After a couple of days of distraction and controversy with Roger McDowell's problems and Derek Lowe's DUI, the Braves struggled in their series with the Cardinals, but managed to scratch out a victory in the series finale on a Brooks Conrad walk off single. Each of the games were competitive, but the Cardinals pulled the first two games out in their final at bat, with the Braves returning the favor this afternoon, with the Braves taking advantage of 2 Cardinals errors (by my count, the 6th and 7th errors committed by Braves' opponents all year) to score 3 unearned runs in the game. The Braves hitters still aren't really in a groove, with the team line drive percentage standing at just 16 %, their groundball percentage is 2nd highest in the majors, and their infield fly ball percentage is around 12%. None of those numbers are good, and the Braves' hitters will need to square up more balls in order to score more runs. Will it happen? Only time will tell, but I would start with being more patient at the plate. It hasn't been awful, but considering how good they were at taking walks last year, I believe the Braves are capable of that. They should be able to square some more balls up from there. However, things don't get any easier hitting wise next week, as they will face Gallardo, Greinke, and at least 2 Phillie aces in the next 7 games. But that's for another time, so let's have a look back at the weekend.
Brandon Beachy- Another fantastic start from Brandon on Saturday, going 7+ innings with 2 ERs, 1 BB, and 5 strikeouts. Slipped up a bit in the 8th inning when he issued his first walk, but if his offense had scored a few more runs for him, it wouldn't have been an issue. Fredi Gonzalez will take 7+ innings of 2 run baseball every time, and I will as well. His strikeout to walk ratio now stands at 36 to 10, which is outstanding any pitcher, much less a rookie with supposedly average stuff. He seems to be an Atlanta to stay, and if he keeps these peripheral stats going in the way they are, he will be here for a long time.
Nate McLouth- Was on base 6 more times this weekend, with 3 hits and 3 walks, and he also hit his first home run of the season on Friday. Needs to hit for more power than he is right now, but it is hard to complain after last season when his OBP stands at .345. Its not a huge number, but above the big league average, and a far cry from his puny numbers last year.
Brooks Conrad- Big hit for Brooks today, getting his 2nd pinch hit of the season and winning the game today. Braves had lost a bunch of 1 run games in a row, so I'm sure it will be good for their collective psyches to get a one run, last at bat win today. Brooks will need to get some knocks here and there to justify his roster spot (he hasn't played a defensive inning all year), so this was a step in the right direction for him.
Goats:
Craig Kimbrel-He struggled in his 2 outings this weekend that both led directly to Braves' losses, giving up a run in each game. He didn't walk a batter in either game, so that is a plus, and leads me to believe that this will be more of a bump in the road rather than a long term concern. In both of his blown saves and his 1 loss, the leadoff man got on each time. Watch out for that in the future, as he doesn't hold runners very well and hardly ever gets ground balls, so its very important for him to get the leadoff man.
Freddie Freeman- Nary a hit in the series for the young first baseman, and he appears to have hit the skids again. Got the day off today in favor of Joe Mather against a tough lefty in Jaime Garcia, and hopefully that will give him a chance to make some adjustments and come out hitting against the Brew Crew.
Derek Lowe-Not a good outing in his first game pitching since getting a DUI. Still struck out 5 batters in 5 innings, which is good, but he started slow and put the Braves in a hole early, one which they eventually dug out of. A week to forget for Mr. Lowe.
Cory Gearrin- Faced adversity for the first time this season in the majors, and things didn't go very well, giving up a 2 run double to the punchless Nick Punto in extra innings on Friday, and blowing a one run lead on Sunday. I like his stuff, as he can miss bats and most of the balls in play against him have been on the ground, but he will have to perform in higher leverage situations to gain the full trust of Fredi Gonzalez.
What to Watch For:
The Brewers come to Atlanta for a 4 game set, and the Braves will want to exact some revenge on them for taking 3 out of four in their previous series. There are a couple of things to keep an eye on. First, Milwaukee hitters haven't been the most patient this year, so Braves pitchers will want to make sure they don't give Milwaukee any extra base runners if they don't have too. Secondly, Milwaukee has some easy outs in the lineup. Yuniesky Betancourt, Carlos Gomez, and Mark Kotsay (at least on Monday, as Corey Hart will be activated Tuesday reportedly) are terrible hitters, and allowing them to get on base will really compound things when their really good hitters (Braun, Fielder, Weeks) get to the plate. Betancourt gave the Braves some problems in Milwaukee, and a pitching staff as good as the Braves' staff should have no problems with getting him out. Bad hitters need to be forced into making outs, and doing so will help the Braves tremendously the next 4 days.
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