Atlanta Braves Dynasty

gpellis · 04-12-2010, 10:39 PM

Alright, I have messed around a fair amount with OOTP 11 today. I started the USBL fictional league, but my posts were pretty boring, and I found that I really want to play the games, rather than sim them.

With that in mind, I am going to start an Atlanta Braves dynasty going from 2010 forward and actually play the games. I feel that will give me more control over my team and realize what problems I have. I imagine it doesn't take too overly long to play a game, but we shall see.

The 2010 Atlanta Braves will be led by Bobby Cox in his final season before we have to make a change.

2010 Lineup
1. Melky Cabrera LF
2. Martin Prado 2B
3. Chipper Jones 3B
4. Brian McCann C
5. Troy Glaus 1B
6. Yunel Escobar SS
7. Jason Heyward RF
8. Nate McLouth CF
9. Pitcher

Bench
David Ross C
Matt Diaz RF
Omar Infante 2B
Mitch Jones RF
Eric Hinske 1B

2010 Pitching Rotation
1. Derek Lowe
2. Jair Jurrjens
3. Tommy Hanson
4. Tim Hudson
5. Kenshin Kawakami

Middle Relief
1. Eric O'Flaherty
2. Jesse Chavez
3. Kris Medlen
4. Manny Acosta

Set-Up
1. Takashi Saito
2. Peter Moylan

Closer
Billy Wagner

Owner Expectations
"I have now decided on the goal for the coming season. After evaluating several factors, I have come to the conclusion that the team should play .500 ball."

The owner has given me $20,660,000 for free agents and $29,040,000 for extensions. So if moves are necessary, I will make them to get this team to the playoffs.

gpellis · 04-12-2010, 10:43 PM

Opening-Day is Here
The 2010 season will start with the Chicago Cubs visiting the Atlanta Braves at Turner field.

The Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound to start the season to face off against Derek Lowe. Lowe is looking to rebound off of a season that saw him post an ERA of 4.67.

"Hopefully I can turn things around this year. I've got to get the ball on the ground more than I did last year. If I can do that, I know this season will be better," said Lowe. Despite the high ERA, Lowe still posted a 15-10 season.

The Atlanta Braves will be looking to make the playoffs in what could be manager Bobby Cox's final season.

New GM Phillip Ellis will get his first chance to see the team in action as they take the field this afternoon. "It's exciting. This is a big-time team and we have some big-time players. Reaching the playoffs is our goal. We have the budget to do it and we have the players and coaches to reach that goal. If this is indeed Bobby's last season we want to send him out a winner," said Ellis.

The game will begin at at 4:10 EST at Turner Field.

gpellis · 04-12-2010, 11:09 PM

Atlanta Takes Season Opener 4-1
Atlanta, Georgia
Associated Press
April 5, 2010

Atlanta opened up the season with a bang as the Braves came back to win their season opener 4-1. In a tightly contested game, the Braves finally got the insurance they were looking for with a two run homerun in the 8th inning by newcomer Troy Glaus to put the game away.

The Cubs got ahead quickly in the first inning on an error by Chipper Jones before Atlanta came firing back in the bottom of the third with a two run homerun by Martin Prado.

"It's always nice to get the first one. The homerun was great and Lowe was fantastic on the mound, hopefully we can keep this up," said Prado.

It was an absolute duel between Dempster and Lowe as the Braves and Cubs left a combined twenty-four runners on base. Timely homeruns helped Atlanta to take game one of the series 4-1 in front of 49,680 fans.

Derek Lowe pitched an absolute gem and picked up player of the game honors for his efforts. Lowe gave the Braves 7 2/3 innings, allowing only four hits and one unearned run. Lowe only issued one walk and rung up one batter, mostly relying on the groundballs. Moylan came in to get the final out of the seventh before newcomer Billy Wagner picked up his first save as an Atlanta Brave.

"Good to win in front of the home crowd, but we have to field better. We gave them that first run and made another error later in the game. We have to get better," said coach Bobby Cox.

The Braves and Cubs get the day off on Tuesday April 6th before they face off again at 7:10 P.M. at Turner Field.

The expected starters for game two are Jair Jurrjens for Atlanta and Carlos Zambrano for the Cubs. It looks to be another duel of two Major League aces.

gpellis · 04-12-2010, 11:39 PM

Call Them the Comeback Kids!
Atlanta, Georgia
April 7, 2010
Associated Press

The Atlanta Braves do it again. After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first behind Brian McCann's first homerun of the year.

Jair pitched a strong game but the lead was squandered in the 7th inning by the bullpen when the Cubs took a 3-2 lead. Chipper Jones committed his second error in as many games allowing the Cubs to begin crawling back into the game in the 5th inning.

Atlanta left an astounding twenty-one on base this game but managed to come back in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 4-3 lead. A wild pitch by Caridad gave him his first blown save of the season and gave Atlanta the 4-3 lead. Eric O'Flaherty picked up his first win of the season in relief, pitching a scoreless 8th inning. Billy Wagner came in during the 9th to again go three up and three down to get his second save of the young season.

In other news across the MLB, Minnesota's catcher, Joe Mauer, will miss five weeks because of an oblique strain. That could make for a very long five weeks for the Minnesota Twins. Jeremy Bonderman has signed a 2 year extension to stay with the Tigers after this season, making 5.4 million dollars.

Only four undefeated teams are left in the majors, with Texas, St. Louis, Washington, and Atlanta all sitting at 2-0.

In the final game of the series, Atlanta will send Tommy Hanson to face Randy Wells of the Cubs.

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 12:10 AM

Braves Win Series in Bottom 9th
Atlanta, Georgia
April 8, 2010
Associated Press

When things look bleak, the Atlanta Braves seem to always find a way. The entire series had been a battle of wills between the starting pitchers, and the matchup seemed to suggest another tough game.

It turned out to be the opposite, however, as the Atlanta Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th to take game three of the series 7-6.

"It was a thriller. Every game of this series was a thriller. It's great to be 3-0 and I am definitely glad to be done playing Chicago for a while. That's a great baseball team that took us to the wire each time. These guys battled hard and we're certainly happy with the comeback," said an obviously excited Bobby Cox.

Jason Heyward finally had the breakout game he has been missing this season, going 3 for 4, scoring 2 runs and driving in 2 RBI, including the game winning RBI in the 9th inning. With the bases loaded and two outs Marmol hit Heyward, allowing Chipper Jones to score the game-winning score. It was the second blown save of the series for the Cubs, the first for Marmol this season who struggled with three walks and one hit batter.

It seemed as though Atlanta was not going to be able to close the game out as time and time again the Cubs fought back and came up with a big hit when it needed one. Kosuke Fukudome set the National League regular season game record for hits with five. Fokudome was 5 for 5 and absolutely impossible for Atlanta to sit down.

"We're out of here with a win. It was a nice start, now we'll head off to San Francisco and hope to keep this going," said Tommy Hanson who allowed eight hits over 5 and 2/3 innings, picking up the no decision in his first start of the season.

Atlanta will now head to San Francisco where Tim Hudson will face off against former A's teammate Barry Zito.

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 12:42 AM

Braves Drop to Giants 5-1
San Francisco, California
April 9, 2010
ESPN News Service

The Atlanta Braves comeback magic has finally worn off. Atlanta, fresh off of two great comebacks against the Chicago Cubs finally lost their swagger as they dropped 5-1 to the Giants in their first road trip of the season.

Atlanta was limited to five hits and struggled to get anything going offensively. The first three hitters (Diaz, Prado, C. Jones) were the only ones providing offense. The lone Atlanta run came off of a solo homerun by Chipper Jones, his first of the season, in the fourth inning.

The bullpen, which has typically been Atlanta's strongest point, struggled this game with Acosta giving up two runs in one inning of work. Hudson picks up the loss, his first of the season, going 7 innings, giving up 10 hits and 3 runs. Hudson looked solid in his first start coming off of his season ending injury last season.

Ultimately though, Barry Zito got the best of his former teammate going 7 innings and holding Atlanta to 5 hits and 1 earned run.

Atlanta will take on San Francisco again tomorrow as the probably matchup is Kenshin Kawakami against Tim Lincecum.

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 01:07 AM

Kawakami Bests Lincecum
San Francisco, California
April 10, 2010
CBS Sports

Kenshin Kawakami got his 2010 campaign off on the right foot. Late last year Kawakami showed his improvements as he finished his last 13 decisions with a 6-7 record and an ERA around 3.50. Looking to continue to show his improvement, Kenshin got a perfect chance as Cox chose to stick with Kawakami when the Giants announced Lincecum would be the starter.

Atlanta was again limited to only five hits by this strong Giants pitching staff, but Lincecum looked like a man on short rest. In 5 and 2/3 innings of work Lincecum surrendered two runs and six walks, despite only giving up three hits. Atlanta could not hit the Giants pitching, but with 9 walks, Atlanta was able to product runs.

"It's tough to face a guy like Lincecum. Even on a day like today where he's not at his best, you can see just how good he is. It took six walks and three hits off of him for us to muster just two runs," said Troy Glaus. Glaus hit a two run homerun late in the game to put it away for Atlanta.

Wagner came in to finish up the 9th for his third save this season. Kawakami matched Lincecum stride for stride as he went 5 and 1/3 inning, surrendering four hits and one unearned run. Atlanta's starting pitching has been strong this season and they hope it continues.

In other news, the New York Mets suffered a giant blow to the team when Jason Bay tore a ligament in his thumb. Bay is expected to miss three months. Bay had gotten off to a quick start for the Mets hitting .500 with three homeruns and seven RBI.

The Braves and Giants will close out their series with Derek Lowe (1-0, 0.00) facing off against Todd Wellemeyer (0-0, 0.00).

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 10:31 AM

Braves Take Rubber Match 7-4
San Francisco, California
April 11, 2010
Associated Press

The Atlanta Braves offense came alive, if only momentarily, for a 7-4 win over the Giants. The offense has been struggling against the Giants this series, but through the first five innings of today's game, Atlanta held a 7-0 lead. Three errors by the Giants really set them back in this one as Atlanta scored at every opportunity.

Chipper Jones roped his first triple of the season in the 5th inning and Nate McLouth drilled his first homerun early in the 4th inning with one on base. The Braves were not without their problems, also booting two balls. They continue to have problems with fielding.

"We have to get better. Our infield has to get stronger or it is going to cost us some games late in the season. I know it is still early in the year but we have to get it going," said manager Bobby Cox.

Derek Lowe picked up his second win of the early season giving the Braves 6 strong innings, allowing three runs, one earned. Kris Medlen came in relief before leaving with a herniated disc in his back and will likely miss three weeks. Medlen is Atlanta's long relief pitcher so they will have to look somewhere in the organization to find someone to replace him for the next month.

Wagner picked up his fourth win of the season. The Braves and Jair Jurrjens will head to San Diego to take on the Padres at Petco Park.

Probable Matchup
J. Jurrjens (0-0, 3.00 ERA) v. K. Correia (0-0, 4.50 ERA)

Other News in the MLB
David Ross C signs a two year contract extension with Atlanta for two years at $4,000,000.

Ichiro Suzuki is the first AL Player of the Week. Suzuki hit .464 with 1 homerun and 6 RBIs.

Jason Bay won the NL's Player of the Week, hitting .500 with 3 homeruns and 7 RBI. Unfortunately for the Mets Jason Bay is injured and out for quite a while.

Team Stats
Record: 5-1, 1st NL East

Batting Average: .206 (16th in NL)
On-Base Percentage: .356 (1st in NL)
Slugging Percentage: .354 (13th in NL)
On-Base + Slugging: .711 (10th NL)
Runs Scored: 27 (T-8th NL)
Hits: 39 (16th in NL)
Extra-Base Hits: 13 (13th NL)
Home Runs: 7 (T-4th NL)
Strikeouts: 39 (T-6th NL)
Base on Balls: 42 (1st NL)
Stolen Bases: 1 (T-15th NL)

ERA: 2.21 (2nd NL)
Starters ERA: 2.15 (2nd NL)
Bullpen ERA: 2.35 (4th NL)
Runs Allowed: 20 (T-3rd NL)
Hits Allowed: 53 (T-6th NL)
Opponents AVG: .259 (8th NL)
BABIP: .304 (8th NL)
Home Runs Allowed: 1 (1st NL)
Base on Balls: 14 (T-3rd NL)
Strikeouts: 33 (15th NL)

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 10:49 AM

Here are the standings and league leaders:

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 12:50 PM

Atlanta Hammered 10-3 in Series Opener
San Diego, California
April 12, 2010
Associated Press

Jair Jurrjens struggled early in this one, and the Braves pitching struggled often. The Braves continue to struggle at the plate, hitting .218 today on just 7 hits. Atlanta continues to strand a lot of runners on base, this time leaving 16 on base. Amazingly, Atlanta did not have a single strikeout and instead put the ball in play all night, just unable to find a hit. Chipper Jones did blast his second home run of the season in the 8th to draw Atlanta within 5, before San Diego added 2 more in the bottom of the 8th off of Luis Valdez to take a 10-3 lead.

Valdez, called up from AAA Gwinnett to replace Kris Medlen struggled in his first outing, giving up two runs in just 1 and 1/3 innings of work.

"We have to do everything better. We started 5-1, and we're going to be fine, but we have got to improve our hitting. Our pitching has normally kept us in the games, but there's time we don't have our best stuff, our hitters have to pick it up," said hitting coach Terry Pendleton.

Atlanta, indeed, has to get better hitting the ball. The Braves rank dead last in the National League in batting average and have struggled to make their mark. Melky Cabrera, the leadoff hitter for Atlanta is just hitting .150 to start the season and Bobby Cox may soon look to make a change at the leadoff space.

Atlanta will have Tuesday off before coming back on Wednesday with Tommy Hanson on the mound, looking to rebound from the loss.

Other News

In other news around the Majors, the Atlanta Braves have signed relief pitcher Mark McLemore to fill the void left by Kris Medlen. In the move, Luis Valdez will return to the AAA Gwinnett Braves and McLemore will instantly fill a void in the bullpen.

McLemore, who last played in 2007 with Houston, was excited about the potential to join the Atlanta Braves. At 29 years of age, Atlanta believes there is still something left in the tank. Atlanta picked him up on a minor league contract.

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 01:26 PM

Atlanta Evens the Series
San Diego, California
April 14, 2010
Associated Press

Atlanta escaped with a win today. Tommy Hanson gave Atlanta a solid 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs before coming out for new signing McLemore. McLemore struggled in his first game since missing all of the previous two seasons, going 1 inning, giving up 2 hits and 1 run.

Wagner picked up his first win of the season for Atlanta going 1 and 1/3 innings, continuing his streak of scoreless innings this season. A change in the lineup seemed to benefit Mekly Cabrera, who raised his batting average to .240 in this game. Cabrerea was moved to the 6th batting spot and Yunel was slotted to hit leadoff. Yunel was fairly solid, with 2 RBI and a home run from the leadoff position. He did, however, leave 4 on base, something Atlanta continues to struggle with this season.

The Braves continued to play the role of comeback kids with this latest win, tying it up 3-3 in the top of the 9th before going on to win in the 10th on a Nate McLouth walk.

The Braves and Padres will finish up their series tomorrow. Atlanta will send Tim Hudson to the mound for his second start of the year.

Other News
The Yankees and Andy Pettitte have agreed to an extension. Pettitte's extension will bring him $4,290,000 per year and keep him in New York for at least two more seasons. Thus far this season Pettitte has struggled in one game, going 0-1 with an ERA of 15.00.

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 02:04 PM

Braves Drop Rubber Match to Padres 1-0

Errors cost Atlanta again!

gpellis · 04-13-2010, 02:20 PM

League News

Manny Ramirez of Los Angeles reached the 2500th hit of his career. Ramirez is hitting just .226 thus far this season.

04-12-2010, 10:39 PM	#1
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Atlanta Braves Dynasty Alright, I have messed around a fair amount with OOTP 11 today. I started the USBL fictional league, but my posts were pretty boring, and I found that I really want to play the games, rather than sim them. With that in mind, I am going to start an Atlanta Braves dynasty going from 2010 forward and actually play the games. I feel that will give me more control over my team and realize what problems I have. I imagine it doesn't take too overly long to play a game, but we shall see. The 2010 Atlanta Braves will be led by Bobby Cox in his final season before we have to make a change. 2010 Lineup 1. Melky Cabrera LF 2. Martin Prado 2B 3. Chipper Jones 3B 4. Brian McCann C 5. Troy Glaus 1B 6. Yunel Escobar SS 7. Jason Heyward RF 8. Nate McLouth CF 9. Pitcher Bench David Ross C Matt Diaz RF Omar Infante 2B Mitch Jones RF Eric Hinske 1B 2010 Pitching Rotation 1. Derek Lowe 2. Jair Jurrjens 3. Tommy Hanson 4. Tim Hudson 5. Kenshin Kawakami Middle Relief 1. Eric O'Flaherty 2. Jesse Chavez 3. Kris Medlen 4. Manny Acosta Set-Up 1. Takashi Saito 2. Peter Moylan Closer Billy Wagner Owner Expectations "I have now decided on the goal for the coming season. After evaluating several factors, I have come to the conclusion that the team should play .500 ball." The owner has given me $20,660,000 for free agents and $29,040,000 for extensions. So if moves are necessary, I will make them to get this team to the playoffs.

04-12-2010, 10:43 PM	#2
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Opening Day Opening-Day is Here The 2010 season will start with the Chicago Cubs visiting the Atlanta Braves at Turner field. The Cubs will send Ryan Dempster to the mound to start the season to face off against Derek Lowe. Lowe is looking to rebound off of a season that saw him post an ERA of 4.67. "Hopefully I can turn things around this year. I've got to get the ball on the ground more than I did last year. If I can do that, I know this season will be better," said Lowe. Despite the high ERA, Lowe still posted a 15-10 season. The Atlanta Braves will be looking to make the playoffs in what could be manager Bobby Cox's final season. New GM Phillip Ellis will get his first chance to see the team in action as they take the field this afternoon. "It's exciting. This is a big-time team and we have some big-time players. Reaching the playoffs is our goal. We have the budget to do it and we have the players and coaches to reach that goal. If this is indeed Bobby's last season we want to send him out a winner," said Ellis. The game will begin at at 4:10 EST at Turner Field.

04-13-2010, 10:49 AM	#9
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Here are the standings and league leaders: Attached Images Last edited by gpellis; 04-13-2010 at 10:50 AM.

04-13-2010, 02:04 PM	#12
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Braves Drop Rubber Match to Padres 1-0 Errors cost Atlanta again! Attached Images

04-12-2010, 11:09 PM	#3
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Atlanta Takes Season Opener 4-1 Atlanta, Georgia Associated Press April 5, 2010 Atlanta opened up the season with a bang as the Braves came back to win their season opener 4-1. In a tightly contested game, the Braves finally got the insurance they were looking for with a two run homerun in the 8th inning by newcomer Troy Glaus to put the game away. The Cubs got ahead quickly in the first inning on an error by Chipper Jones before Atlanta came firing back in the bottom of the third with a two run homerun by Martin Prado. "It's always nice to get the first one. The homerun was great and Lowe was fantastic on the mound, hopefully we can keep this up," said Prado. It was an absolute duel between Dempster and Lowe as the Braves and Cubs left a combined twenty-four runners on base. Timely homeruns helped Atlanta to take game one of the series 4-1 in front of 49,680 fans. Derek Lowe pitched an absolute gem and picked up player of the game honors for his efforts. Lowe gave the Braves 7 2/3 innings, allowing only four hits and one unearned run. Lowe only issued one walk and rung up one batter, mostly relying on the groundballs. Moylan came in to get the final out of the seventh before newcomer Billy Wagner picked up his first save as an Atlanta Brave. "Good to win in front of the home crowd, but we have to field better. We gave them that first run and made another error later in the game. We have to get better," said coach Bobby Cox. The Braves and Cubs get the day off on Tuesday April 6th before they face off again at 7:10 P.M. at Turner Field. The expected starters for game two are Jair Jurrjens for Atlanta and Carlos Zambrano for the Cubs. It looks to be another duel of two Major League aces.

04-12-2010, 11:39 PM	#4
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Call Them the Comeback Kids! Atlanta, Georgia April 7, 2010 Associated Press The Atlanta Braves do it again. After jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first behind Brian McCann's first homerun of the year. Jair pitched a strong game but the lead was squandered in the 7th inning by the bullpen when the Cubs took a 3-2 lead. Chipper Jones committed his second error in as many games allowing the Cubs to begin crawling back into the game in the 5th inning. Atlanta left an astounding twenty-one on base this game but managed to come back in the bottom of the 8th inning to take a 4-3 lead. A wild pitch by Caridad gave him his first blown save of the season and gave Atlanta the 4-3 lead. Eric O'Flaherty picked up his first win of the season in relief, pitching a scoreless 8th inning. Billy Wagner came in during the 9th to again go three up and three down to get his second save of the young season. In other news across the MLB, Minnesota's catcher, Joe Mauer, will miss five weeks because of an oblique strain. That could make for a very long five weeks for the Minnesota Twins. Jeremy Bonderman has signed a 2 year extension to stay with the Tigers after this season, making 5.4 million dollars. Only four undefeated teams are left in the majors, with Texas, St. Louis, Washington, and Atlanta all sitting at 2-0. In the final game of the series, Atlanta will send Tommy Hanson to face Randy Wells of the Cubs.

04-13-2010, 12:10 AM	#5
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Braves Win Series in Bottom 9th Atlanta, Georgia April 8, 2010 Associated Press When things look bleak, the Atlanta Braves seem to always find a way. The entire series had been a battle of wills between the starting pitchers, and the matchup seemed to suggest another tough game. It turned out to be the opposite, however, as the Atlanta Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the 9th to take game three of the series 7-6. "It was a thriller. Every game of this series was a thriller. It's great to be 3-0 and I am definitely glad to be done playing Chicago for a while. That's a great baseball team that took us to the wire each time. These guys battled hard and we're certainly happy with the comeback," said an obviously excited Bobby Cox. Jason Heyward finally had the breakout game he has been missing this season, going 3 for 4, scoring 2 runs and driving in 2 RBI, including the game winning RBI in the 9th inning. With the bases loaded and two outs Marmol hit Heyward, allowing Chipper Jones to score the game-winning score. It was the second blown save of the series for the Cubs, the first for Marmol this season who struggled with three walks and one hit batter. It seemed as though Atlanta was not going to be able to close the game out as time and time again the Cubs fought back and came up with a big hit when it needed one. Kosuke Fukudome set the National League regular season game record for hits with five. Fokudome was 5 for 5 and absolutely impossible for Atlanta to sit down. "We're out of here with a win. It was a nice start, now we'll head off to San Francisco and hope to keep this going," said Tommy Hanson who allowed eight hits over 5 and 2/3 innings, picking up the no decision in his first start of the season. Atlanta will now head to San Francisco where Tim Hudson will face off against former A's teammate Barry Zito.

04-13-2010, 12:42 AM	#6
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Braves Drop to Giants 5-1 San Francisco, California April 9, 2010 ESPN News Service The Atlanta Braves comeback magic has finally worn off. Atlanta, fresh off of two great comebacks against the Chicago Cubs finally lost their swagger as they dropped 5-1 to the Giants in their first road trip of the season. Atlanta was limited to five hits and struggled to get anything going offensively. The first three hitters (Diaz, Prado, C. Jones) were the only ones providing offense. The lone Atlanta run came off of a solo homerun by Chipper Jones, his first of the season, in the fourth inning. The bullpen, which has typically been Atlanta's strongest point, struggled this game with Acosta giving up two runs in one inning of work. Hudson picks up the loss, his first of the season, going 7 innings, giving up 10 hits and 3 runs. Hudson looked solid in his first start coming off of his season ending injury last season. Ultimately though, Barry Zito got the best of his former teammate going 7 innings and holding Atlanta to 5 hits and 1 earned run. Atlanta will take on San Francisco again tomorrow as the probably matchup is Kenshin Kawakami against Tim Lincecum.

04-13-2010, 01:07 AM	#7
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Kawakami Bests Lincecum San Francisco, California April 10, 2010 CBS Sports Kenshin Kawakami got his 2010 campaign off on the right foot. Late last year Kawakami showed his improvements as he finished his last 13 decisions with a 6-7 record and an ERA around 3.50. Looking to continue to show his improvement, Kenshin got a perfect chance as Cox chose to stick with Kawakami when the Giants announced Lincecum would be the starter. Atlanta was again limited to only five hits by this strong Giants pitching staff, but Lincecum looked like a man on short rest. In 5 and 2/3 innings of work Lincecum surrendered two runs and six walks, despite only giving up three hits. Atlanta could not hit the Giants pitching, but with 9 walks, Atlanta was able to product runs. "It's tough to face a guy like Lincecum. Even on a day like today where he's not at his best, you can see just how good he is. It took six walks and three hits off of him for us to muster just two runs," said Troy Glaus. Glaus hit a two run homerun late in the game to put it away for Atlanta. Wagner came in to finish up the 9th for his third save this season. Kawakami matched Lincecum stride for stride as he went 5 and 1/3 inning, surrendering four hits and one unearned run. Atlanta's starting pitching has been strong this season and they hope it continues. In other news, the New York Mets suffered a giant blow to the team when Jason Bay tore a ligament in his thumb. Bay is expected to miss three months. Bay had gotten off to a quick start for the Mets hitting .500 with three homeruns and seven RBI. The Braves and Giants will close out their series with Derek Lowe (1-0, 0.00) facing off against Todd Wellemeyer (0-0, 0.00).

04-13-2010, 10:31 AM	#8
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Braves Take Rubber Match 7-4 San Francisco, California April 11, 2010 Associated Press The Atlanta Braves offense came alive, if only momentarily, for a 7-4 win over the Giants. The offense has been struggling against the Giants this series, but through the first five innings of today's game, Atlanta held a 7-0 lead. Three errors by the Giants really set them back in this one as Atlanta scored at every opportunity. Chipper Jones roped his first triple of the season in the 5th inning and Nate McLouth drilled his first homerun early in the 4th inning with one on base. The Braves were not without their problems, also booting two balls. They continue to have problems with fielding. "We have to get better. Our infield has to get stronger or it is going to cost us some games late in the season. I know it is still early in the year but we have to get it going," said manager Bobby Cox. Derek Lowe picked up his second win of the early season giving the Braves 6 strong innings, allowing three runs, one earned. Kris Medlen came in relief before leaving with a herniated disc in his back and will likely miss three weeks. Medlen is Atlanta's long relief pitcher so they will have to look somewhere in the organization to find someone to replace him for the next month. Wagner picked up his fourth win of the season. The Braves and Jair Jurrjens will head to San Diego to take on the Padres at Petco Park. Probable Matchup J. Jurrjens (0-0, 3.00 ERA) v. K. Correia (0-0, 4.50 ERA) Other News in the MLB David Ross C signs a two year contract extension with Atlanta for two years at $4,000,000. Ichiro Suzuki is the first AL Player of the Week. Suzuki hit .464 with 1 homerun and 6 RBIs. Jason Bay won the NL's Player of the Week, hitting .500 with 3 homeruns and 7 RBI. Unfortunately for the Mets Jason Bay is injured and out for quite a while. Team Stats Record: 5-1, 1st NL East Batting Average: .206 (16th in NL) On-Base Percentage: .356 (1st in NL) Slugging Percentage: .354 (13th in NL) On-Base + Slugging: .711 (10th NL) Runs Scored: 27 (T-8th NL) Hits: 39 (16th in NL) Extra-Base Hits: 13 (13th NL) Home Runs: 7 (T-4th NL) Strikeouts: 39 (T-6th NL) Base on Balls: 42 (1st NL) Stolen Bases: 1 (T-15th NL) ERA: 2.21 (2nd NL) Starters ERA: 2.15 (2nd NL) Bullpen ERA: 2.35 (4th NL) Runs Allowed: 20 (T-3rd NL) Hits Allowed: 53 (T-6th NL) Opponents AVG: .259 (8th NL) BABIP: .304 (8th NL) Home Runs Allowed: 1 (1st NL) Base on Balls: 14 (T-3rd NL) Strikeouts: 33 (15th NL)

04-13-2010, 12:50 PM	#10
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Atlanta Hammered 10-3 in Series Opener San Diego, California April 12, 2010 Associated Press Jair Jurrjens struggled early in this one, and the Braves pitching struggled often. The Braves continue to struggle at the plate, hitting .218 today on just 7 hits. Atlanta continues to strand a lot of runners on base, this time leaving 16 on base. Amazingly, Atlanta did not have a single strikeout and instead put the ball in play all night, just unable to find a hit. Chipper Jones did blast his second home run of the season in the 8th to draw Atlanta within 5, before San Diego added 2 more in the bottom of the 8th off of Luis Valdez to take a 10-3 lead. Valdez, called up from AAA Gwinnett to replace Kris Medlen struggled in his first outing, giving up two runs in just 1 and 1/3 innings of work. "We have to do everything better. We started 5-1, and we're going to be fine, but we have got to improve our hitting. Our pitching has normally kept us in the games, but there's time we don't have our best stuff, our hitters have to pick it up," said hitting coach Terry Pendleton. Atlanta, indeed, has to get better hitting the ball. The Braves rank dead last in the National League in batting average and have struggled to make their mark. Melky Cabrera, the leadoff hitter for Atlanta is just hitting .150 to start the season and Bobby Cox may soon look to make a change at the leadoff space. Atlanta will have Tuesday off before coming back on Wednesday with Tommy Hanson on the mound, looking to rebound from the loss. Other News In other news around the Majors, the Atlanta Braves have signed relief pitcher Mark McLemore to fill the void left by Kris Medlen. In the move, Luis Valdez will return to the AAA Gwinnett Braves and McLemore will instantly fill a void in the bullpen. McLemore, who last played in 2007 with Houston, was excited about the potential to join the Atlanta Braves. At 29 years of age, Atlanta believes there is still something left in the tank. Atlanta picked him up on a minor league contract.

04-13-2010, 01:26 PM	#11
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	Atlanta Evens the Series San Diego, California April 14, 2010 Associated Press Atlanta escaped with a win today. Tommy Hanson gave Atlanta a solid 7 innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 runs before coming out for new signing McLemore. McLemore struggled in his first game since missing all of the previous two seasons, going 1 inning, giving up 2 hits and 1 run. Wagner picked up his first win of the season for Atlanta going 1 and 1/3 innings, continuing his streak of scoreless innings this season. A change in the lineup seemed to benefit Mekly Cabrera, who raised his batting average to .240 in this game. Cabrerea was moved to the 6th batting spot and Yunel was slotted to hit leadoff. Yunel was fairly solid, with 2 RBI and a home run from the leadoff position. He did, however, leave 4 on base, something Atlanta continues to struggle with this season. The Braves continued to play the role of comeback kids with this latest win, tying it up 3-3 in the top of the 9th before going on to win in the 10th on a Nate McLouth walk. The Braves and Padres will finish up their series tomorrow. Atlanta will send Tim Hudson to the mound for his second start of the year. Other News The Yankees and Andy Pettitte have agreed to an extension. Pettitte's extension will bring him $4,290,000 per year and keep him in New York for at least two more seasons. Thus far this season Pettitte has struggled in one game, going 0-1 with an ERA of 15.00.

04-13-2010, 02:20 PM	#13
gpellis Minors (Double A) Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 178	League News Manny Ramirez of Los Angeles reached the 2500th hit of his career. Ramirez is hitting just .226 thus far this season.