Braves Elite is looking for a new author and if you write an article good enough, you can be on the staff. The topic that you must write over is Chipper’s success through the season just far (hint: Include details )
Send in all articles to D’Andre Willaims, at jshooter6@yahoo.com

Submission deadline: June 16th.

After a nice five game winning streak and sweeping the Mets, life couldn’t get any better for the Braves. The rotation looked solid, and all parts of the team were working together. However, those same Braves learned a lesson today. Don’t play with Diamondbacks, they might bite. They definitely did more than bite today, beating the Braves 11 – 1 in game one of a four game series.

Jo Jo Reyes vs Doug Davis, a tale of two lefties. I thought this was going to be a close game with a huge score. I was right on one of them. It was a horrible night for Jo Jo, going 5 innings, giving up 6 hits and 8 runs (Only were earned runs). He also walked 3, struck out 4, and gave up 3 homers. The bullpen faired a little better for us, giving up only 3 hits and 3 runs, 2 of them homers.

Doug Davis, the cancer survivor, pitched wonderful for the D’Backs, unfortunately. Going seven strong innings, he only gave up 5 hits and 1 run. He walked 2 and struck out 4, and didn’t give up a single homer. It was a really quiet night for the Bravos, only getting 6 hits off the D’Backs pitching.

The series doesn’t look to get any easier. Brandon Webb and Micah Owings have always given the Braves big fits. Brandon Webb is nasty and fools just about every team every chance he gets, and for some reason, we can’t hit Micah Owings. Randy Johnson also pitches against us, but he’s an old guy. I don’t think he’ll give us much of problem, even though he does have somethings to fool you with still. We’ll have to wait and see.

W: Doug Davis (2-1)
L: Jo Jo Reyes (2-2)

[Sorry readers for not being able to post like I have in the past. I have been bombarded with school work for the past week or so. I have only one more project presentation to do on Friday and then I am basically done. I should be able to start making more posts on our favorite Atlanta Braves!!!]

The Braves so far early in the 2008 season has just been flat out great at home. It was evident in our double header sweep against the hated Mets. The Atlanta Braves have a Major League leading 18-5 record thus far. It seems like the Braves plays more relaxed and execute more on offense at Turner Field. If the Bravos can just concentrate and forget about their road woes, we might have a special team on our hands.

With the way our bullpen has been pitching, plus the additions of Rafael Soriano, Mike Gonzalez, and John Smoltz sometime in the near future, we can make it a six inning game. That should also help us a great deal on the road and in one run ball games. Thus far this season that has been our main kryptonite. With Blaine Boyer, Manny Acosta, Jorge Campillo (now in the rotation, and will work on 3 days work vs. the Dbacks on Saturday), and Jeff Bennett all pitching well, they will likely move down an inning or two on the depth chart when the big 3 comes back. With our opponents already having trouble scoring runs on our pen without a legit closer or set up man on our team, our pen can be something special.NYM: RHP Mike Pelfrey (2-4, 4.17 ERA)
Pelfrey has the potential to be a good pitcher down the road if he can develop another quality pitch. For now, he throws fastballs, fastballs, and more fastballs. He has a low to mid 90’s fastball with some great sink edge on it. Pelfrey is still young and can get rattle pretty quickly. The main problem with the young right handed pitcher for the Mets is his control. So the key for the Braves going into this game is to work the count and get the pitch you want to hit. Execution is also going to be key in this game. Not being able to bunt a man over or come up with a sac fly will really hurt a team in a ball game. If we can get into the Mets pen by the 5th inning, we should be in good shape. We just have to be patient at the plate, and work the count.ATL: RHP Jair Jurrjens (4-3, 2.82 ERA)
Jair Jurrjens has been the Braves most consistent starter this whole season. He hasn’t yet had a bad game. Of course sooner or later in the season he might slip up. His last start was probably his worst start of the year. The good thing is that he was pitching on three days rest for the first time in his major league career and only gave up 2 unearned runs in 5 innings pitched. He gave up his second amount of total hits (most was versus the Rockies with 9) of the 2008 season with 8 in his last start versus the Athletics. The key for Jurrjens is to keep his pitches down in the strike zone. He needs to keep Reyes and Wright off base and driving in runs. If he can keep those guys from causing damage, we have a really good chance for winning 3 in a row from the Mets.

Key Hitters in the Game
Mets: Jose Reyes
Braves: Mark Teixeira

Wow, what a good game. We did absolutely no hitting until about the end of it however. Tim Hudson made it hard from the get go giving up 5 runs through the first two innings, but the Braves pitchers kept everything else silent from there on out. Tim Hudson is now 0 – 9 and 2 no decisions in Interleague play with the Braves, which is weird because he absolutely dominated the American League when he was on the Oakland A’s.

All the fun happened in the bottom of the 9th. With runners on first and second, Kelly Johnson came to the plate, and smacked the ball hard to deep right. It sailed over Sweeney’s head and Johnson ran around the bases for a triple. Two runs scored, and the score became 5 – 3. With Johnson on third, Gregor Blanco came to the plate, and on the first pitch slapped it to center field, where Rajai Davis was unfortuneately, playing shallow. He catches the ball, and Kelly tags up for run number 4. Alright, 2 outs, and no one on base. Greg Norton comes to plate. This is where Bobby Cox’s genius shines, putting Norton in earlier in the game, to prepare for this spot. Well, with the first pitch going straight down the middle for strike one, Norton fouling off a ball to the screen for strike 2, ball 1, and then a swinging strike 3, that ended the game for the Braves. Yet another infamous one run loss.

Final score: Braves 4, A’s 5

W – Rich Harden (2-0)

L – Tim Hudson (6-3)

What are kind of food are the Braves eating at home that they are not getting on the road? Now that’s a good question. The Braves doubled their one run wins with their 2^nd of the season tonight (they are now 2-11in one run games).

This turned out to be a pitcher’s duel (not really). Turns out that it might have been a bad idea to let Jair Jurrjens pitch on short rest, because his stuff looked flat tonight. Thus leading to a short outing. JJ went 5 innings gave up 8 hits, walked 3, and somehow managed to only give up 3 runs. He also struck out 3. Besides JJ runs the Braves bullpen was outstanding. Manny Acosta did a heck of a job tonight with his 2 innings performance.

The offense continues to struggle big time with runners in scoring position. For the most part of 5 innings the offense looked utterly dead and it felt like this was going to be another one of those frustrating loses. But something must have clicked because in the 6^th the Braves scored 2 on Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann rbi’s. It’s funny how former A’s great Mark Kotsay got the last laugh on his former team tonight. Kotsay drove in the winning run. Braves win 3-2!!

Well it looks like the Braves finally won on the road. The Braves did something tonight that they normally don’t do on the road and that is cash in on the opportunities that they have to score.

The bats came alive today scoring 8 runs. The game got started in a huge way when Escobar led off with a homer. Folks I think that the Braves have found their leadoff hitter for now. I like Escobar in the 2 hole but with Kelly struggling so much I think it is a very good idea to put Yunel there at leadoff to see if that will change the Braves scoring issues. Speaking of Kelly Johnson, he went 2-3 with both hits being for extra bases. One of the hits was a homer while the other was a double.  Chipper is on fire still.  

The pitching was a good and scary. Glavine went 5 innings being nearly perfect. But here comes the 6^th inning where he got rocked a little bit. I hope that this is not a reoccurring theme where Glavine goes 5 and shortly thereafter he starts to get hit hard! Glavine went 5.2 giving up 4 hits and runs (earned), walking 2, and striking out 4. Bennett came in and belled Glavine out of his 6^th inning mess (thank goodness). Ohman pitched a perfect 7^th. Ring pitched .2 innings and gave up a bomb to Ryan Howard to left-center field before being pulled by Bobby in favor of Blaine Boyer.

Blaine looked sharp for 2/3 of the 9^th but then he starts getting a little wild. With 2 outs Chris Coste of the Phillies signles up the middle. The next 2 batters reach base, both by hits. All of a sudden the 8-0 lead is now 8-6 with Shane Victorino coming up to the plate next. Let me tell you Victorino just missed a homer to give the Phillies a 9-8 win. But thankfully he missed the homer. Braves win 8-6!

Well the road woes continue. That’s the 4^th out of the last 5 that the Braves have played on the road and lost. I don’t know why in the world the Braves are so bad on the road this year. Honestly it amazes me the way the Braves play on the road and the way they play at home.

The Braves offense came on strong scoring all of their runs in the 1^st. Sadly that would be the only one of two times the Braves would get a runner across the plate.  The Braves had so many chances to score and to bust the game wide open again tonight. These double plays and not getting the bunts down are slowly but surely killing the Braves. I’ve said this before but until the Braves learn how to play some small ball and stop waiting for the 3-run shot they are going to keep losing these close ball games. The Braves came close to tying the game up in the 9^th but Francoeur struck out with runners on 1^st and 2^nd.

If there was a bright spot in the game tonight it would have to be JoJo Reyes. The box score will show that he pitched 6.2 innings, gave up 11 hits and 5 runs and he struck out 5 . But what the box won’t show is that JoJo actually pitched pretty well today although his final line won’t say so. I mean what more can you ask from your number 4 starter? He went out there and gave the Braves a chance to win. Too bad that he had to take the lose because he pitched very well in my opinion. Most of JoJo’s trouble came in the 5^th and 6^th when he gave up 2 runs. But aside from those 2 innings every other inning went smoothly.  Campillo gave up a hit and a run (JoJo’s run). Acosta pitched a perfect 9^th. Braves lose another one-run game.

Well the second game of the series was not exactly one of those feel good wins so to speak. After the Braves lost the first 3 games of the series it’s kind of hard to get excited when they win 1 out of 4. Teams like the Pirates are the teams the Braves supposed to beat up on, not lose the series against. This is a trend that has carried over from last season. The Braves always stepped it up for competitive teams and they always seemed to slack off against the less competitive teams. And the same holds true this year. The Braves have gone 2-5 against the Pirates this year and 2-3 against the Washington Nationals. The Braves are 3-2 against the Mets and 3-0 against the Dodgers. The Braves have got to beat up on the teams that they are supposed to or else there will be no playoff baseball in Atlanta for the 3^rd straight year.

Well the offense busted out in this game putting up 8 runs on the board. I know that you are all thinking “Where in the world has that been this whole series”? To be honest with you I wish I knew.  Mark Kotsay (Andruw who?), Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones, and Brian McCann all had rbi’s. McCann provided the Braves with a comfortable lead when he blasted his 7^th home run of year (a three run shot). That put the Braves ahead of the Pirates 7-1. The Braves would only score one more run the rest of the game.

On to the pitching Tim Hudson was brilliant going 7 innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 run (earned), 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. Hudson did what an ace is supposed to: Stop a losing streak! Huddy looks like he has gotten over his little funk because he has been pretty good his last couple of outings. Boyer pitched a perfect 8^th giving up 1hit, no runs or walks, and striking out 2. Ohman pitched an eventful 9^th giving up 2 hits but none of them would score. Braves finally win 8-1. That win makes the Braves an incredible 5-15 on the road. Boy that’s a horrible home and road split!!  Good to get a win before heading to Philly to face the always tough Philadelphia Phillies. And by the way Mark Teixeira hurt his back in today’s game. I’m not sure how long he’s going to be out though. I’ll update as soon as I know.

Well what can I say about game except where in the world was the offense? The offense aside from Chipper Jones, Jeff Francoeur, and Gregor Blanco went a collective 1-25 (.040).Yikes!

The thing that really bugs me about these loses are that it’s not like the Braves don’t have chances to score. Trust me they’ve had plenty of opportunities to bust these games wide open.

The Braves left a combined 21 runners on base (compared to the Pirates 14) in the 1^st game. If you’re thinking to yourself wow that’s a lot you are correct that’s a ton!! This is one of the reasons why the Braves are not winning on the road and why they’re not winning the one run games. Simply because the Braves cannot capitalize on the opportunities they have. For example Ian Snell walked 6 on Friday and was practically giving the Braves chances to bust the game open but again not being able to bunt or play fundamental baseball came back and killed the Braves with their 10^TH one run lose. Yeah Chipper Jones and Jeff Francoeur had good games. Chipper went 3-4 with a double and Francoeur went 2-5 and he might be finally showing signs of coming out of the slump that he’s in. Gregor also went 2-2 with 2 walks. Aside from that it was much of nothing.

On to a brighter note (but not too bright). Jair Jurrjens pitched a decent game going 5 innings with 3 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks, and 5 strikeouts. JJ ran into his trouble in the 5^th when he gave up all of his runs. Bobby Cox and the gang must. On to the 8^th Acosta got roughed up for a 2 run homer by former Brave great Adam Laroche. Not have like what they saw from JJ because was lifted after only throwing 69 pitches.  Or they might be watching the young hurler’s innings. Bennett came in and replaced JJ going 2 innings, not hits or runs, with a strikeout, but he did have 3 walks. That’s a little scary. Acosta’s final line was 1 inning, 2 hits, 2 runs (all earned), and 1 strikeout. Braves lose again to the Pirates 5-0.

Game 3 is postponed due to rain. It will be played tomorrow as part of a double header. Game time is 12:00 PM, on Sports South.

Quick question, how many of you will be able to see game 1? I know I won’t be able to.