Sports Page Atlanta

The Braves send pitchers Manny Acosta and Jeff Bennett along with utilityman Omar Infante to the disabled list late last night. 

Acosta pitched well on Sunday, but strained his right hamstring trying to run to first base to avoid a double play.

Bennett hurt his right shoulder on a throw he made on Saturday.

Infante, like Acosta hurt himself on Sunday when he re-injured his right groin in the 3rd inning.  He first strained his groin on June 25th.

Another game, another meltdown from the hapless Manny Acosta. The defacto closer for the Braves came in in the 8th, down only one, and promptly surrendered four runs. Sure, they were unearned, because of two errors…one of which was committed by, you guessed it, Acosta. On May 30, Acosta’s ERA on the season was at a season-low 2.54. Since then, it’s ballooned to 4.36…in just 3.1 innings. It doesn’t take a MENSA member to realize that that’s not good.

Enough is enough. There is no reason why Acosta should be pitching in the major leagues right now. Acosta has given up 11 runs over his last six appearances, earning losses in three of those games blown saves in two others. That’s no joke, and it’s not a typo. I’m not sure why Acosta was handed the closers role in the first place, and there’s no reason for him to pitch meaningful innings at this point. Get him out of there.