Atlanta Braves news: the morning chop, box score, Luiz Gohara picks up first career win
By Jeff Schafer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: The Atlanta Braves faced David and they fought like Goliath on Wednesday night beating the first place Washington Nationals. The game was tied heading into the top of the 7th inning when the Braves exploded for six runs…four runs coming off the bat of Matt Kemp when he blasted a grand-slam.
Kemp said after the game about Luiz Gohara’s outing…”He did a great job. He has an electric arm. It’s hard to hit lefties throwing 97, 98. I think he topped out at 99mph.”
Gohara, 21-years-old, started the season pitching for the Florida Fire Frogs — started seven games there. He pitched at Mississippi — started 11 games there. Then moved up to Gwinnett — started seven games there. Now pitching for the Atlanta Braves. What a season for this young man. Can we pencil him in for the 2018 rotation?
Okay, I’ll admit, I’m a little excited about this guy, but after the performance last night, how can you not be?
Braves WIN 8-2!!
"Gohara put together an impressive performance to keep the Nationals off-balance through six innings, holding them to two runs (one earned) while striking out six without issuing a walk. The rookie retired 11 batters in a row from the second inning through the fifth in his first win as a big leaguer.“The kid gets locked in and really competes,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “And that’s what I heard about him from the guys that played with him, the guys that have had him, been around him. They say once he gets out there, he’s trying to beat you. That’s legit stuff right there, too.”Kemp’s slam off right-hander Brandon Kintzler put the Braves ahead comfortably on their way to securing a winning record at Nationals Park, which had been a house of horrors for them the past two years. Atlanta, which improved to 6-3 in Washington this year, went 1-19 here from 2015-16."
Kemp and Braves slam Nats, Gohara gets first MLB win
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Don’t look now, but the Braves are on a four game winning streak and have won six of their last seven games. These young boys are clicking! The Braves still have 18 games remaining on their 2017 schedule and I’m still sticking with my prediction that they’ll win 75 games. That would now mean going 9-9 for the rest of the season. Definitely, do-able the way they’ve played recently.
Last night’s game was really fun to watch. Not only did we see Luiz Gohara make his second career MLB start, but he also pitched really well against arguably the best team in the NL. Gohara went six strong innings, giving up six hits, two runs (only one was earned), no walks and six strikeouts. I think that’s the most impressive part was that he had zero walks. When was the last time a young pitcher had no walks for the Atlanta Braves?
The Braves bullpen did a nice job as well going three innings, giving up only one hit, no runs, no walks and had six strikeouts.
Atlanta’s offense put up eight runs off 10 hits on Wednesday night…seven hits and seven runs off Max Scherzer. Didn’t see that going into the night!
"Braves prospect Luiz Gohara pitched in his second major league game Wednesday and distinguished himself for six innings against the National League East champions and one of baseball’s most accomplished pitchers, Max Scherzer."
"And then things really got interesting for the Braves, who broke open a tie game with six runs including a Matt Kemp grand slam in the seventh inning of an 8-2 win at Nationals Park, handing Scherzer one of his worst losses and earning Gohara his first major league win."
"Not bad for a 21-year-old who started the season in Single-A."
Next: Thrashing the Nats never felt better
Braves expected to shop veteran outfielders
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: So we’ve talked about this a lot recently, right? The Braves will look to trade away at least one of their veteran outfielders this offseason…Matt Kemp and/or Nick Markakis. I would prefer the Braves trade away Matt Kemp because of his injury concerns. Markakis is still solid and batting close to .300 again in 2017. No, he’s not a #4 batter in a prototypical MLB lineup, but he just continues to get the job done…and stay on the field.
But, saying that…I think it will be easier for the Braves to trade Markakis than Kemp.
If Kemp can stay on the field, the Braves have a dangerous lineup going into the 2018 season. If he can’t stay in the lineup, we’re left filling in the gaps will a lot of money sitting on the bench.
It’s been a pretty crazy season, at least behind the scene, for the Atlanta Braves and this offseason will probably be no different. Anticipate fireworks.
"With Ronald Acuna, perhaps baseball’s best prospect, seen as primed to make the leap sometime in 2018, the Atlanta Braves are expected to shop at least one of two veteran outfielders — Nick Markakis or Matt Kemp – or quite possibly both of them, as Mark Bowman of MLB.com first suggested.The Braves see Markakis as a fair value at $10.5 million for 2018, so they wouldn’t look to pay down much or any of his contract, depending on the return. However, they understand they’d have to offset the $43 million to go on Kemp’s deal through 2019.They view Markakis as a solid pro, and different kind of corner outfielder in an era rife with power. Markakis, who turns 34 this November, is hitting .279/.361/.398 this season. His .759 OPS would be his highest mark since 2012 with the Baltimore Orioles."