The Braves and Nationals split their two game series this week. In Monday’s game, the Braves ran into Matt Chico, who after some tough starts seemed to finally find his groove. In all, the Braves were held to just a single run on five hits and the lone run came in the sixth when Jeff Francoeur scored on Scott Thorman’s ground out. Chuck James lost his first game of the season. He gave up three runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings of work.
Yesterday, things went a bit better and John Smoltz picked up win number two. Kelly Johnson went four for five with two runs while Chipper Jones hit homerun number four in the 6-4 win. Smoltz gave up four runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk with two strikeouts in two innings of work.
The lead over the Mets is a razor thin half game but the Braves head home to play two against the struggling Cubs. Kyles Davies will have his hands full as he has to match Carlos Zambrano to pick up the win. I like our chances though with Alfonso Soriano on the shelf.
