BRAVES NEWS
Braves blow late lead, get obliterated by Pirates in extra innings
In a game that looked promising on multiple fronts, from Julio Teheran’s ability to settle in after a series of unfortunate blunders in the second to the continued success the Braves had with runners on base, the bullpen effectively blew out all our birthday candles with a fire extinguisher and sent everyone home crying. Jose Ramirez was a little wild and unlucky and Josh Collmenter had the worst inning of any Brave since John Smoltz on Opening Day of the 2002 season. The offense had some timely hits but this game ended up looking like a blowout in the end.
Dynamic Ruiz could stay up after Garcia returns
This news is exciting for a number of reasons, namely because Rio looks like he belongs in the majors based on his performance thus far. The other reasons have more to do with the fact that Rio being on the field means no Adonis Garcia in an unchallenged starting role. Placing Garcia in a bench/platoon role makes the bench a little deeper, and hopefully relieves Emilio Bonifacio of his duties as an Atlanta Brave. We will see how keeping Rio affects the roster, but it is exciting to hear that the Braves may want to keep him around.
In his 20th year in MLB, Bartolo Colón still loves this game
In honor of Bartolo Colón’s birthday on Wednesday, Juan Martinez of ESPN.com wrote a piece commemorating the long, distinguished career of Big Sexy. The piece is well-written and really delves into who Bartolo is and what makes him so likable to seemingly everyone around baseball. He may not be a Cy Young caliber star anymore, but the 44-year-old still as a big impact.
MLB NEWS
Pujols homers; now just 3 shy of No. 600
Albert Pujols moved a step closer to joining very select company on Wednesday, blasting career home run number 597 to move within three homers of joining the 600-club. He would be just the ninth player ever to accomplish that feat.
MLB wins League of the Year Award
I had no idea this award even existed, but apparently Major League Baseball won it. The award is presented annually at the Sports Business Awards, and for the second time in the ten years since it was initiated, Major League Baseball takes home top honors.