Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Labors, Talent, Tebow

The Washington Nationals showed yesterday how far the Braves still need to go to get to their level.  But where pitching and hitting were struggling, old-fashioned grit and determination came close to overcoming all obstacles anyway.

The Atlanta Braves‘ six-game win streak is over.  This was mostly due to the fact that it takes a near-perfect game to overcome Max Scherzer, and that didn’t happen yesterday afternoon along the Anacostia River in Washington.

Still, even with the Spring-Road-Game version of the Nationals as Dusty Baker rested several of his regulars, it came down to one inning – the bottom of the third – that proved decisive.

The Nats powered 5 runs across against Ryan Weber thanks to home runs by Trea Turner and Chris Heisey which followed a walk, a single, and a double to account for the extra runs.

Scherzer, meanwhile, struggled a bit with the Braves as he often has, but still was able to get out of most run-scoring opportunities.  He went 7 innings, giving up 2 runs, 7 hits, 2 walks, and striking out an uncharacteristically low 5 batters.

In the 9th inning though, Atlanta got to Mark Melancon – getting two runs on 4 hits and bringing the tying run to the plate in the form of Anthony Recker.  He just missed it, too, flying out to the RF corner to end it.

The final was 6-4 in favor of the Nationals.

Jed Bradley followed Weber, pitching 2 innings and struggling a bit himself:  2 hits, 3 walks, and a run scored.  Brandon Cunniff and Chaz Roe finished up without further harm.

Ender Inciarte extended his hit streak to 16 games – the longest in the majors at present.  Freddie Freeman is on his heels with an active streak of 12 as well.

Next: How Good Was the Farm This Year?