Game 84 Recap: Braves 4, Cubs 1

by gondeee on Jul 8, 2009 7:01 PM EDT in Braves Game Recaps

Enjoy it while it lasts, because the Braves are on the uphill slope of their season-long roller coaster. After losing two of three to the Nationals, and the first game of the series at Wrigley against the Cubs, they came back behind stellar pitching to take the last two games and win the series.

Kenshin Kawakami continued his run of great starts (save for the last one) by holding the Cubs to just one run (a sixth inning homerun by fellow countryman Kosuke Fukudome) on 4 hits and 2 walks. The bullpen troika of Peter Moylan, Mike Gonzalez, and Rafael Soriano finished out the game by allowing just 2 more Cubs baserunners. It was the second straight game that Braves pitchers have held the Cubs to 1 run.

The top of the lineup duo of Nate McLouth and Martin Prado stayed hot as they scored 3 of the Braves 4 runs. Prado was on base 4 times, with 2 singles and 2 walks. Casey Kotchman added the Braves second run with a sixth inning homerun.

Brian McCann pulled his best Jeff Francoeur imitation by going 0-for-5 with a strikeout and 4 LOB. As for Francoeur, he stayed true to form by going 0-for-4 with a strikeout and 3 LOB.

Let's enjoy this win, and this series win, and let's hope the Braves can take the momentum into Colorado and win that series to finish up the first half of the season.

Final - 7.8.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta Braves	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	2	4	4	0
Chicago Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	6	2

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Comments

Frenchy has to go now.

by Zeus12888 on Jul 8, 2009 7:10 PM EDT reply actions

did anyone else notice the huge grin he kept flashing at the camera during monday’s game on espn? i couldn’t figure out if he was being sarcastic or if he’s completely lost his mind. either way, it freaked me out a little bit.

"When life gives you lemons, just say 'F*ck the lemons,' and bail."

by Bravely going forward on Jul 8, 2009 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions

SO TRUE

I hate his goofy fucking smile like nothing else.

by VivaLosBravos on Jul 8, 2009 10:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Nice win.

I’ll second what Zeus just wrote. How does FYF continue to start let alone continue to get at bats?

by Sparhawk on Jul 8, 2009 7:14 PM EDT reply actions

Let’s just hope the Phillies don’t score another 22 runs tonight and Cincinnati can help us out again. We can get back to three games before spending 4 games in Chicago, which should make the offense look better.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 7:25 PM EDT reply actions

Francoeur has a job, while millions of Americans dont

Pathetic.

60% of the time, it works every time

by ATLandUNC on Jul 8, 2009 7:27 PM EDT reply actions

and i have a college degree to boot!

Cockchafer

by bpk228480 on Jul 8, 2009 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Let’s not be ridiculous..

by BravesWin on Jul 8, 2009 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Worst decision of his life

was not taking that offer from Clemson.

by VivaLosBravos on Jul 8, 2009 10:38 PM EDT up reply actions

How do you figure? He’s grossed over $6 million so far and will probably get someone to pay him at least a million more next year.

by 17843 on Jul 9, 2009 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Good game. Really hope Conrad can keep up the good play. Love seeing his hussle out there. Little nervous about this series in Colorado. Hopefully the offense heavy park will help us more than them.

by MTSU11 on Jul 8, 2009 7:34 PM EDT reply actions

Who knew that all it took to sparkplug the offense was to bench Chipper and put Francoeur back in. 4 runs today is the most we’ve scored in 5 games.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 7:35 PM EDT reply actions

Brian McCann pulled his best Jeff Francoeur imitation by going 0-for-5 with a strikeout and 4 LOB.

That is good comedy. LOL

by Cracker! on Jul 8, 2009 7:51 PM EDT reply actions

what are our options for RF? diaz? blanco? maybe infante or gorecki from AAA?

there needs to be a change.

2009 Atlanta Braves Motto: We ♥ leaving RISP.

by Scott Coleman on Jul 8, 2009 7:58 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

Compared to FYF...

All of those sound damn good to me :-)

by Zeus12888 on Jul 8, 2009 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions

what do you think of Blanco hitting leadoff and trying Mclouth at number 3 again? he only hit there 2 games and that was after he was traded 1000 miles so his early struggles are understandable. maybe he could even hit 5th?

2009 Atlanta Braves Motto: We ♥ leaving RISP.

by Scott Coleman on Jul 8, 2009 8:22 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

If

Blanco Leads off McLouth should hit 2nd

by drumzalicious on Jul 8, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Denard Span

A man walks into a meat shoppe and goes to the counter. The cashier asks, "Thinking about buying some meat?". The man replied, "No, I'm going to buy meat, I was thinking about punanny."

by bwellnjonesco on Jul 8, 2009 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions

I wonder if we could trade Kris Medlen and maybe someone else for Span

by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jul 8, 2009 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions

thats the guy on the Twins right?

And what do you guys think about Shin-Soo Choo??

2009 Atlanta Braves Motto: We ♥ leaving RISP.

by Scott Coleman on Jul 8, 2009 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Does no one realize he has a 2 year military term coming up?

BravesHeart, my new, corporate-sponsored blog - FANBALL BLOG OF THE MONTH JUNE 2009!!!!!

by bigjoe on Jul 8, 2009 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Is it assured that he’ll have to go or will he get an exception?

by soup du jour on Jul 9, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

If he didn’t get one for carrying Korea to the WBC finals on his back, he’s not getting one.

BravesHeart, my new, corporate-sponsored blog - FANBALL BLOG OF THE MONTH JUNE 2009!!!!!

by bigjoe on Jul 9, 2009 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah the guy on the twins

by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jul 9, 2009 12:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Just finished it. What a nail biter until the top of the 9th. Whew.

KK did well, Moylan worked a great 7th and Gonzo almost gave too much drama again…OMG I almost swallowed by gum when Esco made that catch in the 8th. What a relief. Soriano did his usual great job to close it out and we got the WIN!!

Now we’ve won 2 in a row – and took the series it’s on to Colorado to keep it going…..

"Well behaved women rarely make history" ~ Laurel Ulrich

by NCChopper on Jul 8, 2009 8:37 PM EDT reply actions

esco had a huge play. im really happy we’re “supposedly” shopping him since Bobby doesn’t like him.

2009 Atlanta Braves Motto: We ♥ leaving RISP.

by Scott Coleman on Jul 8, 2009 8:41 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Yeah I know. Bobby hates shortstops who play good defense and hit well and enjoy themselves on the field. Escobar is such a jerk.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 9:01 PM EDT up reply actions

oh come on

Bobby doesn’t dislike him for enjoying himself. The guy is quite talented, but any Braves fans who says that they don’t see why Bobby dislikes him is lying through their teeth. In my opinion it’s definitely not reason enough to deal him away, but he is not exactly what you’d call a high effort player. When it should be an easy play, he just sort of half-asses it and much more often than it should, it ends up costing the team because he makes a lot of bone-headed plays on the basepath, in the field, and has a number of habbits that look cocky to the other team and officials.

by was385 on Jul 8, 2009 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions

I actually

see no evidence at all that Bobby doesn’t like Escobar. There have been rumors about whether Escobar was “hurt” or if he was being sent a message, but those were just rumors without any basis in fact.

Even if he was sitting the kid to send him a message-well, he loved Andruw Jones and didn’t hesitate to bench him when he thought Andruw wasn’t trying. If anything, I think Escobar is one of his favorite young players right now.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 9:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Where there's smoke, there's fire

Almost always rumors have basis in fact (especially when they come from team beat writers). Bobby will never publicly call out a player but we’ve seen a number of media sources say that Bobby has been frustrated with Yunel’s antics, Yunel has been pulled out of a game for a stupid play, etc. The fact is that Yunel has had the same bad habits since he was called up and has yet to even really make progress on getting rid of those habits. Also, keep in mind that Andruw was 20 or 21 when Bobby famously yanked him out of the game, Yunel is at least 26 right now.

by was385 on Jul 8, 2009 9:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Who cares!!!

Baseball is my life

by That a boy on Jul 9, 2009 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions

obviously bobby does

and when he decides who plays, its a pretty big deal

by was385 on Jul 9, 2009 7:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Once again who cares!!!! Bobby needs to be in the FO enjoying air conditioning with Wren and the Gang. If they ever got rid of YUnel because of the mentioned above they would be very stupid.

Baseball is my life

by That a boy on Jul 9, 2009 7:48 PM EDT up reply actions

i'm not disagreeing

I’m just saying that there are plenty of thing he does that would severely frustrate a manager.

by was385 on Jul 9, 2009 8:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Cincinnati is clinging to a 1 run lead over the Phillies. Dusty scares me, though, I don’t know how long he’s going to keep Homer Bailey in there. The kid is pitching over his head a little bit, and the Reds have a rocking bullpen, so I hope Dusty goes to them before it’s too late.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 8:51 PM EDT reply actions

Crappity crap crap

I jinxed it. Jayson Werth HR. I hate myself.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 8:52 PM EDT up reply actions

And now Bailey is missing with his fastball and his offspeed pitches.

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 8:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Damn you

you owe my fantasy team a win for that jinx!

"Actually, Justin was right."
by bigjoe on May 15, 2009 9:04 AM PDT

by justincredubil02 on Jul 8, 2009 9:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Prado(L)

by SayHeyWerd on Jul 8, 2009 8:55 PM EDT reply actions

Mets stomping Dodgers through 6, Not good news either!
I was hoping at least one of them would lose!
Dodgers need a huge comeback

by HEYJUDE on Jul 8, 2009 9:29 PM EDT up reply actions

At least the Nationals lost?

by Bronn on Jul 8, 2009 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions

YES!

So now of the 6 series they’ve won all year, 2 are against the Braves.

2009 Atlanta Braves Motto: We ♥ leaving RISP.

by Scott Coleman on Jul 8, 2009 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

good win but frenchy has to go why didnt Diaz start

by Heyward is the next crime dog on Jul 8, 2009 9:48 PM EDT reply actions

What's up with McCann lately?

Has he just been in a slump or is there more to it. I know he had a couple of RBI’s the other night but other than that he has seemed a little lost. He has admittedly been lacking at the plate lately. Hopefully he’s not hiding some type of injury.

For our team to continue with any momentum we need him to be driving in runs. We can’t count on 2-1 wins every night. Our pitchers are probably all going to go through a meltdown soon.

by Fischerking on Jul 9, 2009 8:37 AM EDT reply actions

one of the announcers mentioned

that McCann’s timing and approach was thrown off by wakefield. I don’t think it’s anything serious, just needs to find his stroke.

by was385 on Jul 9, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

What do you mean?

Is there more to it? What else could it be?

"It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone." A. Bartlett Giamatti

by sddbaker on Jul 9, 2009 4:15 PM EDT reply actions