Braves.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

Blue Jays 1, Braves 0

Top of the Order: The Braves extended their major-league record for consecutive one-run losses on the road, wasting another great performance by Jo-Jo Reyes in losing the rubber game of a three-game set in Toronto.

The Good: Following the worst start of his season Monday – snapping a string of five impressive outings in a row – Reyes responded with one of the best efforts of his career. The lefty gave up six hits and one run in seven innings with two walks and five strikeouts. Gregor Blanco continued to rake from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-4; in the past four games, Blanco is 10-for-17. Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless inning, his fourth-consecutive scoreless appearance. Mark Teixeira drew three walks, as Toronto’s pitchers smartly worked around the streaking Braves’ cleanup hitter. Off the field, it looks like Yunel Escobar will be back in the starting lineup Tuesday night against Philadelphia, and Mark Kotsay appears ready to come off the disabled list Tuesday. With that said …

The Bad: … Chipper Jones and his major-league leading .394 average may be heading to the disabled list. Chipper, who has missed eight starts in a row (appearing as a pinch hitter June 21, June 24 and June 25), told reporters Sunday his slightly torn quadriceps muscle isn’t getting any better after a week of rest. Obviously, that’s really bad news for the Braves. On the field, missing Chipper and Escobar and Omar Infante left the Braves short-handed again, and the Atlanta offense was overpowered by Toronto starter A.J. Burnett, who struck out 11 in seven innings. For the day, the Braves finished with just five hits and struck out 13 times. Brian McCann went 0-for-4 and left six runners on base. The bottom third of the lineup – Jeff Francoeur, Brandon Jones and Brent Lillibridge – combined to go 0-for-10 with six whiffs. Frenchy is down to .239; when Kotsay comes back, the Braves have to put Francoeur on the bench for a day or two and move either Blanco or Brandon Jones to right field.

View from the Sports Garage: If this team misses the playoff by three or four games, we’ll have plenty of candidates for “man, the Braves should’ve won on ‘X’ date.” I don’t think you can put this game into that category, frustrating as it is to lose a one-run game on the road for the 23rd consecutive time, extending a major-league record I’m sure the Braves would just as soon not own. Basically, the lineup employed by Atlanta this weekend consisted of Blanco, Kelly Johnson, Tex, McCann, bailing wire, duct tape and some other stuff MacGyver would have in his bag of save-the-world tricks. The Braves were lucky to get one win in this series. Reyes pitched outstanding; definitely a great sign to see him bounce back from that rough outing against the Brewers with the type of performance he had Sunday. Unfortunately for Jo-Jo, the Braves just won’t score him any runs: eight times in his 12 starts, the Braves have scored two runs or less. Now it’s home to face the Phillies in a critical three-game series at Turner Field starting Tuesday. Only four games out of first, it’s time for the Braves to step up and cut into the lead. A sweep would be great, but two-of-three would work just fine. No Chipper for this series definitely hurts, but with Escobar back and Kotsay back and, hopefully, Francoeur on the bench to try and clear his head, this lineup will be much better than what we saw the past three games. Hopefully, the results will be better, too.

On deck
Braves vs. Phillies
7:05 p.m. Tuesday, Turner Field

The Skinny: Revenge is a mighty strong word, but the Braves need to have it front and center when the Phillies come to town. Remember last month, don’t you? Johnson’s dropped final out of the game, followed by two losses that came in the late innings, as the Phillies swept their way through town. Well, the Braves get a chance to not only send a message this week, but also to pull ever closer to the lead in the NL East. Rookie Charlie Morton (1-1, 4.24 ERA) toes the slab for Atlanta in the opener. He gave up just two earned runs in six innings against Milwaukee on Tuesday, a game in which Atlanta committed three errors in the first inning. Morton’s been very good for the most part in his first three starts in the majors. For the Phillies, right-hander Kyle Kendrick (7-3, 4.59 ERA) is tied for the team lead in victories, coming off eight shutout innings against Oakland in his last start. Kendrick has faced the Braves twice this season, getting a victory May 13 at Philly and earning a no-decision June 7 in Atlanta.

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