Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, Sean Rodriguez, Johan Camargo stays hot
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: In the first series back following the 2017 All-Star break, the Atlanta Braves will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in a three games series. The Braves fought hard and fought back on Friday night to take the victory from the team that currently holds the first place NL Wild Card spot.
R.A. Dickey pitched another solid game for the Braves going six innings, giving up eight hits, one run, two walks and had four strikeouts. He kept the ball down and on the ground as the DBacks had trouble combining hits off Dickey.
The Braves offense collected nine hits on Friday, with Ender Inciarte picking up two of those hits off his former team. Freddie Freeman blasted his 17th homer off Arizona’s starting pitcher Taijuan Walker in the 6th inning.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Braves were down 3-2 with the top of the lineup due up. Inciarte led off the inning with a single and Brandon Phillips followed him with a double to right field. Freeman was up next and he drove in Inciarte and Phillips with a clutch oppo single that went between the shortstop and third baseman to left field…a thing of beauty!
Braves now sit 43-45 on the season. For a full recap, check ours out here
Braves WIN 4-3
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .304 | .351 | .411 | .762 |
| Brandon Phillips 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .279 | .325 | .412 | .738 |
| Freddie Freeman 3B-1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .352 | .457 | .758 | 1.214 |
| Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .292 | .339 | .483 | .822 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .281 | .361 | .388 | .749 |
| Matt Adams 1B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .291 | .337 | .556 | .894 |
| Jim Johnson P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Tyler Flowers C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .305 | .395 | .442 | .836 |
| Johan Camargo SS-3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .327 | .354 | .495 | .849 |
| R.A. Dickey P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .111 | .111 | .111 | .222 |
| Sam Freeman P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Lane Adams PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .214 | .241 | .321 | .563 |
| Jose Ramirez P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Rex Brothers P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Dansby Swanson SS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .221 | .296 | .324 | .620 |
| Team Totals | 34 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 34 | .265 | .265 | .441 | .706 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R.A. Dickey | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4.08 |
| Sam Freeman, BS (1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.56 |
| Jose Ramirez | 0.2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.65 |
| Rex Brothers, W (1-0) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 |
| Jim Johnson, S (20) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.12 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2.00 |
Rehabbing Sean Rodriguez ready to be back ‘right now’ for Braves
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Sean Rodriguez has now played in 10 minor league games on his way back from his horrible car incident in January. He’s played in four Triple-A games, three Double-A games, one for Single-A Rome and two with the GCL Braves. He’s collected three hits in 36 at-bats over that span resulting in a .083 batting average. He’s had one double, one RBI, two runs scored, five walks and 11 strikeouts.
The 32-year-old probably will need a few more games in the minors before he can join the Atlanta Braves. It’s possible he stays in the minors until August, but just returning to the field is a plus for Rodriguez. Many didn’t think he’d return to game action before the 2018 season. He’s done that and could reach the majors in just seven months since that very scary crash.
"Amid any talk of whether the Braves will be buyers or sellers leading into MLB’s July 31 trade deadline is a realization: this team could be upgraded simply by getting healthy.Utility player Sean Rodriguez continued his rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday in Charlotte with what he’s calling his “bionic shoulder” as he works his way back from surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff suffered in an offseason car crash.“I’ve got a lot of hardware in there,” Rodriguez said. “But it will hold.”"
Next: Atlanta Braves second half trade dreams
Hot-hitting Camargo gets another start while Dansby sits
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: In Johan Camargo’s last 10 games, he’s gone 13-32 at the plate which is a .406 batting average. The 23-year-old is on fire and the Braves need to keep him in the lineup no matter what. He can play short, second, third base or even left field. The series he had against the first place Washington Nationals was incredible…going 8-12 at the plate with a home run and two doubles.
Will this make Dansby Swanson have to sit a little? Yes, but with Camargo swinging the bat the way he is right now, you have to sit someone. Brian Sniker will find creative ways to get Camargo in the lineup. He has many options he can do with moving guys around the diamond or just giving them days off. Expect to see a lot more of Camargo as we move forward.
The emergence of Camargo also could lead to trade possibilities. I’d take to see them move him, but that could happen or if the Braves feel confident enough they could trade another piece and fill Camargo in there — Brandon Phillips.
"Braves manager Brian Snitker said he needed to find a way to keep Johan Camargo in the lineup, and he’s found a way even if it means sitting ballyhooed rookie Dansby Swanson some lately."
"Camargo started at shortstop instead of Swanson for the third time in six games Friday for the series opener against the Diamondbacks in the first game since the All-Star break. He hit .370 in the Braves’ past 23 games before Friday and started 20 of those games — 15 starts at third base, two at second and three at short."
"“Obviously you see him in the lineup again, so I think everybody knows what kind of (impact he’s had),” Braves slugger Freddie Freeman said before Friday’s game. “That was a big series in Washington for everybody in this clubhouse, and he went out and proved to everybody that he belonged there. And he got rewarded by playing again tonight.”"