Braves.Today.Com

By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com

Braves 5, Pirates 2 (exhibition)

Top of the Order: Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami threw two shutout innings, and Chipper Jones and Greg Norton added home runs as the Braves won their second consecutive game in Grapefruit League play.

The Good: Let’s start with Kawakami, who impressed by allowing just a bloop hit in two stellar innings, striking out one. Jones hit a two-run homer in the fifth, one inning after Norton blasted a solo shot. Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur each walked twice. Josh Anderson, the frontrunner for the center field spot, had a hit and scored once. Omar Infante drove in a run, as did Brandon Jones. After Kawakami, the bullpen was solid. Buddy Carlyle struck out three in two scoreless innings. One day after pitching phenom Tommy Hanson made his debut, another highly touted pitching prospect, Kris Medlen, wiggled out of trouble in his one inning.

The Bad: Not much to report from a solid victory. Anthony Lerew lost the shutout by throwing a wild pitch, finishing his inning with two hits allowed and two walks. The Braves left 13 runners on base. Medlen walked two before settling down. Matt Diaz grounded into two double plays.

View from the Sports Garage: So with no audio feed from Bradenton, there was no listening to Kawakami’s debut. But from all accounts, he pitched well. Two innings, 18 of his 29 pitches for strikes, worked down in the zone well. Pretty good offensive performance. Nice win. – BLOGGER NOTE: With some severe weather, flickering power and sketchy Internet connection, keeping this one real short. That, and the Braves play in about five hours. Speaking of today …

Next
Braves at Blue Jays
1:05 p.m. today, Dunedin

The Skinny: Following Kawakami’s debut, the Braves roll out another of their newly acquired pieces of the starting rotation today. Derek Lowe makes his spring debut for Atlanta. Lowe features that heavy sinker that’s helped him pitch 200 innings and win double-digit games consistently since 2002.

—30—