The Braves rolled into Miami hoping for an easy time against the Marlins and they ended up losing two of three games there. The win was fun but the two losses were tight games that easily could have been picked up.
On Monday, the Braves fell just short of coming back from an 8-2 deficit and lost it 8-7. Kyle Davies was shelled for five runs in four innings and Oscar Villarreal gave up three in just two frames as both got hit hard. Chipper Jones continued to hit the ball well and he hit homerun number six while Jeff Francoeur also went yard. Francoeur finished the game with four hits and four RBIs in a big game, it’s just unfortunate that it was in a loss.
The Braves picked up their win yesterday. Francoeur had another big game with three hits and two RBIs while Kelly Johnson scored three runs. Mark Redman was hit hard and he was gone after three innings and it was Peter Moylan who picked up the win. He had a nice relief appearance with three shutout frames.
Today’s loss was the biggest disappointment. The Braves took a 3-0 lead and took it into the ninth when Tim Hudson and then Bob Wickman fell apart. Hudson ended up with twelve strikeouts in eight innings but it was those three runs in the ninth that he gave up with nobody out that cost them. All three Braves runs came on solo homeruns. Kelly Johnson, Chipper Jones and Matt Diaz all went yard in the 4-3 loss.
So the Mets drop to a half game behind the Mets because they won this afternoon. Next up is three in Colorado against the Rockies. Anything can happen in Coors Field so this is a crapshoot even with the Rockies being mediocre. It’ll be Chuck James throwing against Jeff Francis in the opener on Friday.
