July 2
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Mark Bradley
"
Yunel Escobar is, shall we say, a different sort of Brave. He has blond highlights in his hair. He doesn't always pay attention. He has a temper and is given to the sulks. He has yet to respond to the gentle urgings of Bobby Cox, which have become less gentle over time. According to Buster Olney of ESPN.com, the Braves "are willing to trade Escobar for a good hitter right now." (Link requires registration.) But I don't think they will. Nor do I believe they should. Because Yunel Escobar is a different sort of Brave in another way: He can really hit. And he can really play. The Braves have become so skilled at siphoning off higher-maintenance types that they have lesser tolerance for one ..."
July 2
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Lost in a rubble of run support that Jair Jurrjens hadn't seen in a month came a gem of a pitching performance. The 23-year-old Curacao native weaved a no-hit effort in and around nine runs from the Braves' offense before his no-hit bid ended with two outs in the seventh inning of an 11-1 pounding over the Phillies Former Braves catcher Paul Bako singled to give the Phillies one hit to the Braves' 11 at that point and put at least some kind of damper on a big night for the Braves. Jurrjens, now 6-6 despite a 2.73 earned-run average, snapped his four-game losing streak with seven one-hit innings. He walked four, struck out six and allowed only one unearned run on his own two-base throwing ..."
July 2
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
What's good for Martin Prado is not so good for Kelly Johnson, after manager Bobby Cox said Tuesday night that it was time to give Prado a shot at the everyday second base job. But the numbers stacked up against Johnson, who has hit only .168 with no home runs and five RBIs in his past 28 games. His season average was down to .216 entering Wednesday night's game. "I'm not playing well, not hitting well," Johnson said. "I want to get on track. I want to be in a good position and be ready, so I can have good at-bats and just play as good as I can to help the team win." Johnson is prepared for whatever role that turns out to be, even if it's strictly coming off the bench. "I want us to win ..."
July 1
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Martin Prado played like a (utility) man on a mission Tuesday night for the Braves, and in the end he won more than just a 10-inning game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He won a starting job. Prado had a career-high four hits and four RBIs, including a homer and a game-ending single in the Braves' thrilling 5-4, come-from-behind win at Turner Field, their first home win against the Phillies since 2007. Afterward, Braves manager Bobby Cox said Prado would be the starting second baseman over slumping Kelly Johnson, at least for a while. "He's too hot to take out," Cox said of Prado, who hit a two-out, eighth-inning RBI double to tie the score, and a one-out single after falling behind in ..."
July 1
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Jordan Schafer's home run capped a seven-run rally that propelled the Gwinnett Braves to an 8-7 home victory against Louisville on Tuesday afternoon. The G-Braves entered the eighth inning trailing 7-1 and tied the score on pinch-hitter Reid Gorecki's two-out grand slam. Schafer, making his third start since coming off the disabled list, followed with his second homer since joining the G-Braves."
July 1
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Shortstop Yunel Escobar and center fielder Nate McLouth were both in, then out, of the Braves' lineup for Tuesday night's series opener against Philadelphia. Escobar (strained hip flexor) and McLouth (sore hamstring) were in the first lineup posted in the afternoon. Escobar was scratched after telling a trainer during batting practice that his hip was still sore. "He said he couldn't go," said manager Bobby Cox, who added that he wasn't sure when the enigmatic Escobar would be ready. "I don't know. I'm going to have to talk to him." About 30 minutes later, McLouth sat next to Cox in the dugout after batting practice and told him that his left hamstring was still a little sore, but he was ..."
June 30
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Five months into his new life in Major League Baseball, Kenshin Kawakami could be a pretty lonely guy by now. Since February, he's been away from family and friends back in Japan. He has no one here that he is particularly close to and who speaks his language, unless you count Daichi Takasue, his 22-year-old interpreter and, by default, his closest companion. But that's not how Kawakami sees it. And he doesn't need Takasue to answer this question for him: Are you happy? "Yes," Kawakami said. Kawakami signed a three-year $23-million contract with the Braves, which does make the transition to life away from home easier. He's also found a favorite sushi spot - Hayakawa on Buford Highway. But ..."
June 29
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Tommy Hanson pitched six scoreless innings of two-hit ball in a 2-1 win against Boston on Sunday, and this was the stuff of which young legends are made. Understand, when Braves manager Bobby Cox left the ballpark Saturday, a team trainer told him it would "take a miracle" for the rookie Hanson to shake off flu symptoms and be ready to make his scheduled start Sunday afternoon. When Hanson drove to Turner Field Sunday morning with roommate Kris Medlen, the designated emergency starter, Hanson told Medlen to be ready because Hanson didn't think he was going to make it to the mound. Six hours later, after Hanson (4-0) blanked the power-laden Sox to run his scoreless innings streak to 20, ..."
June 29
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Chipper Jones was mired in one of the worst slumps of his career, but the veteran third baseman took a philosophical approach when asked about it Sunday morning. Then he went out and hit a home run in the first inning of the Braves' 2-1 win against Boston at Turner Field. Before that shot to the first row of the left-field seats, Jones had been 10-for-60 (.167) with one RBI his past 16 games, with as many errors (three) as extra-base hits (three, all doubles) during that stretch. To say he wasn't panicked would be an understatement. "I'm a .310 lifetime hitter, and for the last few years I've hit .340," Jones said in his deep, distinct drawl. "The numbers have to average out sometimes." ..."
June 29
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Kenshin Kawakami's next scheduled start was bumped from Tuesday to Friday, giving him more time recover from the neck contusion that he got from being hit by a line drive on Wednesday. An off day in the schedule Monday will allow the Braves to use other starts on regular rest for the Phillies series that begins Tuesday, while Kawakami will have time to heal fully before Friday's series opener at Washington."
June 28
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
It seems hard to believe that the listless Braves, who were shut out again Saturday by the Boston Red Sox, are still only five games out of first place with a week to go before the season's halfway point. But most Braves seem fully aware that it has had little to do with how they've played and is more about how badly the season has gone for 2008 National League East champion Philadelphia and the injury-plagued New York Mets. "I hate to say it, but we're only five games back," said catcher Brian McCann, who seemed embarrassed to say that after the Braves lost 1-0 to the Red Sox in front of a crowd of 48,151, wasting another strong start by Javier Vazquez (5-7). McCann added this to make ..."
June 28
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Mark Bradley
"
If pitching is 75 percent - or 90 percent; estimates vary - of baseball, why are the Braves further under .500 than they've been all season? Because the other 25 (or 10) percent of their team is worth about 10 cents. Without meaning to say it, Brian McCann said it perfectly: "We've got to start playing better baseball." Then he checked himself. "Not better baseball - we've got to swing the bats better." The Braves swing the bats just fine. It's the hitting part that bumfuzzles them. They've scored one run in two games against the Red Sox, who have managed only five but have already won this loud and steamy series. Jair Jurrjens was rather good Friday night but wound up the loser. Javier ..."
June 28
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
The bad news for the Braves didn't stop after the final out of Saturday's 1-0 loss to Boston. Bobby Cox said after the game that rookie Tommy Hanson, the scheduled starter for Sunday's series finale, has been battling sickness and might not be able to pitch."
June 28
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Shortstop Yunel Escobar was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game Saturday, and the official reason given by the Braves was a strained hip flexor that has bothered him off and on for the past month. While no one doubted that Escobar was hurt, the consensus in and around the Braves clubhouse was that he would have played Saturday if it were up to him. It was not up to him. Manager Bobby Cox declined to comment, but the Braves are frustrated by Escobar's immature behavior. Most recently, he mouthed an expletive toward the scorekeeper in the press box after being charged with an error in Thursday's loss to the Yankees, an incident caught by the TV cameras on the game broadcast. ..."
June 27
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
columnist Mark Bradley
"
Two days ago I called Derek Lowe the Braves' ace because that's how I've come to see him. Alas, he's not pitching like one. We can hope this is a momentary lapse, the kind every pitcher must endure and correct over the course of a six-month season. But the cold truth is that Lowe isn't looking Lowe-like. Over his past six starts he has yielded 48 hits and 24 earned runs in 32 2/3 innings. He has won once in a month. He has had to be removed in the middle of innings in his past three outings. His ERA has grown from 3.45 on May 23 to 4.53 today. Only once since he settled in as a big-league pitcher more than a decade ago has Lowe finished a season with an ERA that lofty. This is, as I say, ..."
June 27
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
In this season of Jair Jurrjens' discontent, when the Braves pitcher has performed superbly but rarely received much help from his teammates, Friday night's result seemed entirely predictable. The Braves faced Josh Beckett for the second time in a week, and the Boston ace shut them down again in a 4-1 Red Sox win at Turner Field. A sellout crowd of 48,418, including a strong representation from Red Sox Nation, watched Beckett (9-3) pitch seven scoreless innings as the Braves lost for the 11th time in 16 games. Beckett is 6-0 with an 0.38 ERA in his past seven starts against the Braves, including a five-hit shutout last weekend in Boston. The Braves failed to score while Jurrjens was in the ..."
June 26
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
The Braves scored five runs in the fourth inning Thursday night — and got only within two runs of the New York Yankees. That said plenty about the depth of the hole that Braves starter Derek Lowe put his team in during an ugly 11-7 loss in the series finale against the Yankees at soldout Turner Field. Derek Jeter had four hits and reached base six times, and Johnny Damon and Alex Rodriguez had three hits and four RBIs apiece for the Yankees, who handed the Braves their 10th loss in 16 games and fourth consecutive series defeat. A crowd of 47,508 saw Lowe (7-6) give up eight runs (six earned), 11 hits and three walks and leave without an out in the fourth inning. It was his second ..."
June 25
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
We forget it now, but they ran neck-and-neck for a while in the '90s, each trying to outspend the other, each making the playoffs every year, but it wasn't until 1998 that the Yankees became imperial and the Braves began to recede. It wasn't until Mariano Rivera settled in as closer that the Pinstripe People lapped the field. Watching last night at Turner Field, watching Rivera work a four-out save with all four outs being strikeouts, I was reminded of how much difference one man can make. The Yankees found their Rivera and have been winning ever since. (No, not always titles, but winning nonetheless.) The Braves never quite found theirs, and they paid the price. Postseason baseball comes ..."
June 25
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Braves pitching was perfect through five innings Wednesday night against the Yankees. Then it got imperfect, in a hurry. Alex Rodriguez hit a tie-breaking, bases-loaded single in the sixth, and the New York Yankees withstood two Braves rallies in an 8-4 win in front of a crowd of 42,315 at Turner Field, approximately one-third of which were Yankees fans. Pitchers Kenshin Kawakami - who left after being struck by a line drive near his neck - and rookie Kris Medlen (2-3) were perfect through five innings, but three runs were charged to Medlen in the sixth, two scoring on Rodriguez's two-out single against Jeff Bennett. That began a four-inning stretch that couldn't have been any more ..."
June 25
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
The Braves' Bobby Cox finished first by a wide margin in a new Sports Illustrated survey that asked major-league players which manager they would most like to play for. If he sticks around long enough, they might all have a chance to play for him someday. Cox, 68, was asked Wednesday how long he plans to continue managing. He either doesn't know or won't say. "I feel great," said Cox, who smiled before adding, "I don't look great, but I feel great." Cox is in the second year of a two-year contract extension he signed at the beginning of the 2008 season, and apparently there have been no discussions about a new deal. He indicated that wasn't unusual at this stage of his career. "We never ..."
June 24
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
Bobby Cox played for the Yankees and got his start as a manager in their organization, but the venerable Braves manager laughed when asked if he had any loyalty to the pinstripes when facing his old team. "No, no loyalty," he said before Tuesday night's series opener against the Yankees at Turner Field. "Not even split loyalty." But, he added, "You've got to respect their tradition and the Steinbrenner family." The Yankees are playing in Atlanta for the first time since 2000. "Why does everyone get there panties in a wad when the Yankees are in town?" asked Braves pitcher Derek Lowe. Lowe pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1997-2004, so he knows all about the passion that overflows in the ..."
June 24
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
The basepaths were bustling with Yankees while Tommy Hanson was on the mound Tuesday night, but the big redhead didn't allow any of them to score. Mark it down as another test passed for the Braves' pitching phenom, who worked 5-1/3 innings during a 4-0 win against the New York Yankees in a much-anticipated series opener at Turner Field. Hanson (3-0) allowed four hits and five walks in his fourth start, but the right-hander made big pitches when he needed them most to run his scoreless-innings streak to 14. The Yankees left the bases loaded twice against him. "Tommy would bend a little bit, then he would get out of it," manager Bobby Cox said. "That's a sign of a pretty good pitcher, to ..."
June 23
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
It's a sports marketer's dream. It's a baseball lover's delight. It's a manager's nightmare. We're talking about the Atlanta Braves' homestand, which began with a makeup game against the Chicago Cubs Monday night, will careen into a three-game set against the regal New York Yankees beginning tonight, then catapult right into another three-gamer against mighty Red Sox of Boston. Clearing that minefield, the Braves will return to National League play with a series against the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Reportedly the season will continue after that. "Obviously these next six games before the Phillies series has been something a lot of fans have been looking forward to and we've ..."
June 23
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"
You dared me to pose the question in poll form. Being daring, I did. I asked last week, "Do the Braves need a new manager?" I was sure I knew what the majority would say, but it was a thinner majority than I expected. Sixty percent of roughly 2,000 respondents said the Braves do in fact need a new manager. I figured it would be 70-30, maybe even 80-20. And why did I think that? Because I read the comments on the ol' blog. And I've grown accustomed to the anti-Cox rants. How he blew all those World Series. How he's 1-14 in the final game of the postseason. (Not, mind you, in the final game of a postseason series - let's not give him any credit for winning the NLCS five times or an NLDS six ..."