The Braves finished their regular season off in a good way on Sunday afternoon by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 12-5.
The Braves crushed out seventeen hits in the game. Gerald Laird had the biggest day as he had four hits and scored four runs in the victory. Evan Gattis added three hits, including his 21st home run of the year in the first inning, Andrelton Simmons also added three hits and drove in a run. Elliot Johnson had two hits and led the Braves with five RBI's in the win, Freddie Freeman also had two hits and drove in a run. Freeman finished the year batting .319 with 109 RBI's, the most RBI's by a Brave since 2006. Jose Constanza had a hit and drove in two runs, Justin Upton and Julio Teheran also added a hit apiece.
Teheran pitched well enough to earn the victory and improve his record to 14-8, but it wasn't his best outing of the year. He went five innings and gave up four runs on six hits including a three-run homer to Erik Kratz. Luis Avilan then pitched a scoreless sixth inning for Atlanta. Luis Ayala struggled and gave up a run on two hits and a walk in the seventh before Alex Wood came in and recorded the final out of the inning. David Carpenter came in and struck out two in a perfect eighth inning and then Craig Kimbrel retired the side in the ninth to close out the victory.
The Braves finish the year with a 96-66 record. They ended up being the second place team in the National League behind the St. Louis Cardinals meaning Atlanta will play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first round of the Division Series. The first game will be played in Atlanta on Thursday at 8:30 p.m. Kris Medlen (15-12) is expected to start that game for the Braves against the Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw (16-9).
Evan Gattis hits a two-run homer in the first inning in the Braves' 12-5 victory over the Phillies on Sunday in their regular season finale.
Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press
The Braves staged a late comeback in the ninth inning on Saturday night, but it wasn't enough as the Phillies won 5-4.
The offense had twelve hits in the game but could only muster a sacrifice fly and a three-run homer in the ninth. Justin Upton led the team with four hits in the game, including the homer in the ninth which was his 27th of the year. Freddie Freeman added two hits and an RBI with the sac fly and Gerald Laird also had two hits in the game. Jason Heyward, Evan Gattis, Elliot Johnson and Jose Constanza each had a hit apiece in the loss.
Mike Minor started the game and was decent, but he didn't get any offensive support as his record fell to 13-9 on the year. He pitched six innings and gave up two runs on five hits and struck out six batters. Jordan Walden then came in and gave up two runs, one earned, on two hits while striking out two before Scott Downs got the final out of the seventh. Anthony Varvaro then came in and gave up a run in the eighth on three hits before Alex Wood retired the final batter of the inning. Kameron Loe entered the game in the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning.
The Braves are now 95-66 on the season and they will play their final regular season game tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. against the Phillies. Julio Teheran (13-8) will start the finale against Zach Miner (0-1) for the Phillies.
Justin Upton rounds the bases after his three-run homer in the ninth, but the comeback fell short as the Braves lost the game 5-4.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
Kris Medlen and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies and Cliff Lee 1-0 on Friday night in a classic pitching duel.
The Braves recorded only three hits in the game. Freddie Freeman and Andrelton Simmons each had a hit, but the biggest was the third and final hit in the eighth inning. Chris Johnson hit a solo homer, his twelfth of the year, off of Lee that proved to be the winning and only run of the game.
Medlen was masterful in his final outing of the season as he improved his record to 15-12 on the year. He pitched eight innings and gave up two hits while striking out seven batters. Craig Kimbrel then struck out two batters in the ninth as he earned his 50th save of the season. The 50 saves also is a new career-high in a season for Kimbrel.
The Braves are now 95-65 on the year and they will take on the Phillies again tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. Mike Minor (13-8) will take the mound for the final time this regular season against Ethan Martin (2-5) of the Phillies.
Kris Medlen delivers a pitch in his masterful performance against the Phillies on Friday night in the Braves' 1-0 victory.
Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press
Jason Heyward and the Atlanta Braves cruised past the Phillies on Thursday night with a 7-1 victory.
The Braves had twelve hits in the game, and scored five runs in the first inning as they dominated all night. Heyward had a career night with five hits, including his fourteenth homer of the season to lead off the game, three doubles and a single. Heyward earned a few of his doubles with his speed by legging them out and giving the Braves the hustle they have lacked without him in the lineup. Evan Gattis added two hits and drove in a team-high three runs, Freddie Freeman also had two hits and an RBI. Chris Johnson and Jordan Schafer each added a hit and an RBI and Elliot Johnson had a hit and scored two runs in the victory.
David Hale made another spot start on the mound for Atlanta and did well by earning his first Major League victory and going 1-0 on the year. He wasn't the strikeout pitcher that he was in his Major League debut, but he did pitch six innings and gave up a run on seven hits and struck out five. Alex Wood pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Luis Ayala pitched a scoreless eighth. Luis Avilan was able to finish the game out in the ninth with a perfect inning.
The Braves are now 94-65 on the year and they are tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the best record in the National League. They will play the Phillies again tomorrow night at 7:35 p.m. Kris Medlen (14-12) will make his final start before the postseason while Phillies' ace Cliff Lee (14-7) will pitch.
Jason Heyward had five hits, including a homer, in the Braves' 7 to 1 victory over the Phillies on Thursday night.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
The Atlanta Braves lost again on Wednesday night to the Milwaukee Brewers, this time it was 4-0.
The Braves managed only two hits in the game that was marred by a near-brawl at the beginning. Andrelton Simmons had a hit in the first inning and Evan Gattis got a hit in the eighth inning and that about sums up the night for the Braves' offense. Kyle Lohse pitched a masterpiece for the Brewers, using only 89 pitches in the two-hit shutout.
Paul Maholm pitched seven effective innings for the Braves but suffered the loss and is now 10-11 on the year. He gave up three runs on eight hits, including a homer to Carlos Gomez, and he also struck out seven. The homer to Gomez is what almost set off a mass brawl on the field, as he ran around the bases and yelled at Maholm and Freddie Freeman before Brian McCann met him at home plate, which set off the benches clearing incident. Reed Johnson got in a few shoves to Gomez's face but that was the most of it. Freeman, Gerald Laird and Gomez were thrown out of the game.
Anthony Varvaro pitched the eighth inning and gave up two hits and a walk but no runs. Scott Downs gave up a run and two hits in the ninth before Kameron Loe came in and got the final out of the inning.
Atlanta is now 93-65 on the year. They will start their final series of the year against the Philadelphia Phillies tomorrow night at home at 7:10 p.m. Rookie David Hale (0-0) will try to have another impressive start as Tyler Cloyd (2-6) starts for Philly.
Reed Johnson (right) gets in a few shots on Carlos Gomez after Gomez hit a home run and taunted the Braves all around the bases.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
Andrelton Simmons helped the Braves come back and defeat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 on Tuesday night with a walk-off hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
The Braves' offense looked a lot better than the night before as they had ten hits in the victory. Evan Gattis led the team with three hits and he also drove in a run. Freddie Freeman had two hits and also drove in a run while Justin Upton also had two hits. Simmons had his big hit and RBI that ended the game, Dan Uggla and Jason Heyward each added a hit apiece too. They did strike out nine times though against a pitcher that isn't known for strikeouts, Uggla, Elliot Johnson and Freddy Garcia each fanned two times.
Garcia had another good outing on the mound though and with this outing he might have solidified himself a place on the postseason roster. He pitched six and two-thirds innings and gave up two runs on six hits while striking out seven men. Alex Wood came in and recorded the final out of the seventh as he continues to transition back to the bullpen. David Carpenter struck out two batters in a perfect eighth as he continues to show he is a reliable set-up man to Craig Kimbrel. Kimbrel pitched the ninth and struck out all three batters he faced, he also earned the victory and is now 4-3 on the year.
The Braves are now 93-64 on the season and kept themselves a half game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the best record in the National League. They will play their final game with the Brewers tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. Paul Maholm (10-10) will start his final game of the year against the Brewers' Kyle Lohse (10-10).
Andrelton Simmons follows through on his RBI single that drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in the Braves' 3-2 victory.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
The Atlanta Braves apparently had a little too much fun on Sunday night after clinching the NL East Division crown as they looked lifeless on Monday and were shut out by the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0.
The Braves managed only three hits in the game. Justin Upton, Andrelton Simmons and Elliot Johnson had the three hits for Atlanta. The offense struggled mightily all night, continuing their recent run of games where they can't rally anything together to score runs. Jordan Schafer did steal his 22nd base of the year, which leads the team.
Mike Minor started the game for Atlanta and did a pretty good job even though he suffered the loss and is now 13-8 on the year. He pitched seven innings and gave up three runs on eight hits, including homers to Carlos Gomez and Jonathan Lucroy. Anthony Varvaro pitched the eighth inning and fell apart for the first time in awhile. He gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits including a homer to Aramis Ramirez. The other run scored on a bizarre play that included a Simmons' throwing error that bounced off the mound all the way to the net behind home plate. Kameron Loe took the mound for the ninth inning and struck out a batter in a perfect inning.
The Braves are now 92-64 on the year and they will play the Brewers again tomorrow night at 7:10 p.m. Freddy Garcia (4-7) will start for the Braves as he tries to secure a spot on the postseason roster while Tyler Thornburg (3-1) will start for Milwaukee.
After struggling in his first few appearances with the team, Kameron Loe has put together a few good outings from the bullpen, including a scoreless inning against the Brewers on Monday night.
Photo Courtesy of Yahoo! Sports
