Kimbrel Blows Game in Ninth

The Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins remained in a close battle on Thursday night, before Craig Kimbrel came in and gave up the game in the ninth and the Marlins won 4-3 on the 4th of July.

The Braves got seven hits in the game. Brian McCann had two hits and an RBI to lead the Braves' offense, Andrelton Simmons also added two hits in the game. Freddie Freeman added a hit that drove in two runs as the Braves did all their scoring in the first inning and were shutout after that. Jason Heyward and Chris Johnson each had a hit in the loss as the Braves continue to play poorly against teams that they should be beating.

Julio Teheran struggled through five innings on Thursday night but didn't factor into the decision. He gave up three runs on six hits and struck out seven in the game. David Carpenter and Luis Avilan combined to pitch the next two innings perfectly. Jordan Walden bounced back from his last appearance an pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Kimbrel came in for the ninth and did his usual act of letting men get on base, but this time he couldn't get out of his self-made jam. He gave up a run on a hit and two walks, but struck out three men. He suffered the loss and is now 2-2 on the year.

The Braves are now 49-36 on the season. They will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Phillies tomorrow night at 7:05 p.m. and to start a three-game weekend series. Tim Hudson (4-7) will start for the Braves against the Phillies' Cliff Lee (9-2). Also in Braves' news, they placed Jordan Schafer on the 15 day disabled list and recalled Joey Terdoslavich from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game. Terdoslavich, who struck out in his first Major League at-bat in the game, was batting .318 in Gwinnett with eighteen home runs and 58 RBI's.

Jason Heyward scores one of the Braves' three runs in their 4-3 loss to the Marlins on the night of the 4th of July.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press