Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, Box Score, New Statue, Ratings Down
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves dropped game one of this four-game series to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday evening. Braves starter, Mike Foltynewicz pitched a fantastic five innings, but then the 6th inning happened. A walk, a single and a long homer off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez ruined the night for Folty. The Braves offense didn’t pick up their pitcher on this night. We had only four hits through eight innings (had three hits in the 9th and scored two runs) and scored one run. That run came in the 7th inning when A.J. Pierzynski drove in Ender Inciarte. The controversial call of the night — because it seems like we have at least one a night — came in the 8th inning when Erick Aybar made contact with the runner heading for third base. The ump called it runner interference and he was rewarded with being safe at the plate — the runner was thrown out at the plate. For a full recap, check it out here.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jace Peterson LF | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .271 | .349 | .386 | .735 |
| Gordon Beckham 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .262 | .351 | .431 | .782 |
| Freddie Freeman 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | .270 | .356 | .496 | .852 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .260 | .337 | .366 | .702 |
| Adonis Garcia 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .257 | .296 | .373 | .669 |
| Ender Inciarte CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | .241 | .307 | .320 | .627 |
| A.J. Pierzynski C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .218 | .238 | .285 | .523 |
| Anthony Recker C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 | .500 | .400 | .900 |
| Erick Aybar SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .210 | .264 | .265 | .529 |
| Mike Foltynewicz P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .143 | .200 | .143 | .343 |
| Joel De La Cruz P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 | .250 | .250 | .500 |
| Brandon Snyder PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .207 | .233 | .586 | .820 |
| Hunter Cervenka P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Mauricio Cabrera P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Eric O’Flaherty P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Jeff Francoeur PH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .255 | .296 | .384 | .680 |
| Team Totals | 32 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 37 | .219 | .306 | .344 | .649 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Foltynewicz, L (3-4) | 5.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3.79 |
| Joel De La Cruz | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.50 |
| Hunter Cervenka | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.14 |
| Mauricio Cabrera | 0.2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.53 |
| Eric O’Flaherty | 0.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.65 |
| Team Totals | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 5.62 |
Atlanta Braves’ TV ratings down significantly
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: I don’t know, man…this article gets me. I realize the Braves are having a struggling season and they have had a couple now where it hasn’t been fun to watch at times, but if you’re truly a fan of the Braves and the game of baseball, failure is going to happen and you have to accept it. Yes, that was probably the worst run-on sentence and my high-school teacher would probably slap me on the wrist, but I was ranting a little. You probably can’t tune into every game, I get that, baseball is a long season…but don’t just turn your shoulder on the Braves. Stick with your team through the highs and lows!
"The Braves, historically one of baseball’s more popular teams on television, rank near the bottom of the major leagues in local ratings this season.That’s according to two studies, published this week, of MLB viewership for the first half of the season.The Braves’ local TV ratings were the fifth lowest among the 30 teams and suffered the second biggest drop from the same point last season, according to Nielsen data analyzed by SportsBusiness Journal. Braves games on Fox Sports South and Fox Sports Southeast averaged a 1.35 rating in the Atlanta TV market before the All-Star break, down 34 percent from a year earlier, the study found."
Atlanta artist to sculpt new Hank Aaron statue at SunTrust Park
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The obnoxious feud between the Braves and Fulton County about the Hank Aaron statue must have came to a halt. The Braves organization decided to take the highroad and build a new one. After 21 seasons with the Braves organization, Aaron was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. The Hammer is an all-time great Brave and should be remember with this new statue.
"World-renowned artist and Atlanta-resident Ross Rossin will sculpt the new Hank Aaron statue for the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium, the team revealed on Twitter Thursday.The Braves wanted to move the current statue of the Home Run King that is at Turner Field to SunTrust Park, but their wish resulted in a feud with the Atlanta Fulton County Recreational Authority who wanted to keep the statue in Atlanta. The Braves eventually surrendered and announced they would make a new statue.Rossin painted a portrait of Aaron that ended up at the Smithsonian in 2014. He has painted portraits of other celebrities and significant Atlantans such as former Ambassador Andrew Young."