Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Matt Kemp Homers Twice, Not Enough
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Jaime Garcia pitched well early in his debut with the team, but the Mets got to him in the 5th inning. With a 1-0 lead, Garcia gave up a one out single to Neil Walker and then walked Jay Bruce. Travis d’Arnaud followed that with a base clearing double. He gave up two more runs in the sixth when Wilmer Flores homered after a walk to Yoenis Cespedes. Even though he gave up that homer, walked two and hit a batter he didn’t pitch badly. Garcia didn’t pitch badly against the Mets solid lineup, but did have two walks and hit a batter. He’ll get his next start against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.
Braves offense? Well, we had six hits. Matt Kemp had two of those hits, both homers off Matt Harvey. Nick Markakis, Adonis Garica, Tyler Flowers and Ender Inciarte had the other hits — all singles. Kemp had two solo bombs on Thursday night. Both of them were off “The Dark Knight”. Stay hot, kid (KEMP)!
Braves head to Pittsburgh now to face the Pirates this weekend.
Mets win 6-2
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .077 | .143 | .077 |
| Dansby Swanson SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .143 | .143 | .143 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .231 | .286 | .385 |
| Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .462 | .500 | 1.231 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .154 | .214 | .308 |
| Brandon Phillips 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .182 | .250 | .182 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .200 | .273 | .300 |
| Tyler Flowers C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .286 | .286 | .286 |
| Jaime Garcia P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Chaz Roe P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Emilio Bonifacio PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Eric O’Flaherty P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Team Totals | 32 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 32 | .188 | .188 | .375 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaime Garcia, L (0-1) | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Chaz Roe | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18.00 |
| Eric O’Flaherty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13.50 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5.62 |
Matt Harvey silences Braves, carries Mets to series win in first start since surgery
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Mets Matt Harvey cruised through 6.2 innings on Thursday night allowing three hits, two runs, no walks and had four strikeouts. The 28-year-old started the game dominating the Braves lineup. It wasn’t until the 5th inning, when Matt Kemp took him deep, when Atlanta finally got to Harvey.
The Mets’ starting rotation is strong, we all knew that, but can we get the hell out of New York. Let’s get on to Pittsburg and face their rotation.
Atlanta starts the year 1-2 in the first series of the year.
"Matt Harvey wasn’t perfect in his first meaningful start since undergoing Thoracic Outlet Syndrome surgery last year, but he was good enough, limiting the Braves to just two runs in 6.2 innings in the Mets’ 6-2 win Thursday night at Citi Field.Though it wasn’t quite vintage Harvey velocity, the Mets starter did hit 95 on the radar gun on a cold and wet night in Queens. He allowed three hits and zero walks and struck out four batters in the outing. Both runs allowed came via Matt Kemp home runs.And he got support from an all-around solid effort from the Mets (2-1) offense, which dropped six runs on the Braves (1-2) in the final game of the series. Wilmer Flores had the big hit — a two-run bomb in the sixth inning — but Travis d’Arnaud and Asdrubal Cabrera had RBI hits as well."
Next: Have Minor League Questions? Here's Your Answers
Braves welcome signing of longtime nemesis Ryan Howard
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: I saw some mixed feelings about the Ryan Howard signing last night. Me? I’m a huge fan of this! Why? The guy is 37-years-old and can still smash — and we have NO bench power. If he can prove he can still hit (hit anything) he’ll be up in Atlanta before we know it. Howard will start his career with the Braves in extended spring training and then join the Gwinnett Braves. I see him being in Atlanta soon.
Braves play the Phillies on April 21st…could he make it back to the bigs by then? I think so.
Howard has 382 homers in his career and is a former Rookie of the Year and MVP. The 13-year veteran will fit in nicely with the Braves as I’m pretty sure he knows his role when he signed on the dotted line. He’s not going to overtake Freddie Freeman at first, he’ll be (hopefully) our pinch hitter on many nights.
"When Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman heard that his team signed former Phillies slugger Ryan Howard on Thursday, something that had been discussed since spring training, he sent Howard a text that made clear how he felt."
"“It was the emoji with hands clapping,” Freeman said, laughing. “We talked during spring training. We knew what was going on.”"
"Howard, 37, signed a minor league contract and will report to Braves extended spring training to get his timing down – he didn’t go to spring training with any team — before he reports to Triple-A Gwinnett."