Aug 09 2008
Chipper returns, sticks swing in win over D’Backs
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
Braves 11, Diamondbacks 6
Top of the Order: Casey Kotchman and Martin Prado enjoyed three-hit nights, as the Braves celebrated Chipper Jones’ return to the lineup by winning for the third time in four games.
The Good: First and foremost, Jones is back. Activated from the disabled list and playing for the first time since July 23, Chipper went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the ninth (his 19th tater of the year), drove in two runs and scored three times. His major-league leading average rose to .371. Kotchman and Prado really shined on this night, each going 3-for-4. Kotchman singled three times, scored two runs and drove in two runs in his best game as a Brave. Prado doubled twice, tripled, drove in three and raised his average to .310. I think you’re going to see him play more over these final seven weeks. Yunel Escobar scored twice and went 2-for-5. Omar Infante walked three times, scored three times and drove in two. All of this was plenty for Jorge Campillo, who dominated early, tired a bit in the sixth and seventh, and finished with eight hits and five runs allowed in 6 1/3 innings. Once again, Campillo didn’t walk anybody, and he fanned five. Will Ohman and Julian Tavarez got Campillo out of a jam in the seventh, and Jeff Bennett closed the door by allowing just one run over two innings, striking out four and picking up the save. Blaine Boyer didn’t pitch, ending his string of consecutive relief appearances at 2,384,487 (just kidding; but seriously, he didn’t pitch … was he not at the ballpark?).
The Bad: The hit parade failed to pick up Jeff Francoeur, the slumping right fielder’s average dropping to a season-worst .228. I know the Braves need Frenchy to hit his way out of this thing, but really, it’s time for Jeffro to hit the bench for a couple of games (especially with the way Infante is playing, you can leave Omar in left and put Gregor Blanco in right with Mark Kotsay in center). Frenchy is hitting a putrid .133 in August (4-for-30). Off the field, a busy day at the home of the Braves – Dr. James Andrews’ office (silly you, thinking the home of the Braves was Turner Field. Not this year, at least). Tim Hudson underwent Tommy John surgery. Now comes at least one year of rehab before Huddy toes the slab again. Also, disabled-list cornerstone Rafael Soriano (hey, somebody had to replace Mike Hampton with holding down the DL fort) had an MRI on Thursday and the Braves announced Friday the results were, of course, inconclusive. Great. Guess Raffy will sit some more.
View from the Sports Garage: Woo-hoo! The Braves are within 8 ½ games of first place in the NL East, and just seven out of third! Print those playoff tick… Oh, yeah. Never mind. Well, even if the Braves are out of it, it’s good to see them playing well on this road trip, a swing that’s never easy. Take out Monday night’s loss – when this team still was in shock from Sunday’s death of longtime broadcaster Skip Caray – and the Braves are 3-1 on the swing with two games to go. In those three wins, the Braves are averaging 9.3 runs per game, and the pitching has been plenty good enough. With the franchise focused on 2009, it’s prime time for guys like Infante and Prado to keep doing their thing, to show management they belong here. Infante has to be here next season; dude is a great fielder at multiple positions and just in the past few weeks has hit his stride offensively. Remember, he missed all of spring training and the first month of the season with a hand injury suffered in winter ball. Prado continues to impress. Love the way he hits the ball in the gap and love his hustle. And certainly, it helps to get Chipper back in the lineup. He leads Albert Pujols by 22 points in the race for the batting title and, in scoring from first base on a double by Brian McCann in the fifth, didn’t show any lingering effects of the quadriceps or hamstring injuries that have slowed Hoss this summer. You can’t say enough about Campillo. He ran out of gas a little toward the end last night, but he dominated after allowing a leadoff homer in the first. Campillo has walked just two hitters in his past 29 innings, is 4-0 in his last six starts, and sits 7-4 on the season with a 2.83 ERA. Most valuable pitcher this season? It’s a toss-up between him and the guy who pitches tonight. Speaking of tonight …
On deck
Braves at Diamondbacks
8:10 p.m. today, Chase Field
The Skinny: Jair Jurrjens (10-7, 3.12 ERA) likely will move into uncharted territory tonight as he toes the slab against the Diamondbacks. The 22-year-old begins the game just 4 1/3 innings from reaching his career high for innings pitched in one season, and the Braves will be watching closely to see if there is any dip in the splendid performance of the right-hander as the final two months of the season unfold. His last time out, in Monday’s road-trip opening loss at San Francisco, Jurrjens didn’t pitch that poorly, but gave up four runs in six innings to take the loss. For Arizona, Dan Haren (12-5, 2.75 ERA) has been as good as advertised in coming over to the NL from Oakland in the offseason. The right-hander has won five consecutive decisions and is 7-1 since the first of June.
—30—
Bud, I kinda liked the line up that they had last night.