Atlanta Braves Fan Blog

Reliever Gonzalez goes with Boras

GameSetMatch — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:26:11 +0000

Mike Gonzalez has already drawn strong attention from a number of different teams looking for a closer and as he continues to determine where he’ll pitch next year, he’ll do so under the advisement of Scott Boras.

Two Major League sources have confirmed that Gonzalez recently chose Boras to serve as his agent. The veteran reliever had previously been represented by Dan Lozano of the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

With the addition of Gonzalez to his star-studded stable, Boras now possesses one of the top available relievers on this year’s free-agent market. The 31-year-old lefty posted a 2.42 ERA and limited opponents to a .209 batting average in the career-high 80 appearances he made for the Braves this past season.

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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Braves end season with six-game skid

GameSetMatch — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:34:16 +0000

Their season finale Sunday lasted 15 innings and nearly 4 1/2 hours and ended ingloriously in a 2-1 loss against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field, leaving the Braves with a six-game losing streak as the final act in a season that crashed from a promising peak six days before.

In under a week, the Braves went from a 15-2 tear that brought them to within 2 1/2 games of wild-card leader Colorado, to finishing third in the National League East behind Florida.

The Braves lost all four games in the series – the first time they were ever swept in a four-game home series against the Montreal/Washington franchise — despite strong performances from starting pitching in three, including Tim Hudson’s seven innings Sunday (seven hits and seven strikeouts).

“We just didn’t do much with the bats the entire homestand,” said manager Bobby Cox, whose club scored just nine runs in 44 innings against the NL’s worst pitching staff and a Nationals team that came to town with a major-league most 103 losses – and left with 103.

Click here to read the full article – By David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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Winning season gives Braves confidence

GameSetMatch — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:45:46 +0000

Discouraged that they weren’t able to complete their goal of reaching the playoffs, the Braves are determined to finish the season strong and maintain some of the momentum they built over the course of the past couple of weeks.

Chipper Jones said that if somebody had told him at the beginning of the season that Atlanta would notch 90 victories, he would have predicted a playoff spot.

The bid for 90 victories ended on Thursday night, when the Braves lost a third consecutive game. But regardless of what happens the rest of the way, they have come a long way from the 72-90 campaign they endured last year.

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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Braves pushing for playoffs with drive

GameSetMatch — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:30:05 +0000

Chipper Jones feels as though he’s returned to the 1990s.
Those were giddy times for the Atlanta Braves, who won their division just about every season and often made it to the World Series – five times by the time the decade was done.

Well, look who’s making an improbable bid for the playoffs.

Yep, it’s the Braves, the franchise that fell on hard times after the last of its record 14 straight division titles in 2005.

A 4-0 shutout of the Florida Marlins on Monday night was Atlanta’s 15th victory in 17 games, closing the gap on Colorado in the wild-card race to two games. The Braves haven’t even given up on chasing down defending World Series champion Philadelphia in the NL East, pulling within four games of the division leader.

There’s only six games left in the regular season, so Atlanta still faces long and longer odds to catch either team. But this late-season run has sure made things a lot more fun around the clubhouse for players who had almost forgotten what it was like to play meaningful games in September.

Click here to read the full article – By PAUL NEWBERRY of TheItem.com

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Lowe beneficiary of Braves’ laugher

GameSetMatch — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:57:45 +0000

Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson highlighted the early power display that helped Derek Lowe feel less uneasy about his latest finger ailment and the possibility of reliving the nightmare that he’d experienced when he last stood on Citi Field’s mound.

It took the Braves just three innings to provide Lowe comfort and compile all of the runs that would encompass the 11-3 bashing that they handed the Mets at Citi Field on Monday night.

“A lot of this game is momentum, and if you can seize the momentum early and set the tone, you’ve got a good chance to win it,” said Jones, whose three-run homer capped the four-run second inning.

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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Chipper aggravates left groin injury

GameSetMatch — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:29:25 +0000

Chipper Jones’ return to the Braves’ lineup may have been further delayed on Wednesday night, when he aggravated his strained left groin muscle during an eighth-inning pinch-hit appearance.

After the Braves claimed their 6-5 walk-off win over the Mets, Jones revealed that he’d felt further discomfort while swinging and missing a pitch during his eighth-inning strikeout. The 37-year-old third baseman declared himself available to pinch-hit after taking numerous swings in the indoor batting cage.

“I’ll just take it day-by-day,” Jones said. “I took 100 swings [in the cage] and I didn’t feel it one time. That’s why I didn’t even think about it. But I guess there’s no simulating game-intensity swings. I’ll have to see how it feels tomorrow and see if I can play.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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A healthy Hudson presents choices

GameSetMatch — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:21:13 +0000

Tim Hudson will have to wait a few more months before regaining all of the arm strength that he possessed before undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery last year. But based on what he’s already shown during his first three starts back from a grueling rehab process, the 34-year-old right-hander has seemingly already provided himself a good chance to remain with the Braves beyond this season

“[Hudson] has thrown really well during these first couple starts back,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said. “We know his makeup. We know his work ethic. We know his competitiveness. We’d like to have him pitching in Atlanta for a long time.”

In order to gain the financial flexibility needed to keep Hudson, the Braves may need to trade either Kenshin Kawakami or Javier Vazquez, whose $11.5 million cost for the 2010 season would be deemed a bargain if he’s able to repeat the success he’s enjoyed this year.

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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Vazquez named NL Player of the Week

GameSetMatch — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 19:09:17 +0000

With the stellar effort he produced against the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, Javier Vazquez displayed precision that led Braves manager Bobby Cox to draw a comparison to some of Greg Maddux’s masterpieces.

In addition, Vazquez also caught the attention of Major League Baseball, which announced Monday afternoon that he had been named the National League’s Player of the Week.

In the 16 innings he completed during his two starts against the Astros and Cardinals last week, Vazquez allowed two runs, registered 17 strikeouts and issued just four walks. The 33-year-old right-hander’s only other Player of the Week Award came last August, while he was pitching for the White Sox.

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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Hudson earns key win for Braves in return

GameSetMatch — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:03:44 +0000

As he endured the grueling rehab process that followed Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, there were times when Tim Hudson wondered if he’d possess his successful form once this day finally arrived.

Those bouts waged against anxiety and impatience proved to be distant memories by the time Hudson exited the mound at Land Shark Stadium on Tuesday night. His long wait proved fruitful courtesy of the impressive return he constructed while leading the Braves to a 4-3 win over the Marlins.

“I’m just happy for the opportunity to go out there and see my teammates behind me and see how happy they were for me to get back out there and compete,” Hudson said. “It’s been a while. It’s been a long, tough road. But it was very rewarding to go out there and give us a chance to win.”

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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Hudson to start for Braves on Monday

GameSetMatch — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:42:08 +0000

As Tim Hudson was traveling to the Atlanta airport on Thursday afternoon, he was anticipating making his final Minor League rehab start in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday night. But with one phone call, the Braves gave him clearance to abort that mission and prepare to fill Kenshin Kawakami’s spot in the starting rotation.

Hudson will return to the Major League scene on Monday night to face the Marlins. Ironically, his return will place him on the same Land Shark Stadium mound that he exited on July 23, 2008, without the knowledge that he was about a week away from Tommy John elbow ligament transplant surgery and 13 months away from delivering his next Major League pitch.

Click here to read the full article – By Mark Bowman of MLB.com

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