The Braves have been much more successful at home then away this season, but playing the Phillies at Turner Field would not be enough to secure a win on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Atlanta took the first game of the series on Thursday 7-5 when Chipper Jones hit his 400th home run, but lost Friday 4-3, Saturday 6-2, and Sunday 6-3. On Friday, Tim Hudson went 7 2/3 innings giving up one run on five hits and Brian McCann hit a two-run home run to give the Braves the lead when the bullpen took over in the Seventh. However, the bullpen wouldn’t be able to hold off the bats of the Phillies and the Braves would lose the game. On Saturday it was almost a repeat of Friday, Chipper Jones hit a two-run shot in the Sixth and Jo-Jo Reyes went a solid 7 1/3 innings but the Phillies rallied in the Eighth with the game tied at two to take the lead 4-2 before gaining two more runs in the Ninth off the Atlanta bullpen to win 6-2. This afternoon the Braves were forced to take on the Phillies without their lead hitter and the Majors lead hitter, Chipper Jones, who is batting .420. Mark Teixeira came through in the First to tie the lead at two with a two-run home run. The Braves and Phillies were tied at three going into the Ninth, but once again the bullpen could not hold off the bats of the Phillies and they would rally for three runs to take the game 6-3. The Braves bullpen was not the only part of the team struggling as throughout the weekend’s series they stranded ten runners and had just four hits in 24 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Now the Braves have tomorrow night off before heading to Chicago to take on the Cubs in a three-game series. Throughout the season the Braves have relied on Turner Field to be the rejuvenator of victories before hitting the road again. This time the Braves are returning to the road after three consecutive losses so with this in mind the Braves will now have to once again try to tackle their road woes and come away with some wins.
