Sports Page Atlanta

Chicago swept Atlanta yesterday and the Braves are struggling big-time, ok we all knew that and we all know that the Cubs are really good this year.  In fact they have the 2nd best record in baseball (only the Angels are better).

The Braves at home and the Cubs on the road has changed dramatically throughout the season as you can see…

Braves at home

March through June: 28-14

July through August: 5-13

Cubs on road

March through June: 17-23

July through August: 11-7

Today Jason Marquis will be pitching game one for the Cubs against the Braves.  Marquis as you remember starting his big league career with the Braves, pitching for Atlanta from 2000 to 2003.  He finished those seasons with a 14-15 record.

Since then, he has done better than average.  His record entering today since leaving the Braves is 61-53.

In that time period, Tim Hudson has 66 wins, John Smoltz 47 (he was a closer for one year in that period) and Tom Glavine had 54.

Tyler Flowers was named the Carolina League’s Hitter of the Week after a fantastic week for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

.556 (10-18), 7 R, 5 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 1 SO, 1 SB, 1.333 SLG

Flowers now has an eight-game hitting streak after picking up a base knock in all five games he started for Myrtle Beach last week. His best effort came Monday against Kinston, when the catcher was 2-for-3 with two home runs and five RBIs for the Pelicans in a lopsided 17-2 win. He had two hits and an RBI each of the next two nights before hitting another home run as part of a three-hit day in Lynchburg Saturday. Flowers has an RBI in each of his last six starts and now has 75 on the season, tied for third in the league with teammate Ernesto Mejia.

Tommy Hanson was just named the Southern League’s Pitcher of the Week after his dominant performance yesterday. Hanson did not earn the victory as the game was lost in the late innings, but he threw six innings of shutout ball while only giving up two hits. He also struck out ten batters while only walking one.

For the season, with seven starts in Myrtle Beach and 15 starts in Mississippi, Hanson is 10-4 with a 2.57 ERA. He’s struck out 142 batters while only walking 42 in 122.1 innings.

Hanson continued his sparkling season for the Braves, with two more 10-strikeout games. The 6-foot-6 right-hander has fanned 10 or more in three straight starts and four times overall this season for Mississippi. He has a total of 93 strikeouts in 82 1/3 innings. He shut down the powerful Huntsville lineup Monday, allowing two runs on four hits in six innings for the win. Hanson had no such luck Sunday, settling for a no-decision, despite shutting out Jacksonville on two hits for six frames. Hanson ranks just outside the top 10 in strikeouts in the Southern League even though he started the season with Myrtle Beach.

Arizona 6, Atlanta 1 (box)
Richmond 4, Durham 3 (box)
Jacksonville 2, Mississippi 1 (box)

MLB - Atlanta: Braves hitters faced a foe yesterday that had all of the answers. Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Webb continued his run at a Cy Young Award by pitching six innings and giving up only six hits (all singles) and one earned run. More troubling to the Braves, however, was Mike Hampton’s performance. Hampton only pitched four innings and gave up six earned runs on five hits.

AAA - Richmond: Richmond needed ten innings yesterday, but a win is a win as the R-Braves beat Durham 4 to 3. Brandon Jones had three singles and a stolen base and Jason Phillips drove in two while hitting a home run (his third of the season). Ryan Basner recorded the win in relief (his second) and Jorge Julio notched his 7th save.

AA - Mississippi: Mississippi hitters were only able to muster five hits yesterday and Jordan Schafer had two of them. Thomas Hanson started for the Braves and pitched well going six innings and only allowing two hits while striking out ten, and not surrendering a run.

Adv. A - Myrtle Beach: Did not play.
A - Rome: Did not play.

Atlanta 11, Arizona 4 (box)
Richmond 3, Durham 2 (box)
Jacksonville 8, Mississippi 4 (box)
Lynchburg 5, Myrtle Beach 3 (box)
Rome 4, Charleston 2 (box)

MLB - Atlanta: The big club won their third straight against Arizona in big fashion. The team had 14 hits with four players (McCann, Escobar, Infante, and Kotsay) getting multiple hits in the game. Brian McCann drove in four and hit a home run in the first inning. He also stole his 4th base of the year. Jair Jurrjens won his 11th game as he pitched seven innings allowing three earned runs, seven hits, and striking out 6 while walking two.

AAA - Richmond: The R-Braves got ten hits yesterday with five players (Josh Anderson, Diory Hernandez, Jason Phillips, Corky Miller, Wes Timmons) each with two hits a piece. Phillips hit his 2nd home run of the season and Anderson stole his 35th base. Matt DeSalvo struck out 11 in 5.2 innings, but didn’t factor in the decision as Brad Nelson got the win in relief. Jorge Julio saved his 6th game.

AA - Mississippi: Mississippi scattered 11 hits with Reid Gorecki getting three of them but couldn’t score enough runs to overcome a late barrage by Jacksonville. Glavine took the loss in his rehab start where he threw five innings and gave up four hits and two earned runs. His start was solid and the Braves have announced that Glavine will come off the DL and start Thursday against the Cubs.

Adv. A - Myrtle Beach: Tyler Flowers hit two doubles and had three of the Pelicans seven hits in a losing effort against Lynchburg. Former Gainesville High School standout Jon Owings hit his 16th home run of the year. Jeff Lyman took his 6th loss of the year as he gave up two earned runs in three relief innings.

A - Rome: Rome had four runs on 11 hits last night, none bigger than the two runs in the top of the 10th driven in by Cody Johnson and Chad Lundahl to give Rome the go ahead runs they needed. Craig Kimbrel earned his 2nd win of the season as he pitched two scoreless innings to finish out the game and hold off Charleston. Kimbrel struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.

Jair Jurrjens will be going for his 11th win this season as the Braves play the Diamondbacks. The rookie hasn’t won a game since July 25th.

But with a win, the right-hander will be in the top-5 of most wins by a Braves rookie since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966.

Here are the top 6…

Craig McMurtry: 15 in 1983

Damian Moss: 12 in 2002

Horacio Ramirez: 12 in 2003

Chuck James: 11 in 2006

Ron Reed: 11 in 1968

Jair Jurrjens: 10 in 2008

On Friday, Tim Hudson had his Tommy John surgery and will most likely miss a full season.  The elbow ligament replacement surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews and it went as planned.

Hudson’s last game was on July 23rd against the Marlins.  He finished the 2008 season with a 11-7 record and a 3.17 era.

Atlanta 6, Arizona 4 (box)
Durham 11, Richmond 2 (box)
Mississippi 9, Jacksonville 2 (box)
Myrtle Beach 3, Lynchburg 2 (box)
Rome 12, Charleston 9 (box)

MLB - Atlanta: Charlie Morton was impressive last night throwing seven scoreless innings allowing only five hits. He struck out four and only walked one in his third win of the season. Mark Kotsay hit his fifth home run of the season and Blanco, Escobar, and McCann each had two hits in the win.

AAA - Richmond: James Parr gave up 10 hits and six runs in four innings of work against Durham to take the loss, his third of the season. Josh Anderson stayed hot with two hits and a stolen base in the losing effort.

AA - Mississippi: Jerome Gamble earned his third win of the season as he pitched five innings of six hit ball and didn’t give up an earned run. He struck out seven and only walked two. J.C. Holt went 3 for 3 with two doubles, Jordan Schafer went 3-4 with two doubles and a stolen base, and Kala Ka’aihue hit his 13th home run of the season.

Adv. A - Myrtle Beach: Designated Hitter Tyler Flowers drove in two runs and hit two doubles as he went 2-4 in last night’s win. Scott Diamond continued to impress on the mound winning his 11th game in Myrtle Beach (14th for the entire season, as he started in Rome) . He pitched seven innings and only gave up five hits and no earned runs. He also struck out five while walking zero. Tyler Wilson pitched two innings in relief to earn his second save of the season.

A - Rome: Edgar Osuna earned his 7th win of the season as he pitched six innings while only giving up two earned runs and striking out nine batters. Every Rome position player collected at least one hit with Mathew Kennelly and Cody Johnson each getting two hits. Johnson added his 20th home run last night as well.

The trade deadline moves changed the course of the NL West division. The Cubs are still top dog in the Central, and the Phillies are looking they won’t need the Mets to flounder in the final weeks, this season, to win the East.

1. Chicago Cubs | 69-46 | Previous: 1 - The Cubs lead the NL in runs scored, total bases, and the slash stats (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) and are just cruising along now that they have Soriano back. The Cubs are 8-2 in their last ten games.
2. Philadelphia Phillies | 62-51 | Previous: 3 - A career year for Burrell is keeping the boo birds away. Having a 2.5 game lead over the Marlins and 3.0 over the Mets doesn’t hurt either.
3. Milwaukee Brewers | 64-51 | Previous: 6 - A week of playing Atlanta and Cincinnati was just what the Doctor ordered. It gets better next week as the Brew Crew host Washington and travel to San Diego.
4. St. Louis Cardinals | 64-51 | Previous: 8 - Ryan Ludwick is killing the ball again, Pujols is being… Pujols, and the Cards just got Chris Carpenter back. All is good for a Wild Card run.
5. New York Mets | 59-54 | Previous: 2 - The Mets pitching staff is downwardly spiraling, both physically and mentally. Maine is hurt. So is Wagner. And what was that 80 MPH cheese that Pedro was offering last night?
6. Los Angeles Dodgers | 56-57 | Previous: 5 - Adding Manny and Casey Blake assured us of an NL West race that should go down to the wire. If the Dodgers could play five outfielders they’d be even better.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks | 59-55 | Previous: 4 - Failing to upgrade offensively at the trade deadline is the main reason the D-backs will soon look up at the Dodgers in the West.
8. Florida Marlins | 60-54 | Previous: 7 - Not getting Manny at the trade deadline will turn out to be huge mistake.
9. Houston Astros | 54-59 | Previous: 15 - The Randy Wolf trade seems to have invigorated this team. They’ve won seven out of ten since the trade.
10. Pittsburgh Pirates | 56-62 | Previous: 10 - The players coming back to the Bucs were more than enough for Jason Bay. They aren’t likely to help in ‘08, but the shining star of Jeff Karstens should be enough to get them by until next season.
11. Colorado Rockies | 52-63 | Previous: 9 - While they did nothing to make the team better at the trade deadline, think positive… you still have all your big named veterans. Unfortunately for the Rockies, another second half run is not likely as the Dodgers are just too good.
12. San Francisco | 48-65 | Previous: 12 - The Giants won series against the Padres and the Braves this past week, and we saw just how good Tim Lincecum can be. But, this offense is still anemic.
13. Atlanta Braves | 52-62 | Previous: 11 - No more Teixeira, Chipper’s out, Hudson’s out, and the rotation is counting on quality starts from the likes of Chuck James. That’s a recipe for disaster. On the bright side, Glavine could be back as early as next week.
14. Cincinnati Reds | 52-63 | Previous: 13 - The Reds were just swept by the Nationals. ‘Nuff said.
15. San Diego Padres | 44-70 | Previous: 14 - Jake Peavy is the only starting pitcher with a winning record at 8-7. The Pads just lost two series in a row last week to San Francisco and the Mets, and they’ve only won one series in the past eight attempts.
16. Washington Nationals | 42-71 | Previous: 16 - Their ace has an ERA well above 4.00 and their biggest power hitter is Ronnie Belliard with 10 home runs. However, they did just sweep the Reds after losing nine straight. That doesn’t mean things are looking up though.