Deja vu all over again
If you are a long time fan of the Atlanta Braves, you should probably say “Hey! the Braves are in pretty good shape to win the division again…. whats new?” …
If not, you would probably be saying “THE BRAVES WINNING THE DIVISION?!?!”
For most of us long time fans, being in this position is nothing new for us, but looking at what has happened over the past years, we might be in the same position of the newcomers.
Its been way too many years now that we have seen this image in our tvs, computers or everywhere actually …. “THE PHILLS WIN IT AGAIN! ” “THE PHILLIES ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS!”
But all of these years we knew that our time would come back again and the Braves were gonna get their winning team back.
It probably took a little more time than we expected but with the changes made by our GM, this year we can no longer be saying by now “We’ll get them next year!”
We have seen maybe one of the most “moved” seasons ever for the braves with the acquisition of Alex Gonzalez, Rick Ankiel and Derek Lee.
With these moves we can now say that we are real confident that the Braves are going to give us again the feeling of winning a pennant and even maybe more.
We all know that we want to see this image again don’t you think?
I’m pretty sure we don’t mind at all to see our beloved Braves give us another championship, but more important give this man another championship!
So lets keep rooting for our team, lets keep attending to their games because we are the ignition to their fire, we make them feel the excitement of a playoff run, without us they cannot win, SO LETS GO BRAVES! LETS GO BRAVES! and lets see more of this shall we???
Rivalry Renewed
Tonight, the Atlanta Braves will start a 3 game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Starting the day, the Phillies had a 4 game lead in the National League East. With the Braves having a 5 game winning streak, they are the favorites to win the series, but also because they will not have to match against the newest aquisition, Cliff Lee.
For the series, the Braves will start with Jair Jurrjens, continue with Kenshin Kawakami and finish off strong with Javi Vazquez.
The main reason the Braves have been sooo good lately is because of Chipper Jones. He has come to his sences and he has taken the Captain role of the team by not only making his best every game but by making everybody do their best every game.
Perhaps, the most powerful weapond that the Phillies posses is their first baseman Ryan Howard. As long as the Braves do what they have done until now with him, their chances of winnning the series will just increment.
So lets hope that the Braves offense and pitching continue to attack during this series so that we can gain some ground on both the Phillies and the Rockies wich are the leading team in the Wild Card right now.
But for us to do that, the Marlins need to stop winning so lets start rooting for the teams they are playing!!!! So exept for this weekend that they are playing the Rockies, I will be rooting for the Astros that will play them for a 3 game series before the Marlins come to Atlanta where they will meet a potent team in the Braves and hopefully they will be either first place in the Division or in the Wild Card!!!
What about them Braves?????????
Another great performance by Vazquez
After tonights performance, Javy Vazquez added another great outing to his resume. He went 7 strong innings striking out 9 batters, giving 3 base on balls and allowing 4 runs. Before tonights game, his ERA and total strike outs were in the top of the list of the National League. After tonights game, his ERA was raised to just 2.98, wich I really think its still very very good. But maybe the most amazing thing from tonights game, was when Javy struck out Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder for the 4th time in the game, with the tying run on third.
Javier Vazquez is really living for his expectations as he continues to dominate and to give the Braves a chance to win important games. After his performance in the WBC playing for team Puerto Rico, he really took that confidence he gained in the tournament and used it to just play great for the Atlanta Braves. Good job Javy and just keep it up so that the team could continue to have chanches to be contenders for the playoffs.
Braves 8 Brewers 4
What about them Braves??????????
Errors, errors, errors
If not batting against Barry Zito, one of the most inconsistent pitchers in the league, wasnt enough, the Atlanta Braves just killed themselves by making 2 errors in the top of the 8th inning.
After todays loss, the Braves now need to concentrate not loosing anymore “easy” games because if they do they will just take themselves out of playoff contention.
OHHH!!! AND BTW, GREAT PERFORMANCE BY MARK BUEHRLE WITH HIS PERFECT GAME!!!
How to beat a Freak
Tonight, the San Francisco Giants sent to the mound Tim Lincecum to face an Atlanta Braves offense that has been unstoppable. Obviously when people talk about Lincecum, they include in the conversation strikeouts and domination.
Tonight only one of them came true. Trough the first 3 innings, Tim struck out 7 batters and surrendered just one base per balls. It all started striking out the two first batters of the game, at that point I said, “Oh no, its gonna be a long night for the Braves”.
But when Chipper Jones came up to the plate and hit a line drive to left field on a first pitch swing, I started jumping on my seat and screaming, “Thats what you have to do against this guy!!”…. And apparently Terry Pendleton thought so too. After Chippers hit, McCann and Anderson did the same thing (swinged at the first pitch for a hit) and by that Chipper scored the first run of the ball game.
In the bottom of the third inning, posibly the hottest Brave in the team, Yunel Escobar, hit a towering home run to center field off Lincecum with two men in base. This blast was the game changer for the Braves because from there on they never looked back again. And by this giving the Freak
But the real MVP of the game was a guy called, ummm oh yeah!, Jair Jurrjens!! Tonight he proved why everybody is saying that he is the best pitcher of the Atlanta Braves organization. He tossed 7 2/3 strong innings allowing just 3 hits, 1 base per balls, 1 ER and struck out 9 batters. After tonights win against the Giants, Jurrjens is 9-7 with a 2.67 ERA. Rafael Soriano got his 14th save of the season, in a scary way alowing a run, but he saved it!
Braves 4 Giants 2
So overall, great game for the Bravos and tonight they showed how you take down a Freak.
What about them Braves????????
The Art of Pitching
Well, you all know how games are really won….. Yeah some say its because of great defense, or maybe great offense…. but do you really know the key to winning games? PITCHING …..
Being a pitcher myself, Ive been in the position many times of having the chance of controlling the outcome of a game. Yeah yeah, I know that many say that every day cant be a good day, but common, when you are in the mound all you can think about is to have a good game and doing your best.
Pitchers can decide whether to make a batter hit a ground ball, or a fly ball out, or hey they can strike out whoever they want as long as they trow their best stuff.
Javier Vazquez, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, Kenshin Kawakami and Tommy Hanson are starting to gain more confidence in themselves as we now see how for the past few games, their starters ERA is one of the best in the league. Thanks to this, the Braves just find themselves 3 games back from the Colorado Rockies and the first place spot. If they, (and by that I mean the starting pitchers), can continue with the briliant dominance they have shown till this moment, Im pretty confident that the Braves are going to have a chance to compete for a spot in the playoffs.
What about them Braves???????
Post Season Running
Tonight, after the Braves defeated the Giants for the second night in a row, we can say that they have created a nice Post Season Run for themselves. Although the season is still very long, the Atlanta Braves are becoming the team to beat; not only I say this because I love this team, but also when we look at the numbers, this team is the hottest team in contention for the NL Wild Card right now.
Tomorrow, the team will have a very difficult task that being facing last years Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum. He will be bringing this years 10-2 record to Atlanta, and will also try to slow down the potent Braves offense that has scored 19 runs in two games. But also I have to give a lot of credit to the pitching staff. Javier Vazquez, Jair Jurrjens, Derek Lowe, Kenshin Kawakami and Tommy Hanson are beggining to emerge as one of the leagues most dominant starting rotation by simply dominating their opponents. Its not just domination, its also pitching against great batters and making them look silly.
Thanks to this starting rotation the Braves are the team to beat if you want to win the NL Wild Card spot.
What about them Braves????
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