KTE - Braves, April 18-20

[Frayed Knot]

Braves come in off a Thursday afternoon 1-0 loss in Philadelphia, dropping them to 10-5; 1.5 game in front of Nats, 2.0 in front of NYM [RS/RA = 56/40]
2-1 vs Milwaukee
[u:25ag0vxk]5-1[/u:25ag0vxk] vs Washington
2-1 vs Philadelphia
and �. ahem, 1-2 vs NYM

And in typical Braves fashion, losing starters Kris Medlen & Brandon Beachy for the season, and having Injured starters Mike Minor and off-season pick-up Gavin Floyd just now starting the rehab assignment stage, their staff is muddling along with the second best ERA in the league, only slightly behind Milwaukee and with a HUGE gap to #3 Cincy.

We'll get the same three starters in the same order as we saw in the earlier series while the Mets staff is shifted by one slot.

Friday - 7:10 EDT
Niese vs Aaron Harang
Harang held the Mets to 1 run on 2 hits + 4 walks over 6 innings in the game on 4/8, but it was enough to get tagged with the loss in a game which ended 4-0 courtesy of Colon, Farnsworth & Valverde

Saturday - 7:10 (Ah yes, night games on a Saturday in the northeast in April � what�ll they think of next?)
Colon vs Ervin Santana
Santana tossed 8 innings of 3-hit/shutout ball on 4/9. Mets tagged relievers Walden & Kimbrel for 3 in the 9th which was just enough to lose 4-3

Sunday - 1:10
Wheeler vs David Hale
4 runs (3 earned) over 4.1 innings on 4/10. Mets win 6-4.


Closer Craig Kimbrel is not DL'd but also hasn't pitched in five days citing a "sore shoulder", a stretch which included the Braves having to protect a three-run save plus two separate 1-0 games (one a win, one a loss).
Not sure of his exact status going forward.