Braves' News Tidbits

[General]

Jorge Sosa allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings tonight to beat the Phillies and move to 12-3.
Sosa continues to be awesome while pitching out of the stretch, which is why he has a 2.58 ERA to go along with his 1.37 WHIP. He'll likely remain in the rotation for the rest of the year with Mike Hampton no longer an option.

[General]

Chipper Jones drove in five runs with a pair of homers to give the Braves a win over the Phillies tonight.
It's not all about Andruw Jones. Chipper is batting .342 with 11 homers, 11 doubles, 36 RBI and 23 walks in 120 AB since the beginning of August. S

[General]

John Smoltz gave up four runs in seven innings to lose a duel with Pedro Martinez tonight.
Smoltz has been pitching with a sore shoulder and he left too many pitches up tonight. He'll have to keep fighting it for the rest of the season

[General]

Great game tonight..really liked watching it..good win, 7-4!

[General]

Marcus Giles homered, doubled, walked twice and stole a base today.
With just 11 homers and 55 RBI, Giles has been a disappointment for fantasy purposes. Still, he's hitting .301, he's third in the majors with 45 doubles and he has 16 steals in 19 attempts. There aren't many better second basemen.

[General]

Tim Hudson won today despite giving up three homers for the first time since May 19, 2002. He allowed four runs in six innings.
Cliff Floyd, Mike Piazza and Mike Jacobs hit the homers, with the latter two going back-to-back in the fourth inning. Hudson is 13-8 with a 3.45 ERA.

[General]

Adam LaRoche went 4-for-5 and hit a two-run homer today in the Braves' 7-4 win over the Mets.
The Braves hope this signals an end to his slump. He was hitting just .197 since the beginning of August. It was his third career four-hit game.

Great to hear, we need Rochy to perform.

[General]

Jorge Sosa has moved ahead of Horacio Ramirez in the Braves rotation.
The Braves will probably go with a three-man rotation in the first round of the playoffs (if they get there), meaning Smoltz, Hudson and Sosa would be the likely trio. Ramirez was to have started this Tuesday, but with the change to the rotation, he's now slated to throw on Friday, while Sosa will pitch tomorrow.

[Kingdom]

I hope Horacio can be good out of the pen, then.

[General]

Well...he hasn't had any success so far..I still think it's best we trade him for low A-AA specs.

[Kingdom]

Better yet, let's trade him and kelly johnson for delmon young.. ooooh aaaah

[General]

Lets just get rid of him...I know a team which would like a ground-ball LHSP...well, I know 31 teams..

[General]

John Smoltz has been scratched from his scheduled start on Wednesday because of a sore shoulder.
Horacio Ramirez, who was pushed back after Monday's off day, will replace him. Smoltz is now scheduled to pitch Saturday. ''It's just a case of giving me a couple extra days off,'' Smoltz said. ''We're fresh enough in the starting rotation.''

[General]

Blaine Boyer pitched a scoreless eighth inning tonight in his first appearance in six days and was credited with a relief victory against the Marlins.
Boyer has been nursing a sore shoulder. The win tonight reduced the Braves' magic number to five for winning the NL East.

[General]

John Smoltz, who had his start pushed back because of a sore shoulder, allowed three runs in six innings against the Marlins tonight.
Smoltz wasn't close to being at his best tonight. If the Braves can afford it, they may think about having him skip his final scheduled start in the hopes that it will make him stronger for the start of the postseason.