Atlanta Braves Sunday Report

Well I don't think the season could have started off any worst for the Braves as they were swept by the Mets in New York. The story of each game was the Braves lack of offense which continued a trend from last September's collapse. The Braves totaled just 7 runs and 14 hits in the 3-game series but the underlying numbers were ugly. The Braves were a dismal 0-for-6 with 7 LOB in game 1. In game 2 they were 0-for-4 with 7 LOB and in game 3 they were 1-for-4 with RISP with 3 LOB. Those kinds of numbers aren't going to win very many games.

THURSDAY
---Mets
---Loss 1-0
---WP: Ramon Ramirez (1-0)
---LP: Tommy Hanson (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (1)

The Braves opened the season with a tough luck 1-0 loss. It goes down as the first 1-0 loss in a season opener in Atlanta Braves history. Tommy Hanson pitched well as he cruised through 5 innings before running into trouble in the 6th inning. After a leadoff walk Hanson gave up back-to-back singles including a RBI single to David Wright to give the Mets the 1-0 lead that would stand up. Johan Santana went 5 innings getting out of a 2-out bases loaded jam in the 5th inning by striking out Michael Bourn to end the inning. Braves rookie Tyler Pastornicky hit a triple in the 7th inning for his first ML hit. The Braves finished with a lousy 4 hits.

SATURDAY
---Mets
---Loss 4-2
---WP: R.A. Dickey (1-0)
---LP: Jair Jurrjens (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (2)

On Saturday it was more of the same for the Braves as the offense struggled to get anything going against the knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Dickey's only mistake of the game came in the 5th inning when with 2-outs he walked Michael Bourn and then Martin Prado hit a screaming 2-run homerun down the left-field line just inside the foul pole. It briefly tied the game before the Mets reclaimed the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th. The Mets hit 3 solo homeruns, 1 for David Wright and 2 for Lucas Duda. For Duda it was his first career multi-homerun game. Jair Jurrjens struggled with his command in the strike zone and failed to make it out of the 5th inning before running up a pitch count over 100 pitches. Jurrjens final line was 4 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. Jason Heyward looked good as he had 2 walks and a triple in 4 plate appearances. Juan Francisco in his Braves debut was 0-4 but hit 2 liners that were caught. Freddie Freeman had 2 singles.

SUNDAY
---Mets
---Loss 7-5
---WP: Jonathon Niese (1-0)
---LP: Mike Minor (0-1)
---S: Frank Francisco (3)

Sunday was an up and down game for the Braves. The good was the Braves took advantage of a huge error by Mets outfielder Lucas Duda and turned that into a 4-run 7th inning. The bad was that the Braves managed just 3 hits in scoring 5 runs. The good was that Mike Minor for 4 2/3 innings was really, really good. The bad was he gave up a 2-out single to opposing pitcher Jonathon Niese and then the wheels just fell off as the Mets ended up scoring 2 runs in the 5th inning to make it 4-0 at the time. Minor then returned to the hill to start the 6th inning and didn't record an out as the Mets scored 3 more runs to take a 7-0 lead. Minor was eventually charged with giving up 6 runs (all earned) on 6 hits in 5 innings with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts.

The upcoming schedule sees the Braves taking on the Astros and then returning home as the Brewers come into town on Friday.

GAME 1 - MONDAY APRIL 9TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Brandon Beachy vs. J.A. Happ

GAME 2 - TUESDAY APRIL 10TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Tommy Hanson vs. Kyle Weiland

GAME 3 - WEDNESDAY APRIL 11TH - 8:05 PM - FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Randall Delgado vs. Wandy Rodriguez

GAME 1 - FRIDAY APRIL 13TH - 7:35 PM - PEACHTREE TV, FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Randy Wolf vs. Jair Jurrjens

GAME 2 - SATURDAY APRIL 14TH - 7:10 PM - PEACHTREE TV, FOX SPORTS SOUTH
Shaun Marcum vs. Mike Minor

GAME 3 - SUNDAY APRIL 15TH - 1:35 PM - SPORTSSOUTH
Chris Narveson vs. Brandon Beachy

Atlanta Braves Season Preview

The Atlanta Braves get their season kicked off tomorrow against the Mets in New York. Tommy Hanson toes the rubber against Johan Santana. Both pitchers are working their way back from injuries.

Hanson didn't pitch after August 6th of last season coincidentally also against the Mets in New York. Santana last pitched in a regular season major league game in September of 2010. Both had shoulder injuries. Hanson used rest and rehab to recover from his injury while Santana had surgery to fix his aliment.

The Braves final 25-man roster under went several changes as the season approached. With injuries to some pitchers and under performance of other pitchers the Braves signed veteran pitchers Livan Hernandez and Chad Durbin who had been cut during spring camp by the Astros and Nationals respectively. Both pitchers will work out of the bullpen.

With Chipper Jones slated to begin the season on the DL (he's excepted to be activated and eligible to play in the home opener on April 13th) the Braves went out and traded for 3rd baseman Juan Francisco from the Cincinnati Reds. Francisco will sever as the Braves starting 3rd baseman till Chipper returns.

Tim Hudson had back surgery in November and will miss the first month of the season. Randall Delgado will take Hudson's spot in the starting rotation till he returns in May.

The big talk during the spring was who would win the starting shortstop battle, Tyler Pastornicky or Andrelton Simmons? Pastornicky ended up winning the job over Simmons simply because Simmons just wasn't quite ready. But don't be surprised if Simmons appears in Atlanta sometime this season but for now he'll start the season at Double-A Mississippi.

Here are the pitching matchups for this weekend in New York.

GAME 1 - THURSDAY APRIL 5TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Tommy Hanson vs. Johan Santana

GAME 2 - SATURDAY APRIL 7TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Jair Jurrjens vs. R.A. Dickey

GAME 3 - SUNDAY APRIL 8TH - 1:10 PM - SportsSouth
Mike Minor vs. Jonathon Niese

*All times Eastern.
**Remember to check back this Sunday and every Sunday for my Atlanta Braves Sunday Report articles.