KTE - Atlanta Braves

[Vic Sage]

NY Mets (60-41), 1st place/NL East, vs.
Atlanta Braves (48-52), 2nd place/NL East (11.5 games back)
at Turner Field, Fri 7/28 - Sun 7/30

Fri, Jul 28 7:35 pm EDT - P. Mart�nez vs. H. Ram�rez
Sat, Jul 29 1:20 pm EDT - O. Hern�ndez vs. T. Hudson
Sun, Jul 30 1:05 pm EDT - T. Glavine vs. C. James

Braves lineup:
M.Giles, 2b
Renteria, SS
C.Jones, 3b
A.Jones, CF
McCann, C
Francoeur, RF
LaRoche, 1b
Langerhans, LF

Bench:
Betemit
Pratt *
Orr
Thorman
Diaz

Rotation:
Tim Hudson
Chuck James
John Smoltz
Jason Shiell
Horacio Ram�rez

Bullpen:
Bob Wickman
Macay McBride
Chad Paronto
Ken Ray
Jorge Sosa
Oscar Villarreal
Tyler Yates *

* = ex-Mets

After a dismal June, the Atlanta Braves are in the middle of the National League wild-card race thanks to their potent offense.

Atlanta finished June with the worst record in the majors, going 6-21, but has the second-best record in the NL in July, winning 14 of 20. The Braves lost eight of nine series from May 29-June 28, including seven straight, before their turnaround began. They have not won seven straight series since winning 10 in a row from April 15-May 18, 2003. They can win their 8th straight series today, by beating the Marlins this afternoon.

The Braves have 49 homers in July, a franchise record for this month, and are six away from the major league mark for July set by the 1947 Giants and 2003 Red Sox. Fifty-five also is the team record for any month. Overall, Atlanta has 141 homers this season, one fewer than Cincinnati for the NL lead, and now trails the Reds by only 4 1/2 games in the wild-card race because of its recent power surge.

Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and LaRoche each have hit seven home runs this month. Andruw Jones was back in the lineup Wednesday after missing three games with a sore back, and hit a HR. LaRoche is batting .419 (18-for-43) with 16 RBIs and 13 runs in 11 games since the All-Star break.

The Braves achilles heel this season has been their bullpen. That is, until last week, when they acquired closer Bob Wickman in a trade with Cleveland. He's had three straight scoreless appearances for the Braves and two saves, giving him a total of 17. Atlanta's bullpen had blown 20 of 40 save opportunities before Wickman arrived. That was after Chris Reitsma, out for the season following elbow surgery, converted starter Jorge Sosa and former minor league journeyman Kenny Ray all had a shot at the closer's role

As for their starting rotation, Thomson, Hampton and Davies have been on the DL most of the season, and "ace" Tim Hudson has been awful. That being said, Horacio Ramirez has had 8 good starts out of 11, and rookie Chuck James is 4-1 in 5 starts. Smoltz is having another good year, but the Mets won't face him or the other rookie, Shiell, in this series.

What about the Mets?
Well, you should all know about them.

[NOTE: much of this was lifted from article on Yahoo, by MATT BECKER, STATS Writer]


[ON EDIT: The Braves lost to the Marlins today, 6-1.]

[Gwreck]

Ex-Braves are Glavine, Franco and Eli Marrero.

[Willets Point]

FTB.

[metirish]

Nice work, I can imagine the talk Monday morning if the Mets get swept or even lose two games here......bold prediction, if the Mets lose the first two games Omar gets desperate and ships Lastings plus Heilman to the A's for Zito.......

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I don't see that happening.

[stevejrogers]

What are the chances the Mets, or Braves make deals during the weekend rather than waiting till Monday?

[Guest Iubitul]

I'd like to see the Mets make a deal for that Pat guy - you know, Stand Pat.

[metirish]

Yeah I could see Omar doing nothing, of course my above post was just me acting the bollox but Omar has a history of dealing this time of year....if the Mets can somehow get Willis then fine, if not so be it.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Iubitul wrote: I'd like to see the Mets make a deal for that Pat guy - you know, Stand Pat.

So, you've put aside your jones to move Heilman?

[Guest Iubitul]

Edgy DC wrote: ="Iubitul"]I'd like to see the Mets make a deal for that Pat guy - you know, Stand Pat. So, you've put aside your jones to move Heilman?

No - I just don't want them to trade Milledge and/or Pelfrey for 2-3 extra months of Zito...

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

For a brief moment this morning, I thought I was going to be shut out of seeing Pedro pitch tonight against the Braves. The game isn't being carried on Extra Innings, but fortunately TBS will be carrying it.

[stevejrogers]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: For a brief moment this morning, I thought I was going to be shut out of seeing Pedro pitch tonight against the Braves. The game isn't being carried on Extra Innings, but fortunately TBS will be carrying it.

Mute button is needed!

Speaking of which, was Don Sutton ever used by the networks in the 70's as a "Lets use an active player in our booth" like ESPN Radio does today with the postseason (and FOX tried couple of years ago) (Seaver pops up on telecasts from this era, including the 1977 World Series)

Watching the 1979 Pirates DVD set and they had a bonus feature of the final half inning of the NLCS clincher vs the Reds. There was a guy named "Don" who was thanking everyone for the oppertunity and was being told that he did a great job all series, and even made a comment about not wanting to be involved in a trade to Boston. So am I correct in assuming that this is Don Sutton?

[Guest OlerudOwned]

Nice KTE.

I'm going to miss the game today because the JetBlue DirecTV serivce doesn't have TBS. Grr...

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Lots of thunder and lightning in the skies over my house right now. I fear I may yet miss this game due to power failure.

[Guest cooby]

[Guest cooby]

If this game gets rained out you will hear me screaming from here! I have been waiting all year to see Pedro pitch and TBS is my only hope.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I think you should be safe, cooby. The forecast for Atlanta is good, sun with just a few clouds. Doesn't look to be any rain on the agenda.

I still don't understand why you're in a New York blackout area.

[Frayed Knot]

The game's in Atlanta, you've got your radar pointed in the wrong place.