Francoeur PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .259 | .293 | .371 | .663 |
| Mauricio Cabrera P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Dario Alvarez P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 34 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 35 | .265 | .286 | .500 | .786 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucas Harrell, W (1-0) | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Mauricio Cabrera | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dario Alvarez | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1.23 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 1.00 |
James Bennett column: Braves’ future looks better than the present
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Mississippi Braves now have their top prospects Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies playing on the same field! In the three games so far, Albies has batted leadoff and played second base and Swanson has battled third in the lineup and played shortstop. Ozzie is 6-14 at the plate since returning to Mississippi and Swanson is 6-13 since Albies came down to Double-A. If you live in Mississippi, the Braves return to their home field on Monday.
"The Braves on Friday sent Albies down from Gwinnett of the Class AAA International League to Mississippi to play with Swanson. Albies will play second base, and Swanson shortstop. Albies had been playing second base at Gwinnett since June 5. The Braves want them to get used to each other.I saw them play together, for the first time, on Friday night in Jackson, Tenn. The Braves beat the Generals 3-1. Swanson had two hits and scored a run. Albies scored a run and stole a base. That’s the most promising moment I’ve seen with the Braves since they traded for Justin Upton before the 2013 season. I expect both to hit close to .300 in the National League, with Albies leading off and Swanson hitting third or fifth.The Braves of the future are coming together with the development of the prospects. They also have a parade of pitchers in the minors who should turn around this year’s parade of losing. Manny Banuelos, Sean Newcombe, Max Fried and Kolby Allard are hard-throwing left-handers to remember. Right-handers Touki Toussait and Terrell Jenkins soon will be ready for the big leagues."
Inciarte (groin) out of Braves lineup
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Inciarte was out of the Braves lineup on Saturday evening and is day-to-day because of a groin injury. Chase D’Arnaud replaced Inciarte in center field on Saturday. He left the game after beating out a ground ball in the 6th inning. After beating out the throw, he stayed in the game briefly and scored on Chase d’Arnaud‘s two-run homer moments later. The lineups are out yet for Sunday, but the Braves may keep Inciarte out for another day.
"Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte was out of the lineup Saturday after he suffered a groin injury the previous night.Inciarte said he hoped to be able to play off the bench and return to the lineup on Sunday. Inciarte said he felt pain while running from first to second base on a steal against the Marlins on Friday. Interim manager Brian Snitker later removed Inciarte from the game.Inciarte spent nearly a month on the disabled list after he tried to play through a hamstring strain he suffered during the first week of the season. He said he’s being cautious with the groin injury after that experience.“I feel a little bit (of) soreness in there and that’s why I am not playing but it’s nothing (that is) a big deal to worry about,” Inciarte said."