This wasn't the way Braves fans pictured this team going out. Large wild card leads in late August and early September seemed at one point too large to lose, but they weren't. Atlanta's season ended with a whimper, a sweep at the hands of the Phillies that kept the Braves out of the playoffs.

The last game was especially gut-wrenching, with a win three outs away in the ninth inning and 90 feet away in the twelfth inning. Injuries, inconsistency at the plate, and a taxed bullpen were too much for Atlanta to overcome. Some notes from the season ending series.

What more can your say about Kris Medlen? He made his second appearance since coming back from Tommy John surgery in the ninth inning of the season finale and was phenomenal. He escaped a bases loaded jam to keep the game tied, and allowed one hit but nothing else in the tenth inning. Glad you're back Kris.

Dan Uggla crushed his 36th home run of the year in Thursday's finale, the most he has had in a single season so far in his career. Just an incredible finish to his season after a rough, rough beginning. 

Derek Lowe struggled again in the second game of the series, lasting only four innings while giving up five earned runs. 

Cliff Lee was fantastic in game one, scattering five hits and two runs while striking out six in six innings of work. 

The Braves went 5-26 with RISP during the series, which makes it really tough to win ballgames.

Freddie Freeman went a combined 1-13 at the plate during the series, while Martin Prado went 3-14.

Less than 200 days until MLB 2012 opening day. Can't wait for it to get here.

Well, this is it ladies and gentlemen.

After losing two of three to the Washington Nationals and seeing its wild card lead shrink to one game, Atlanta welcomes the Phillies to Turner Field for a regular season ending three-game series. 

Since clinching the National League East, Philadelphia has gone 1-9, mainly using a mix and matched lineup at the plate. They used their full lineup for the first time since clinching on Sunday, and broke out of their offensive slump with nine runs and 19 hits against the New York Mets.

So, here's where it stands: A one-game lead with three games against the Phillies while the surging Cardinals play three against the cellar dwelling Houston Astros. Should be a very interesting week in Braves country. 

Pitching match-ups after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Losing this series was certainly a punch to the gut of Atlanta's quest for a Wild Card spot. They continued to stagger to the finish line with the Cardinals stepping on their heels trying to trip them up. The good news is they're still ahead by a game and are headed home to wrap up the regular season.

Coming into this series, I personally expected winning at least two out of three. It figures, though, that the Braves were only able to beat the best pitcher the Nationals threw out there. They had beaten Chien-Ming Wang twice earlier this year, so after the Braves beat Stephen Strasburg, you had to like their chances, right? It's a mystery to me how they lost to Wang despite their success earlier this year. However, the end of Friday's game was plenty fun to watch.

Continue reading this post »

The Braves have staggered toward the finish line in the NL Wild Card race, and it's not going to get much easier against the Nationals.

Atlanta will try to improve on its two-game lead in the Wild Card against a Nationals team that has won 11 of its last 14 games, including a four-game sweep of the Phillies. Stephen Strasburg returned to the starting rotation earlier this month from Tommy John surgery and will try to put a kink in the Braves' playoff hopes with six games remaining in the regular season. The Braves received some much-needed assistance from the Mets Thursday, stunning the Cardinals with a six-run ninth to win 8-6, reducing Atlanta's magic number to clinch the Wild Card down to 5.

Pitching matchups after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

That series didn't exactly go as Atlanta and we as fans would have hoped. With the problematic Nationals and the Phillies coming up, the Braves could have done with more than just one win in three games against the Fish. In the same time that St. Louis won all three games, the Braves lost two games to fall to just 1.5 games up in the NL Wild Card Race.

Monday night's game was one of the more devastating losses that a team in the heart of a playoff race could experience. After rallying back from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead, the Braves' bread and butter, O'Ventbrel, let them down for a second straight day. Craig Kimbrel got some hard luck on a routine chopper to Chipper Jones that could have ended the game, but then gave up a long walk-off homer to former Braves singles hitter, Omar Infante. The Cardinals beat the Phillies by a score of 4-3 on Monday, cutting the Braves lead from 3.5 to 2.5 games.

Continue reading this post »

The Braves travel to Miami to take on the Marlins for the final time this season. Therefore, the Braves will be playing their last three games at Dolphin Stadium. Currently called Sun Life Stadium, the arena is not really the most aesthetically pleasing and isn't known for the crowds that it packs. Hopefully for the Marlins, their new retractable roof stadium will help to put some more asses in the seats.

The Braves are in a precarious position in first place of the NL wild card race by 3.5 games and hopefully the Marlins will be what the doctor ordered for Atlanta. After a late game meltdown by the Braves yesterday, the task of maintaining the 3.5 game lead became a bit harder. Jonny Venters issues continued in that he threw nine straight balls during the eighth inning prior to a home run off of Craig Kimbrel in the ninth. One thing that I will be watching closely is to see how the bullpen bounces back.

Chipper Jones has continued to do all that he can to help the Braves win and these rookie pitchers have been all that a Braves fan could ask for. We will be seeing Minor and Delgado on the hump during this series. However, there are a few things off about the current Braves squad that are somewhat disconcerting. Ideally the Braves would strand no runners during the Monday-Wednesday set, as this has been one of the biggest issues of late. The Marlins aren't playing terrific baseball now, though, and Atlanta just took two of three from them at home. They are 12-18 in their last thirty games. Matchups after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Well, no one can accuse the Braves of not making things interesting going down the stretch. With the race for the National League wildcard spot in its final stages, the Braves dropped two of three games to the New York Mets.

As of now, Atlanta sits 3.5 games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals with nine games left to play. Here are some notes from this weekend's series.

Ruben Tejada had a field day this weekend against Atlanta. During the series, he went 5-10 at the plate with six RBI's, including four in the series finale.

Jason Heyward started only two games in the series, but went 3-7 at the plate with two walks against the Mets. 

Friday was the tale of two different pitchers. Mets starter Chris Capuano threw well against Atlanta again, giving up two runs in five innings while striking out six. Derek Lowe on the other hand, pitched terribly. Lowe lasted only 2.1 innings, giving up nine hits and six runs. The Braves need Lowe to improve by leaps and bounds and fast.

David Wright recorded four hits over the three-game series, but two of those were home runs in game one of the series. 

Tim Hudson was dominant Saturday afternoon, striking out ten in eight innings of work, earning a win when Atlanta badly needed it. 

Sunday was the first time all season that Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters have given up a run in the same game. I wouldn't expect it to happen too many more times. 

Brian McCann went 1-9 during the series. Atlanta can't afford for that to keep up as it attempts to lockdown the wildcard.

Up next:

Atlanta heads to Florida for a three-game series against the Marlins. The Braves magic number sits at seven with nine games to play. 

Hello Braves fans. After a day off yesterday, Atlanta begins the final stretch run toward the playoffs with a three-game series against the New York Mets in Atlanta. 

The Mets were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Wednesday, and they have lost 10 of their past 14 games. New York has a 71-79 record on the season, 27 games back of the Phillies.

Offense:

As a team, the Mets are second in the National League in batting average (.264), second in on-base average (.334), tied for eighth in slugging percentage (.392), sixth in wOBA (.320), and tied for second in wRC+ (102).

Individually, it starts with Jose Reyes. While he has been battling his hamstring injury during the second half of the season, he's still performing well. On the year, he is hitting .331/.374/.484 with a .377 wOBA and a 141 wRC+. Reyes also paces the Mets with 35 steals.

David Wright in 90 games has hit .263/.356/.439 with a 124 wRC+. Lucas Duda has also hit well, putting together a line of .281/.354/.463. Interestingly enough, Jason Bay is hitting worse on the road than he is at Citi Field. Bay on the road in 2011 has hit .218/.295/.329. 

Josh Thole is hitting .259/.342/.341 so far on the year, while Ruben Tejada is at .274/.352/.326 and Angel Pagan is hitting .264/.321/.380 with 31 steals. Bay and Wright lead the Mets with 12 home runs apiece.

Pitching matchups and a look at the Mets bullpen after the jump.

Continue reading this post »