Sports Page Atlanta

Different year, same results…at least, as far as the Braves bullpen goes. Non-roster invitee Matt DeSalvo entered the game in the 8th inning and promptly gave up two hits, four earned runs, and five walks over only 1.1 innings, to blow the lead and earn the loss, as the Braves fell to the Dodgers, 5-4, at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, Fla. Prior to the “Ricky Vaughan-like” implosion on the mound by DeSalvo, Tyler Flowers, another non-roster invitee, hit a two-run home run off former Brave (thankfully) Tom Martin to break a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth inning.

Two of the Braves regulars appeared to be in mid-season form. Jeff Francoeur was 1-3 with a double, a run, and two outfield assists, while Tim Hudson (War Eagle) struck out one and gave up one run over two innings. Hot shot prospect Jordan Schafer went 2-3 with a run, batting out of the two hole and splitting time with Gregor Blanco in centerfield. Brian McCann and Scott Thorman each added RBI’s for the Braves. And hey, after all, it isn’t who wins and loses in Spring Training, it’s how the regulars looked, and the Braves regulars looked just fine.

So, with DeSalvo already establishing himself as this years front-runner for the Dan Kolb Award (awarded to the Braves pitcher each year most likely to have a 15.00+ ERA), the Braves head “home” to The Magic Kingdom to host the Dodgers at Champion Stadium at 1:05pm EST. Jair Jurrjens, who came over in the Edgar Renteria trade, gets the start for the Braves. Andruw Jones will not travel with the Dodgers to Orlando to face his former team…presumably because he’d rather sit at Burger King and eat Whopper’s all day. The game can be seen on ESPN, so set your DVR’s.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 6:05 pm and is filed under Atlanta Braves. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.