Atlanta Braves News: Chop, Box, Security Steals Ball From Kid, Braves Make It Right With Kid
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: After two solid outings from Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (May 15, May 20), came the game on Thursday afternoon. Colon gave up 10 hits, seven runs, three walks and had only one strikeout. The inconsistency of the 44-year-old this season has folks around calling for a move. Is there something not right with Colon? Does he have arm fatigue? What’s up? If so, maybe the Braves should DL him.
The Braves offense really couldn’t get anything going against the Pirates starting pitcher Ivan Nova. He almost went the distance pitching into the 9th inning, but couldn’t get the final two outs. Braves were able to get 10 hits off Nova, four runs and one walk (that’s only Nova’s fifth walk of the season)…though seven of those 10 hits came in the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings while the Braves were already down 7-0.
Rio Ruiz continues to swing extremely well at the plate as he totaled three more hits on Thursday. Reports are out that Adonis Garcia will play in a rehab game with the Gwinnett Braves on Friday and then possibly be joining the Braves on Monday. If this does happen, I hope the Braves leave Ruiz at third and keep Garcia as a pinch hitter/fill-in.
This four-game series with the Pirates was a long one…filled with rain delays, extra innings, good and bad baseball. It’s off to San Francisco to play the Giants in a weekend series. Hope you like to stay up late because Friday and Saturday games don’t start until after 10pm ET.
Braves fall 9-4
Final. 9. 4. 4. 17
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PA | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ender Inciarte CF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .289 | .336 | .406 |
| Dansby Swanson SS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .201 | .283 | .314 |
| Nick Markakis RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .295 | .369 | .386 |
| Matt Kemp LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .338 | .376 | .588 |
| Matt Adams 1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .300 | .333 | .514 |
| Kurt Suzuki C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .269 | .386 | .478 |
| Rio Ruiz 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .320 | .393 | .480 |
| Jace Peterson 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .198 | .300 | .271 |
| Matt Wisler P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Emilio Bonifacio PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .143 | .162 | .229 |
| Sam Freeman P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Brandon Phillips PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .308 | .361 | .432 |
| Bartolo Colon P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Danny Santana 2B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .152 | .188 | .283 |
| Team Totals | 37 | 4 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 38 | .297 | .316 | .405 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartolo Colon, L (2-5) | 5 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6.96 |
| Matt Wisler | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.00 |
| Sam Freeman | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1.64 |
| Team Totals | 9 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 9.00 |
Braves make up with fan ejected by security for interference
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The night of the Awful Comeback, this happened. Rio Ruiz hit a shot down the right field line. As we were all cheering, because this will most likely be a one out double, a Braves security guard was strapping on his intense-boots. A Braves fan reached over the wall down the right field line and interfered with the play by grabbing the ball from the field. You can’t do that, buddy, you can’t. But our security guy became extra stern with this fan and grabbed the ball away from the family and especially away from a very excited little boy.
That fan was thrown out of the game, the security guard overreacted, the family was left without a souvenir….it was a bad situation and one that got around the web very quickly.
Well, the Braves reacted to the situation by giving the fan an autographed Freddie Freeman baseball and invited the family back for free to a game next month.
here's better quality.. and an update: Braves announcers said the team was giving the kid a signed baseball.. pic.twitter.com/VrwxUIkStT
— Lionel Bienvenu (@lionelbienvenu) May 25, 2017
"During the eighth inning of Wednesday’s Braves-Pirates game, a fan reached over the railing and scooped up a ball down the right field line that was in play. The security guard handling that area acted promptly by jumping into the stands to eject the fan for interference. The guard also took the ball away from the child that received it from the adult.There was immediate bad publicity for the Braves over what happened. As you can hear in that video, even the announcers got on the guard.So the Braves tried to make up with the fans. They told ESPN that the fan was given an autographed Freddie Freeman ball to make up and invited back to a game next month to celebrate his birthday. The fan who was escorted away was also allowed to return and watch the game."
Next: Which Pitcher Gets First Call? Sims or Newcomb?
Atlanta Braves Players Hold Mario Kart Tournament During Rain Delay
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Biggest news story to come from the final two games against the Pittsburgh Pirates? Nick Markakis is really good at Mario Kart and his character of preference is Princess Peach!
In all seriousness though, playing games like this is a great way to build team togetherness. The camaraderie that these guys have off the field definitely shows while on the field. Remember a few years ago when it seemed like the Braves players didn’t even talk to each other?
I’m pretty solid at Mario Kart myself…I think the Braves should set up a tournament of fans and whoever wins gets to play Markakis one-on-one! Going down Peach!
"Tuesday night’s Braves game against the Pirates saw a pretty drawn-out rain delay, so the Braves passed the time like any of us would: by playing Nintendo games together. Inclement weather forced a three-hour delay that had fans and players finding interesting ways to pass the time. Showing their nerdier colors, Braves Nick Markakis, Ender Inciarte, Sean Rodriguez, Jim Johnson, and Jace Peterson all got together for a Mario Kart 8 Deluxetournament. This, according to MLB.com.The report (hilariously) states that the guys got together to play the game on their “Nintendo Wii Switch.” We’ll forgive the author for being a little out of touch because, hey, we don’t know a damn thing about baseball. Playing Mario Kart on the Switch has apparently become a favorite pass-time around the clubhouse. “We love it, and it brings back the good ‘ol days,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “It is fun and competitive, and it’s entertaining.”"