Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop and Box Score
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Braves starting pitcher, Shelby Miller, picked up his second win of the season on Sunday afternoon as he went five innings giving up two runs off five hits and three walks. He also totaled six strikeouts and now has a 1.69 ERA for 2015. The Braves got on the board in the 1st inning when Jonny Gomes blasted a ball to deep center field out of the reach of Dalton Pompey. This happened when the bases were loaded and three runs scored. Atlanta added two more runs when Freddie Freeman doubled in the top of the 3rd inning. If you glance down at the box score, take a look at what Nick Markakis is doing. Jason Grilli notches his sixth save of the season and is leading the MLB in that category. The Braves improve to 8-4 and the Jays fall to 6-7.
Braves 5 Blue Jays 2
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Maybin CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .138 | .219 | .345 |
| Alberto Callaspo 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .286 | .342 | .314 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .375 | .479 | .400 |
| Freddie Freeman DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .283 | .353 | .609 |
| Chris Johnson 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .320 | .400 | .480 |
| Jonny Gomes LF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .261 | .333 | .565 |
| Christian Bethancourt C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .154 | .214 | .231 |
| Jace Peterson 2B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .212 | .278 | .273 |
| Andrelton Simmons SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .267 | .298 | .400 |
| Shelby Miller P | ||||||||||
| Andrew McKirahan P | ||||||||||
| Cody Martin P | ||||||||||
| Jason Grilli P | ||||||||||
| Team Totals | 30 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 37 | .267 | .361 | .333 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shelby Miller, W (2-0) | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1.69 |
| Andrew McKirahan, H (1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.15 |
| Cody Martin, H (2) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Jason Grilli, S (6) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1.50 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 2.00 |
NL East Notes: Span, Utley, Hamels, Johnson, Familia
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Atlanta Braves relief pitcher, Jim Johnson blew the lead on Saturday afternoon when he gave up the blast to Jose Bautista in the 8th inning. Brave manager Fredi Gonzalez still sounds like he has confidence in this former closer. The Braves signed Johnson this offseason to help bolster a bullpen that has been shook up. If he can continue the success that he showed during Spring Training, I think the Braves will put him on the trading block for the end of July to see what they can get for him.
"Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez isn’t too concerned with Jim Johnson being roughed up in his last two appearances (four runs, six hits, and two home runs allowed) and will keep the right-hander in the role of the 8th inning setup reliever, according to David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’ll see how it plays out,” said Gonzalez. “But from what I saw in Spring Training, and other than these two outings here, I think he’s been fine. We always have a tendency to say what’s the matter with a guy as soon as he gives up something.“"
.
Mets, Braves Among Baseball’s Best Right Now
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: An article written by Steve Benko of Fanisded describes that he feels the Atlanta Braves are one of the best teams in the MLB at this point in the season. High rankings for a team that was given no shot by pretty much everyone. The Braves though continue to win ball games and impress the MLB world. I still feel that this team will sustain their winning ways and fight for a Wild Card berth in September.
"The New York Mets, and the Atlanta Braves are among baseball’s best teams to start the year, which nobody expected. the Mets are the hottest team in baseball right now. Granted, it’s still early, an eight game win streak early in the season is a huge confidence builder. So, why have the Mets been so hot?Well, it helps that during the eight game win streak, seven of them have been against the Miami Marlins, and the Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins are off to a rough start to the season, their rotation is second to last in the MLB in team ERA with 4.89, and the Phillies, well, it’s essentially been the same story the last few seasons.That’s not to say that the Mets have over-performed because they’ve played bad teams. The rotation of Bartolo Colon, Matt Harvey, and Jacob deGrom, has been dominant, Dillon Gee and Jon Niese, not so much. It doesn’t help that David Wrightwent on the 15-day DL, with a hamstring strain; other players needed to step up, and they have."
Next: Atlanta Braves, an early look at an imperfect team: Pitching