Morning Chop: Atlanta Braves News 4/26/14
Tomahawk Take Editorial Note: The Braves continue to roll on, with another great outing by Ervin Santana in game 1 of the series against the Cincinnati Reds last night. It got hairy for a second, because the Reds can really string together hits, but our pitching prevailed again, and some timely hits and defense saved the day. Check out the boxscores from the game, courtesy of Baseball Reference:
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OPS | Pit | Str | PO | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jason Heyward RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .600 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
| B.J. Upton CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .207 | .578 | 18 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .357 | 1.058 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Justin Upton LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .296 | .944 | 16 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| Evan Gattis C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .311 | .940 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 0 |
| Dan Uggla 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .215 | .597 | 15 | 11 | 0 | 5 |
| Chris Johnson 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .247 | .629 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .299 | .802 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| Ervin Santana P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .182 | .364 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Luis Avilan P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| David Carpenter P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Jordan Schafer PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .214 | .624 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Jordan Walden P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Craig Kimbrel P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Team Totals | 32 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 6 | .312 | .771 | 120 | 78 | 27 | 10 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | BF | Pit | Str | Ctct | StS | StL | GB | FB | LD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ervin Santana, W (3-0) | 6.2 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1.95 | 28 | 95 | 65 | 39 | 16 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 |
| Luis Avilan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.10 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| David Carpenter, H (6) | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.79 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordan Walden, H (3) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.93 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Craig Kimbrel, S (7) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.89 | 5 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 4.00 | 38 | 128 | 86 | 53 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 8 |
Tomahawk Take Editorial Note: David Hale will take the mound for the Atlanta Braves in game 2 of the Cincinnati series, and will look to redeem himself from some sour outings lately, and hope that the Braves will also give him some much needed run support (something he hasn’t had). Joe Morgan of MLB takes a look at the game…
Leake aims to avoid big blast vs. Braves
"Reds right-hander Mike Leake, who will start against the Braves on Saturday at Turner Field, was on the wrong side of one of the bigger headlines in baseball this April. In his most recent start, Leake surrendered Ike Davis‘ second grand slam of the season and his first since the Mets traded him to the Pirates.“I wouldn’t call Ike’s a bad pitch. I broke his bat on the home run,” Leake said. “He just was able to get his hands to it and do some damage.”"
via Miami Herald
Tomahawk Take Editorial Note: The Miami Herald picked up on David O’Brien’s (AJC) recap of game 1 of the Atlanta Braves versus Cincinnati Red series. Take a look at what David has to say…
Santana blows most of lead as Braves hang on for win over Reds
BY DAVID O’BRIEN
THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
"ATLANTA — Rarely has a Braves starter had the luxury of a big early lead this season. Even more rarely has he needed it, which was the case Friday night for Ervin Santana against the Reds.Justin Upton hit a three-run homer in the first inning and the Braves built a 5-0 lead through three, then hung on for a 5-4 win against Cincinnati in a series opener at Turner Field."
Tomahawk Take Editorial Note: Bryan O’Connor of HighHeatStats.com takes a look at how the FIP stat could be a better measure of ERA, and includes some examples from the Atlanta Braves…
High Heat Stats: FIP a better ERA measure
"Each week, HighHeatStats.com will look at an advanced statistic or trend in Major League Baseball and explain what it means.***Atlanta Braves outfielder B.J. Upton came to the plate in the first inning against Washington Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez last week in a game between the two teams atop the National League East standings."
Tomahawk Take Editorial Note: Featured columnist Joel Reuter, writing for Bleacher Report, gives the Atlanta Braves a 70% for postseason play. Some of us might disagree with Joel, but before you do, go take a look what he has to say…
Assessing All 30 MLB Teams’ Postseason Chances After 1 Month of Baseball
"Count me among those who thought the Atlanta Braves were doomed—or at the very least in for a rough first month of the season—after three-fifths of their projected starting rotation landed on the disabled list this spring. Instead, they enter play on Thursday with the best team ERA in baseball at 2.10, and it’s their starters (1.50 ERA) that have led the way."