We won the first series of the year!!

by mvandonsel on Apr 8, 2009 7:40 PM EDT Comment 30 comments

Heck yeah, we took 2 out of 3 from the division rival, world series champion, Philadelphia Phillies. Would it have been nice to sweep them? Of course, but I will take 2 out of 3 games in any series! Our starting pitching was SOLID. DLowe went 8 spectacular innings only allowing 2 hits, JJ and JV went out there and gave us strong efforts!

Our offense has looked good for the most part. We scored 19 runs in three games! I will take that! McCann, Chipper, and Logan are raking! Matty D was money today with a home run off Lidge!

Our bullpen needs to improve, but hey, they will! Gonzo, Soriano, and Moylan will be clutch this year, you just wait and see! We are going to hear some negativity from "fans" on here and from ESPN, but remember we are 2-1, and the Phillies are 1-2. We are opening up at home on Friday with DLowe (I believe), we are going to shut down the Natspos and take at least 2 out of 3 from them too!

Rejoice everybody, baseball season is back, and we do have a very solid team!!! Things could be worse, it could be November!

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Heres one more positive, just for the hell of it.

MATTYD went 2/4 with a double, homer & walk, all against righties. Last season, in 66 PA against righties, he had 0 homers, 1 double, and 2 walks. Take those minor victories.

SWAGGA LIKE...Jordan!?
President, CEO, and chairman of the Brandon Jones fan club

by bigjoe on Apr 8, 2009 8:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah

he threw the bat down as if to say “fuck you blue”

Now that's thinking with your dipstick

by heap16 on Apr 8, 2009 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I loved Diaz’s homer. I love the way he plays. You could see he was visibly mad at the first strike called against him that at bat. Even once he hit the homer he looked like he was still mad about that call. I appreciate that intensity.

Glad we took the opening series against a quality opponent. Phillies have some major issues with their starting pitching. They have a whale of a bullpen, but those starters are throwing BP out there.

by kalesi on Apr 8, 2009 8:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’ll take losing 1 of 3 all year long.
Looks to be a damn great season, I can’t wait.

And here’s to playing the Washington Punching Bags, er, Nats this weekend

by Zeus12888 on Apr 8, 2009 8:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We were

6-12 v. the punching bags last year…

"The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw."

by WienerDog on Apr 9, 2009 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We were

also like 2-14 against the phils

Baseball is a game where a curve is an optical illusion, a screwball can be a pitch or a person, stealing is legal and you can spit anywhere you like except in the umpire's eye or on the ball.
James Patrick Murray

by dc_allday on Apr 9, 2009 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We still

Could be… :-)

"The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw."

by WienerDog on Apr 9, 2009 10:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Side Question

In all the baseball I’ve watched, I can’t remember seeing a manager mixing up the guys out in the pen where the fielders had to relay who exactly Cox wanted on the hill.

Anyone ever seen that before in the MLB?

by kalesi on Apr 8, 2009 8:15 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

cox is very old

by yondaime4 on Apr 8, 2009 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, I haven’t. But, I assume he was stalling for extra warm-up time and may or may not have done it on purpose. He also was probably upset having to make his 3rd (?) trip of the inning to the mound.

"Here comes Bream! Here's the throw to the plate! He is...safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!...Braves win!"

by jug on Apr 8, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like your attitude.

However, i think i’m gonna be mad tonight, and wake up refreshed and positive tommorow. Today was just disgusting. I just wish they wiuld hurry up and post the recaps so i can read them and get it out of the way.

"Ohhhh shit"-Bobby Cox

by 10-4 on Apr 8, 2009 9:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree

I left work with a hefty 10-3 lead, go coach a T-Ball game (which we freakin smoked em) and come home looking forward to highlights and find this shit.

ok, got that out, so let’s take 2 out of 3 every time!! This loss sucked big long hard ones, but you gotta be happy with 2-1 record. Offense is clicking like I haven’t seen in a while, starting pitching is stellar!!

GO BRAVES!!!!

by mwchipper on Apr 8, 2009 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It’s strange, but you see what happened yesterday at every level of bseball. Any one who’s watched the game can attest to seeing numerous times when an inning has snowballed on a team. It happens at the ML every now and then.

by kalesi on Apr 9, 2009 12:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

shut up, troll. You’re baiting us.

"Here comes Bream! Here's the throw to the plate! He is...safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!...Braves win!"

by jug on Apr 8, 2009 9:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Even in the loss you have to look at the positive. Our offense is clicking from top to bottom(Chipper didn’t play today) and we scored 11 runs. Starting pitching is very impressive. Bullpen who isn’t worried about that. Our three best pitchers coming out the pen are all also coming off of surgery. I have full faith in Wren that he will add a good arm in the pen. Besides that we have a hella of a team. We have three bench players, Diaz, Infante, and Prado that could play everyday for another team. We are just one good reliever shy from being almost damn near a perfect team.

by That a boy on Apr 8, 2009 10:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This actually made me laugh.

Phils look like champs after getting rings
Philadelphia puts up crooked number for comeback win

best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)

by mvandonsel on Apr 8, 2009 10:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It’s an encouraging start to the season but its still way to early to tell much of anything. Schafer has gotten off to a good start but he still has to prove he can hang in there vs LHP.

I’m not too concerned with the bullpen. Early in the year, most all pitchers are still struggling with command. Maybe not to the extent of what we saw today but we have good arms with decent track records and still have several plan B’s in the minors to fall back on.

I’m looking for a few things here early on that should let us know where we stand.
1. Is Francoeur progressing? I was impressed with his AB on Tuesday night where he hammered a HR ball that went just foul down the leftfield line. Then hammered the next pitch right down the rightfield line. If he can continue that type of mentality, he will be fine.
2. Starting pitching? Looks very good so far.
3. Schafer? Played fairly well but still waiting to see how much of a factor he will be vs LHP

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism,
but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism,
until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." --Nikita Khrushchev

by jeg on Apr 9, 2009 12:36 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wasn’t one of Schafer’s homers against a lefty?

"Loyal? I'm the most loyal player money can buy." - Don Sutton

by beeniez on Apr 9, 2009 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, off Happ, a lefty.

by homerun on Apr 9, 2009 3:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The HR in yesterday’s game was off of a LHP. It’s a nice start but lets see how well he adjusts once a full report gets around.

by jeg on Apr 9, 2009 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

As long as Heap stays zoned in like he is we will be able to count on at least 3 or more runs on the board every night, even with Chipper out. He is a freakin’ beast.

by Fischerking on Apr 9, 2009 8:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Disgusting is definitely the word for that game. Yes, 2 ouf 3 against the Phils is great but that’s the kinda game where, in September when we are watching other teams in the playoffs, you get extra-pissed thinking about such a loss.

"The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw."

by WienerDog on Apr 9, 2009 8:38 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

LASIK

Oh, I forgot to mention. If that’s what LASIK does to you (Moylan) I’m sticking with glasses!

Somebody post a crybaby pic…quick! :-)

"The crows seemed to be calling his name, thought Caw."

by WienerDog on Apr 9, 2009 8:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I hope you stick around all year

I’m glad I’m not the one with an optimistic outlook towards tomorrow. I will buy you an appreciative beer on the road if our travels bring us to the same park.

The Braves will be just fine. As it’s been mentioned, best to let the other shoe drop and get the bullpen diarrhea out of the system sooner than later. Moylan has started slow in each of his previous two seasons, so he will only get better as the year goes on. Just remember in 2007 he started abysmally, but one evening he came in for some emergency long relief and ate the Marlins, while slashing his ERA in half, before it started to diminish under 2.00 for pretty much the remainder of the season. He’ll be fine.

Boyer will be fine, hopefully. I’m chalking it up to him seeing his first appearance in an unfavorable situation with the sacks full and only one out. Not promising for a pitcher with flyball tendencies. Here’s to hoping his first fresh inning goes scoreless.

No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.

by royhobbs on Apr 9, 2009 10:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't worry about me royhobbs!

I have been around for a while! I’m not going anywhere! I will take you up on the beer offer though!

best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)

by mvandonsel on Apr 9, 2009 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

THANK PUJOLS!

Excellent post, mvandonsel. Thank you. The title says it all – if the Braves keeping winning 2 of 3 and 3 of 4, that’s a damn good recipe for success.

"People need help, and you know how to help them."

by VegasAces on Apr 9, 2009 10:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

No problem man, I have faith, we will just keep taking 2 out of 3! I know I have asked this before, but I can’t remember the answer, are you in Vegas?

best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)

by mvandonsel on Apr 9, 2009 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs