Sports Page Atlanta

Today was a good day for the Braves batters as they defeated the San Diego Padres 12-3, but this is a pitching stat.  Tim Hudson, who pitched last Wednesday came in the game in the 8th inning today to get some extra work before the all-star break.  It was his first ever relief appearance in the major leagues in 302 career games.

The Padres batters went 1-2-3 for a very easy inning.

The last time he pitched in relief was in 1998 when he was with Oakland’s Single A team in Modesto.

In the minors he pitched in 50 games and 7 came in relief…

3 for Modesto in 1998

and 4 for Southern Oregon in 1997

He never notched a save, though.  He had 3 saves as a pitcher for Auburn (sorry, Barrett… no War Eagle) in 1996.

Yes, if you feel that this Braves season feels a little familiar, you are not alone. Not since Bill Murray had one AWFUL day in Groundhog Day, has something been so familiar to you, me, and most Braves fans. In one inning yesterday for the Braves, two pitchers were taken out due to injury, Blaine Boyer and Tim Hudson. However, unlike the M.O. for the Braves this season, both seem to be okay, and won’t miss much, if any, time.

Tim Hudson left with a strained hamstring one pitch into the seventh inning. However, Hudson told reporters today that he felt fine this morning, and that he shouldn’t miss his next start. In fact, according to Jerome Jurenovich of Braves Live, Hudson said that other parts of his body hurt more than his hamstring. That’s welcoming news to a starting staff that has seen John Smoltz move to the bullpen, Tom Glavine go on the DL for the first time EVER, Mike Hampton hurt his…well…he’s just Mike Hampton, and Chuck James get called up, give up HR’s, get sent down, get called up, give up HR’s, get sent down (someone call Bill Murray).

Blaine Boyer left in the seventh inning as well, with a knee injury. He underwent an MRI Monday in Atlanta, and should be fine.

So, that’s welcoming news to a team that desperately needs to keep things afloat at home. No team can play as great as the Braves have played at home all year, and no team can play as poorly as the Braves have played on the road all year. Whichever one of those trends fades first will tell the tale of the 2008 Atlanta Braves.

Later today Tom Glavine will face Micah Owings of the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Owings was born in Gainesville, Georgia.  There has been a lot of major leaguers from the state of Georgia including a lot of pitchers.

The pitcher with the most of career wins that was born in the state of Georgia is current Detroit Tigers pitcher and Savannah native Kenny Rogers with 214 career wins.  Kevin Brown is 2nd with 211.

Here are the top 5…

Kenny Rogers - 214

Kevin Brown - 211 (from Milledgeville)

Tim Hudson - 142 (from Columbus)

Nap Rucker - 134 (from Alpharetta)

Jim Bagby - 127 (from Barnett)

For fans going to the Mets games on September 19th, 20th and 21st at Turner Field you better get there early.  The Braves starting pitchers have done a great job when playing the Mets in Atlanta this season.  What makes it more impressive is that everyone is pitching in. (sorry about the pun)

The starting pitchers are a combined 5-0 with a 1.50 era.

April 5th - Tim Hudson: 6 ip, 3 er - win

April 6th - John Smoltz: 5 ip, 0 er - win

May 20th (game 1) - Tom Glavine: 6 ip, 1 er - win

May 20th (game 2) - Jorge Campillo: 6 ip, 0 er - win

May 21st - Jair Jurrjens: 7 ip, 1 er - win

On the other side, the Braves starting pitchers at Shea Stadium this year are just 1-2 with a 7.62 era.

Tim Hudson (sorry Barrett, I refuse to say, War Eagle) will probably be the starter tonight as he takes on his former team, the Oakland Athletics.  Here is a comparison on how he did with the A’s compared to how is doing with the Braves in his career…

                         1999-2004 with OAK                   2005-present with ATL

starts                          183                                                     107

record                       92-39                                                  49-33

era                               3.30                                                  3.80

opponent avg              .244                                                .263

walks                            382                                                   207

strikeouts                    899                                                   423   

Tim Hudson is tonight’s scheduled starter against the Padres tonight. The right-hander has been pitching in the majors since 1999. Since then he is among the elite pitchers in baseball. He is currently 3rd in the majors in games won in that time period. Here are the top 7 and you will notice a few other names that you recognize

1. Greg Maddux - 147
2. Randy Johnson - 143
3. Tim Hudson - 139
4. Andy Pettitte - 137
5. Mike Mussina - 136
6. Curt Schilling - 132
7. Tom Glavine - 130

As you all know by now Mike Hampton is back on the disabled list. Last night as he was warming up he strained his pectoral muscle. The southpaw will be placed on the 15-day DL retroactive to March 30th. Jo-Jo Reyes will be called up from Richmond.

Hampton’s last start happened on August 19, 2005…

Here are the top 3 pitchers in the majors in games pitched since Hampton’s last start…

1. Bob Howry - 185
2. Chad Qualls - 183
3. Jon Rauch - 182

Former Brave Tyler Yates has thrown the most for Atlanta in that stretch, taking the mound in 131 games.

Tim Hudson has started the most games for the Braves in that period, making the start 78 times and throwing 508 2/3 innings.

photo credit: Boris Badenov

Happy St. Patrick’s Day SportsPage Atlanta readers, the one holiday where 75% of American’s claim to have Irish decent in an effort to make excuses for themselves when they get fall-on-the-concrete drunk later in the evening.

David O’Brien, of the AJC, was interviewed on the radio today, and was discussing what the Braves rotation was going to be. He said that the rotation would be, per John Smoltz’ request, to let Tim Hudson assume the role of the ace, followed by Smoltz, and then any combination of Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton and Jair Jurrjens (assuming there are no injuries). Huddy has racked up sub-2.50 ERA’s in two of his first three years in a Braves uniform, so getting him out of the gates in the first game of the year seems like a smart thing for Bobby Cox to do (although it would be hard to argue if he went with Smoltzy).

So what does this mean? Well, assuming that Braves manager Bobby Cox and Mets skipper Willie Randolph skip starters on their respective off-days during the opening week, that would set up a Smoltz vs. Johan Santana match-up on Saturday, April 5 at Turner Field on national TV. That, my friends, is must-see-TV.