Kris Medlen, Braves Ready for Cardinals

Tomorrow evening, the Atlanta Braves will take the field in one of their biggest games in two years. Two years ago is the last time the Braves made the playoffs, it was legendary manager Bobby Cox's final season. They fell short of sending Cox out on top though, losing in the first round.
This year, the Braves have another legend taking one last shot at a World Series ring. Third baseman Chipper Jones and company will play the Cardinals tomorrow in a one-or-be-done game, and he is hoping the Braves go a little further than when Cox retired. Lucky for him, the Braves have one of their best weapons pitching tomorrow night.
Kris Medlen will start for the Braves after going 10-1 this year with a 1.57 ERA. He started the year out in the bullpen, and that is where he suffered his only loss of the year. After he moved to the rotation, Medlen made 12 starts and went 9-0 with a 0.97 ERA. Those numbers are unheard of for pitchers these days, especially when he set a major league record with 23 straight wins when he starts a game for Atlanta.
But Medlen made one thing clear during his pregame interview on Thursday. He told reporters he didn't accomplish those spectacular stats alone. "It's not me by myself," Medlen said, "I've given up four or five runs in a start, and guys pull it out for me...it's a team thing." He is exactly right, it is a team thing. The Braves not only need Medlen to pitch outstanding, as he has all year, they need a few other things too. They need the bats to come alive. They need the gloves to make great catches. They need no errors or mental mistakes on the field.
Now the Braves had success against the Cardinals this season, playing them six times and winning five of them. They have Medlen on the mound. They even announced that David Ross would replace All-Star Brian McCann in the lineup for the fact Ross is just playing that much better right now and McCann is a little banged up. Manager Fredi Gonzalez is making the moves he needs to, but the Braves still need to play a near perfect game to beat the Cardinals and move on to the Division Series.
Overall, the Braves have a lot of signs pointing in their favor. They are even playing in Atlanta, so having the home crowd behind them will give them more motivation. Whatever ends up being the best thing about tomorrow, Medlen having a great game, winning one for Chipper, home-field advantage, or the bats finally coming to life, the Braves will pull this one out and move to the next round.

Kris Medlen knows the Braves have to play great as a team to win tomorrow.
Photo Courtesy of sports.yahoo.com