Apr 01 2009
Chipper’s homer lone highlight in Braves’ loss to Astros
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
Houston 8, Atlanta 3 (exhibition)
Top of the Order: Chipper Jones celebrated his three-year contract extension with a three-run homer, but the Braves mustered little more in Derek Lowe’s final spring start.
The Good: Jones, who agreed to a contract extension through 2012 with a vesting option for 2013 on Tuesday, blasted a three-run homer in the top of the sixth to score Brandon Jones and Yunel Escobar. Garret Anderson finished 2-for-3 with a triple and showed no problems playing in left field. David Ross picked off a runner at second base.
The Bad: Lowe wasn’t bad, but two runs in the first inning put the Braves in a hole. The starter for Sunday’s season opener at Philadelphia, Lowe gave up five hits and three earned runs in four innings. He didn’t walk anybody and struck out two, finishing his spring with 26 strikeouts and two walks in 27 innings. Peter Moylan endured his roughest outing of the spring, allowing a hit and a run with two walks in an inning. Mike Gonzalez allowed two hits and a run in 2/3 inning, with a walk. Kris Medlen, a rookie who’s impressed all spring, gave up four hits and three runs in two innings, probably squashing his flickering hopes of making the big-league roster.
View from the Sports Garage: Can we now get this thing started? What’s that? It’s just Wednesday. Ugh. OK, not a great start from Lowe, but it wasn’t horrible, either. The bullpen certainly wasn’t great. I speculated on the radio the other day that, with a strong week, Medlen might slide into that eighth and final bullpen spot (with Tom Glavine opening the season on the DL, the Braves will carry eight relievers for the first two weeks). Well, never mind on Medlen, a kid who’s been impressive but needs some time at Gwinnett. Hopefully the end of the bullpen shakes off its recent struggles. Tough outing for Moylan, but he’s healthy and has been sharp all spring until Tuesday night.
On deck
Braves at Tigers
1:05 p.m. today, Lakeland, Fla.
The Skinny: Back to Tigertown for the next-to-last spring game in Florida this season. Glavine toes the slab, working on a streak of seven shutout innings from his first two Grapefruit League outings. After that, it’s the Astros on Thursday in Kissimmee, then on to Atlanta for exhibition games at Turner Field Friday and Saturday against Detroit before things pop off for real on Sunday night.
Speaking of Sunday night …
For those of you in the Atlanta area, I’ll be watching Sunday night’s season opener with a group of Braves fans and baseball folks at Jocks N’ Jills Galleria (near the confluence of Interstates 285 and 75, on the northwest side of town). Come join us as the season begins!
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