Se?or Stink Strikes Again, but so does Francoeur

It was the best outing in a long time for Tim Hudson, but he ran out of gas in the ninth after giving up two hits and turned it over to the bullpen. And the bullpen does what it do; a five run lead is not too big a lead to end up a blowey. Jorge Sosa gave up the monster 3-run homerun in the top of the ninth to backup catcher Javier Valentin. I repeat, he could not even convert a FIVE-RUN save. And he's our closer.

But thankfully Jeff Francoeur would have none of it. With two outs in the bottom of the tenth, his single plated Chipper Jones and picked up the Braves in a big way. We should have scored about ten more runs on the night, leaving the bases loaded several times without plating a run. The top of the order had another big night with Giles getting on base four times, Renteria getting two hits, and Chipper going 3-5 with the big double in the tenth. All three extended their hitting streaks.

For Sosa, it was the third homerun he's allowed as a reliever, and the second one that's caused a blown save. That is something that has to be remedied before anyone can feel good about this team. I am still of the opinion that a closer is our biggest need if a trade were to happen.

HoRam tries to keep things going tonight.

Cincinnati 7, Atlanta 8 at Turner Field
Cincinnati Record: (44-42)
Atlanta Record: (38-48)

Winning pitcher - Ken Ray (1-0)
Losing pitcher - Todd Coffey (3-4)