May 07 2008
Jurrjens, Kotsay, Jones stay hot as Braves make it four in a row
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
Braves 5, Padres 3
Top of the Order: Mark Kotsay and Chipper Jones continued their great work at the plate, and Jair Jurrjens continued his great work on the mound as the Braves pushed above .500 for the first time since April 25 with their fourth victory in a row.
The Good: Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Jurrjens is good … really good! The young right-hander pitched six innings – the seventh time in seven starts he’s given the Braves at least six innings. And, as usual, they were good innings: seven hits, one run, one walk and eight strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 2.84. Just think how good Jurrjens is going to be once he gets a couple of years under his belt. Can you say ace? Speaking of aces, the Braves are playing two hot hands in the lineup right now. Kotsay stroked two hits, scored twice, hit his third homer and drove in two runs. He also made an awesome over-the-shoulder catch deep in the gap in left-center, running down Tadahito Iguchi’s drive in the fifth. Jones blasted his 10th homer of the season (No. 396 for his career) and walked twice, bumping his average up to .426. Yunel Escobar finished with two hits, and rookie Gregor Blanco added a hit and an RBI. Blaine Boyer was dominant pitching the eighth, striking out two. Royce Ring nearly gave up a three-run homer in the ninth, but struck out Adrian Gonzalez for the second out of the inning. Jeff Bennett then came on, and Mr. Everything for the Braves’ pitching staff got the final out for his first career save.
The Bad: We’ll start on the injury front. Rafael Soriano continues to experience discomfort in his elbow, so he will undergo an MRI. Word also surfaced Tuesday that Mike Gonzalez’s return from Tommy John surgery has been pushed back toward the end of the month after he experienced some minor discomfort pitching over the weekend. As expected, Peter Moylan will undergo season-ending surgery. On the field, Will Ohman gave up two runs in the seventh, and closer Manny Acosta only could get one out in the ninth, giving up two hits. The 4-5-6 spots in the lineup (Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur) combined to go 1-for-11.
The View from the Sports Garage: We’ve talked at length about Jurrjens and Jones this season, but what about Kotsay and the job he’s doing? His back, which robbed him of parts of the past two seasons, is healthy again, and Kotsay is performing as well as anybody could expect. His catch on Iguchi’s ball in the fifth was as fine a defensive play as we’ve seen all season. At the plate, he admitted to making an adjustment in facing Chris Young, against whom Kotsay was 0-for-12 entering the game. I’d say it worked. Acquired for Joey Devine and with Oakland picking up all but $2 million of his salary, Kotsay is proving to be one of the best bargains in all of baseball. Fifteen games ago, he was hitting .220. Now he’s at .308, giving the Braves that dependable veteran stick no matter where he hits in the lineup. When you’ve got a hitter like Kotsay hitting seventh, it shows just how strong this lineup can be. What’s Andruw Jones hitting again? Speaking of the Dodgers, they knocked off the Mets last night (anybody see David Wright’s throw that sailed into the first-base dugout … yeah, Gold Glove my butt). With Philly also losing, the Marlins lead the East again but, here are the Braves, just 1 ½ games out of the top spot.
On deck
Braves vs. Padres
7:10 p.m. today, Turner Field
The Skinny: OK, Tim Hudson, enough with the roller-coaster stuff, bro. Huddy followed his second three-inning stint in three starts with a gem Friday night, a complete-game, 10-strikeout shutout. The Braves, as I’ve opined often the past six weeks, absolutely have to have Hudson pitch like a stud. Even with his struggles in those two abbreviated outings, Huddy still is 4-2 on the season with a 2.95 ERA. The Padres, who have lost 15 of 19, send Randy Wolf (2-1, 3.57) to the bump. Wolf is one of those guys who pitches well, but not many people talk about him – hard to get a lot of ink with Jake Peavy and Greg Maddux in the rotation. He’s pitched six innings in four of his six starts this season. No reason for the Braves to let up now, not with two more games left on the homestand and Atlanta now sporting the best record in the NL at home (12-4).
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I am wondering if the three of these guys are going to be able to pull the Braves to the top of the NL east. What do you think?
Great Blog
I don’t think the braves will be winning the NL East this year, would be awesome if they did get back on top again but I cannot see it happening the way the Phillies bullpen has been and way their offense is playing with a god awful Ryan Howard.
Admin: Thanks. Yeah, if the Braves win the East, I think Jurrjens, Jones and Kotsay will have to play big roles. I don’t think Chipper is going to hit .419 all season, and I think at some point we may see Jurrjens struggle a bit just because he’s so young (but he’s been awesome to this point). Kotsay’s been a tremendous pickup, and if his back stays healthy, he’s a heck of a bargain at $2 mil a year.
Bbullis: Can you believe how BAD Howard has been? I’ve watched the Phils play several times this season and that dude is as lost as lost can be. I think the Phils — with that lineup playing in that ballpark, and the bullpen — have to be the favorite at this point. But, their starting pitching is suspect beyond Hamels and Myers, and I’d put the Braves cast of folks from No. 3 through No. 5 against the Phils any day of the week.
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