Next for Braves: NL West-leading Padres
Series preview: vs Padres
When (TV): 7:10 p.m. Tuesday (WPCH); 7:10 p.m. Wednesday (WPCH); 1:05 p.m. Thursday (SPSO)
Radio: 680 AM, 100.5 FM
Probable starting pitchers:
Tuesday: Braves RH Jair Jurrjens (2-3, 4.75 ERA) vs. LH Wade LeBlanc (4-7, 3.30 ERA)
Wednesday: Braves RH Tommy Hanson (8-6, 4.19 ERA) vs. RH Jon Garland (9-6, 3.45 ERA)
Thursday: Braves RH Tim Hudson (9-5, 2.60 ERA) vs. LH Clayton Richard (7-4, 3.53 ERA)
Tuesday’s matchup:
• Jurrjens faces the Padres for the first time since his career-worst eight-run 3-1/3-inning outing in a 17-2 loss at Petco Park April 12. He’s 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA in three starts back since missing two months with a hamstring injury.
• LeBlanc is the fourth consecutive left-hander and fifth in six games the Braves have faced. He is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in his past four starts. This is his first meeting against the Braves in his first full season with the Padres.
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76 comments Add your comment
Chief Knockahoma
July 19th, 2010
1:31 pm
First….ok had to do it just once. Never again.
Chief Knockahoma
July 19th, 2010
1:34 pm
Going to be a tough series, but you have to like our chances against LeBlanc. Hudson should be able to hold it down against Richard. The middle game is obviously going to depend on what Tommy Hanson shows up. But I would give us a 60% chance of taking 2 of 3.
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
1:37 pm
At least we don’t have to face Latos. I hate that guy. Can’t stand him. Because I’m … Latos intolerant.
SCBrave
July 19th, 2010
1:39 pm
Jay H – I give that joke a 7.5
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
1:50 pm
Thank you. I’ll be here all week.
That's tired
July 19th, 2010
2:02 pm
Since that joke has been used many, many times, I’ll give it a 2.5
South Georgia Braves
July 19th, 2010
2:10 pm
It’ll be tough but should be. They are in first place also. I’m treating it like the first round of the playoffs.
Jay H – you should have said “I’ll be here all weak”.
JEM
July 19th, 2010
2:13 pm
This series will be the beginning of the Padre’s collapse.
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
2:22 pm
No more jokes, please. If this were the playoffs, we’d be facing Latos. In an effort to limit his innings, he won’t be pitching… combine that with a home-series, and I like Atlanta’s odds for 2 of 3.
South Georgia Braves
July 19th, 2010
2:30 pm
Chip4Prez – you are right and our pitching rotation would be different too. I was talking about two first place teams head to head. Should be a great series.
Also, we won’t have to face Josh Johnson this weekend. He pitches Thursday.
elroy
July 19th, 2010
2:31 pm
Bravos get a break in not facing latos. I am not sold on the rest of the Padres pitching staff. If Glaus & Heyward starting hitting some the Braves should take the series, possibly a sweep.
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
2:36 pm
They look good to sweep just looking at the match-ups, but sweeps are so hard, and rare statistically speaking, so I’d be surprised if they do. This is still a great match-up of 2 pitching based teams. I think Atlanta has a definite edge offensively and hopefully some of our big bats open up this weekend… Glaus, Heyward, Jones, Gonzalez…
@BravesHaiku
July 19th, 2010
2:38 pm
Padres come to town / Despite name, they will find out / Who their daddy is || @BravesHaiku
nickz
July 19th, 2010
2:47 pm
How Tommy pitches will be the key to a sweep, but I expect the Braves will take at least 2 of 3. The pitching staff’s are about equal, but we are definitely the better offensive club, so I’m thinking sweep!
cheshire
July 19th, 2010
2:48 pm
you gotta like our chances in the 1st and 3rd games. but that 2nd game, i dunno. Hanson just terrifies me at this point. i’ve lost all confidence in getting a good outing from him. hopefully he turns it around soon.
also, did we take Medlen out of the rotation? and if so, why?
nickz
July 19th, 2010
2:50 pm
The way our pitchers are pitching now…I’d like a 3 man rotation of Hudson, Jurrjens, and Medlen in the opening round of playoffs…just saying…
It’s hard to know what you’re gonna get from Hanson right now and Derek Lowe is, well, he’s Derek Lowe…
bruce
July 19th, 2010
2:50 pm
Hi Carroll… welcome back.
I believe you were on real vacation vs just a few days off… hope it was nice and refreshing.
Friarpower
July 19th, 2010
2:52 pm
Man, all you braves fans sound like the rest of the baseball
world. The padres are legit…no way you guys take 2 of 3. Did you notice all
of our starters for this week have an ERA in the 3’s? And that’s not just at petco, we have the best road ERA as well. Be warned! Padres aren’t as easy as they look!
nickz
July 19th, 2010
2:55 pm
Last time I checked, the Braves, not the Padres, had the best record in the NL. So to think we’d take 2 out of 3 from any NL team is LEGIT…
cheshire
July 19th, 2010
2:55 pm
nickz, couldn’t agree with you more. i want to see Medlen start climbing his way up this rotation, not relegated to the role of 5th starter. it doesn’t make sense, especially given how Hanson and Lowe have been this season.
a lot of time left in the season so hopefully Hanson finds his dominance again. but if the playoffs started tomorrow, i’m not sure you could trust him with a postseason start. his potential for giving up huge innings is a little troubling.
the thing that scares me about Lowe as a playoff pitcher is that it just seems like he’s incapable of holding a small lead. he does fine when you give him run support, but if he’s only up by 1 or 2 (which is very likely in the playoffs), he just seems to break down and start getting shelled. it even happened in the game yesterday – he got a small lead and had to pitch out of a jam the very next inning. then after the 3rd inning when our offense opened it up, he pitched fine. i don’t know if he just gets nervous or what, but he’s a totally different pitcher when he has to protect a slim lead.
cheshire
July 19th, 2010
2:57 pm
Friarpower, i can assure you no one thinks the Padres aren’t legit around here. But we do have a better record, and we’re playing at home. So i don’t think winning the series is that unlikely. But taking 2 of 3 from the Padres is not gonna be easy. They are a very good team.
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
3:00 pm
My understanding is that Medlen is having his innings restricted due to never having pitched more than some low # of innings in a season before.
You look stupid in that smartcar. Buy an F150 for gawd sake
July 19th, 2010
3:00 pm
Gonna be in San Diego in two weeks- may ride to LA for Dodgers vs Pares, if I can get ticks. California vacations rock. Course I live in Snellville- oddly enough I like San Diego better.
You look stupid in that smartcar. Buy an F150 for gawd sake
July 19th, 2010
3:01 pm
What happened to my d?
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
3:05 pm
Standings: Padres 54-37 = .593; Braves 54-38 = .587.
nickz
July 19th, 2010
3:08 pm
haha…stupid Padres must have gotten a win last night…pacific time is dumb
Regardless, anything less than the Braves taking 2 out of 3 against any NL Team at home would be dissapointing…
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
3:14 pm
Correct. San Diego does have a better record (by a half game) than the Braves. However, Atlanta’s home record is the best in baseball. That’s why Atlanta should be favored in this series. That and Latos is out.
Also – Medlen is out to limit his innings as he’s already on pace to pitch far more innings than he ever has in the majors.
Josh Johnson is not pitching in the Atlanta series because he is afraid… very, very afraid.
nickz
July 19th, 2010
3:16 pm
How’s the Braves record at home this year anyway…
Is 32-12 good???
SWEEP!!!!!!!
nickz
July 19th, 2010
3:17 pm
haha…beat me to my own point Chip4prez…
SDPadre
July 19th, 2010
3:18 pm
I’m really looking forward to this series. The Padres do the small things better than anybody in the league (fewest errors, 2nd in stolen bases, top ERA) but the Braves do have more offensive firepower. Should be a great 3 days of baseball.
cheshire
July 19th, 2010
3:20 pm
ah, right you are… i guess they just overtook us in the winning % category (even though they’ve played one less game than us).
but still, we’re playing at home. we win 73% of the time at home, and the Padres win 57% of the time on the road. so stastically speaking, it’s not disrespectful to pick the Braves to win this series. it’s just mathematically probable.
that being said, it will still be tough to do and anything can happen, so who knows.
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
3:21 pm
I think this series will really come down to the bullpens. SD has the best ‘pen ERA in the bigs, and I believe Atlanta is 3rd… as long as Bobby steers clear of the temptation to send Kawakami to the mound, it should be an excellent 3 days of stick ball.
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
3:21 pm
Is that how Josh Johnson protects his low ERA, by not pitching against the good teams?
cheshire
July 19th, 2010
3:21 pm
this Padres team reminds me of those early 90’s Braves teams… not a ton of offense, but just enough to win due to solid up and coming pitchers. and doing all the little things well too.
actually, they kind of remind me of this year’s Braves team.
cheshire
July 19th, 2010
3:24 pm
SDPadre, i might have to disagree with you there… we don’t have what i would call “offensive firepower”. Our offense is good, but it’s more a high OBP, timely hitting type offense. We don’t get a lot of our runs based off crushing the ball, at least not like we used to. I think these teams are very similar.
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
3:32 pm
Speaking of firepower… how about Yunel hitting his first homer of the year, a GRAND SLAM, yesterday… Meanwhile AGon went 0 – 4… Nice.
jesse james
July 19th, 2010
3:59 pm
It doesn’t matter how Escobar and Gonzalez compare in stats. The professionalism that Alex brings will benefit more than the awful body language of Escobar. He says he was misunderstood. Well when you carry on little or no conversation with your teammates in the dugout or carry yourself like you don’t care, you are not going to be misunderstood.
jj
July 19th, 2010
4:14 pm
Speaking of firepower… how about Yunel hitting his first homer of the year, a GRAND SLAM, yesterday… Meanwhile AGon went 0 – 4… Nice
AGon
BA HR RBI OBP SLG
.258 17 50 .299 .490
Esco
BA HR RBI OBP SLG
.248 1 24 .342 .303
NICE
adam
July 19th, 2010
4:15 pm
venters and cox suspended! venters for 4 games! thats bull $h:t!
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
4:19 pm
I don’t care about Alex’s 17 jacks for Toronto. I care about what he does for Atlanta. The stats go back to 0 for now… let’s see what he does from here…
Paul Ishmienob
July 19th, 2010
4:20 pm
Nobody expects the Pads to keep up their winning simply. Around Atlanta however we should not be shocked a team is winning because of good pitching; past years here have shown that if pitching is dominant (lets say average ERA ~ 3) that opportunities to score will arise. Something the Braves and Pads have done alike is pitching out of jams as starters while having solid pens to fall back on. To the point, I think SD will take the series. I’m feel like we (Braves) will have limited success due to getting guys back on track.
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
4:22 pm
Although you are right, Adam. His persona fits the Atlanta Braves clubhouse mold much better.
wjones
July 19th, 2010
4:23 pm
Chip4Prez
“July 19th, 2010
4:19 pm
I don’t care about Alex’s 17 jacks for Toronto. I care about what he does for Atlanta. The stats go back to 0 for now… let’s see what he does from here…”
The stats DO go to zero–same number as Yunel’s homer total for US. Did you care about that?
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
4:28 pm
Surely they will appeal Venters’ suspension (assuming this is a reliable report). No one has offered any motivation for intent.
Catherine
July 19th, 2010
4:33 pm
I know this is a little off topic Jay H., can anyone suggest a good website to find boats for sale by owner in Atlanta?
vermont 39
July 19th, 2010
4:33 pm
Yunel is old news…it’s like watching what Tex, JD Drew, or Elvis Andrus do everyday AND SIGHING…so what…let’s just focus on who we are and what we have to do!!!
GO BRAVES
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
4:34 pm
WJONES – Of course I do… c’mon… But we gave up a lot of raw talent in Yunel:
How soon we forget…
2009 26 ATL NL 141 604 528 89 158 26 2 14 76 5 4 57 62 .299 .377 .436 .812 116 230 21 10 7 2 3 *6 MVP-20
Team MVP last year. Hit .363 with RISP last season. Highest average on team with RISP. Just eager to see what Alex does for us this year to justify this trade. Until then, we can’t judge or evaluate the success of the trade.
Better numbers than Alex career-wise, though Ale
Chip4Prez
July 19th, 2010
4:35 pm
*Alex is having a career year. Let’s hope that streak continues into the second half.
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
4:35 pm
Atlanta Braves reliever Jonny Venters was suspended four games and manager Bobby Cox earned a one-game suspension from Major League Baseball after it determined Venters intentionally threw at Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder in Saturday night’s game.
Cox cannot appeal his suspension and will serve it Tuesday night when the Braves open a series against San Diego. Venters has the option to appeal his suspension.
MLB officials heeded the word of Brewers manager Ken Macha, who demanded a Venters suspension after Fielder was hit in the back Saturday.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/07/braves-jonny-venters-suspended-four-games-for-throwing-at-prince-fielder/1
Jay H.
July 19th, 2010
4:36 pm
Just stick with craigslist, cath
adam
July 19th, 2010
4:40 pm
with venters out i hope dunn can answer the bell when it comes to getting adrian out this week.
Chip Shot
July 19th, 2010
4:41 pm
glad to see mclouth back for this game. lets see what he can do so wren can get an idea if we need another bat or not.
Joe West
July 19th, 2010
5:38 pm
“collapse of the padres”
i sure hope not… i hate every other team in the NL west
The Lemmer
July 19th, 2010
10:51 pm
Bravos will expose the Padres, 2 of 3 for Boobys boys, more talent & at home
Friarpower
July 19th, 2010
11:43 pm
Padres take 2 out of 3. Braves probably take the game vs garland…he’s been
iffy on the road. But nonetheless, great series coming up. Pads need to start making the rest of the country believe in them. And the chargers are better than the falcons so….
jj
July 20th, 2010
2:16 am
Hey,my man Yunel hit another one tonite.I wonder if the difference is where he is hitting in the batting order.He is where he belongs at the top of the order instead of buried at the bottom where BC stuck him.I wonder if hitting in front of Wells instead of #8 hitters is helping him.I wonder how Chipper would do hitting down there?Bobby is a genious at getting what he wants and I wonder if Infante will be back on the bench because Chipper is again ready to play?I can’t believe a player like our new ss make so little when he has been around awhile and players like KJ and MD make much more and they haven’t done as much.I can’t wait to see how much our 2 (two) all-stars make next year.When the least paid are doing what the much paid is not doing,maybe somebody should kind of reverse the pay scale and reward the producers.YE was due to finally get paid next year so he was shipped for a player that will be making less,(should be making more),and after next year we will have another minimum wage ss to replace him.If KJ had not gotten hurt,Prado would still be labeled as a utility man as Infante is now and making less money.What a system…..GO BRAVES
Blaze
July 20th, 2010
8:42 am
Is Venters out? Was there an appeal?
On Escobar…..There should be no doubt how obvious it was that he didn’t fit in with what was going on! Anybody that has played any length of baseball will tell you how important it is for the chemistry to be there on a team. If you don’t agree…..well you probably don’t play team ball of any kind. Don’t know how true but I heard that they even tried twice or more to get Yunel to learn the English language. Helped him by lining up instructors to help. He didn’t try then and he probably won’t with Toronto.
He is a great talent that might even put up some great numbers with Toronto for a little while until things unravel there too. Maybe, just maybe…..this was a wake-up call for him and he can turn this attitude thing around. I have my doubts though. I do wish him well and did enjoy some great defensive moments!
All Gonzalez needs to do is play good defense and get a few timely hits that matter. I think it will all work out for the Bravos!
Go Braves and take one game at a time!
Chief Pitchanono
July 20th, 2010
9:36 am
Yunel will most likely go on to have a good career and most people will probably look back on this trade as a dumb one for the Braves, but because the Braves are a first place team again and looking like a strong contender in the playoffs, Yunel doesn’t fit in here anymore. He is in a low pressure situation now in Toronto and will probably thrive on a cellar dweller team and his mistakes will largely go unnoticed by most of us, but if he stayed here it would be totally different for the next few months, everything he would do or didn’t do would get magnified as we get into the stretch run and he seems to be so immature at this point that the Braves knew he could not handle it. I think the Braves avoided a disaster waiting to happen down the road when one of his many mental mistakes ending up costing them the game during the stretch run or the playoffs. Wren knows that no matter what a players upside, on a first place team their is no room for laziness or lack of focus. Simply, Escobar’s Braves team grew up before he could.
bigboi
July 20th, 2010
9:54 am
Yunel hit another bomb yesterday and is playing steller defense. Just what were we thinking? or maybe it’s TP’s fault……
stevie
July 20th, 2010
10:18 am
Padres are Braves wannabes. Padres can’t handle the Chop, Bravos take all three easily. Padres- go back home to Queerrs and earthquakes.
DawgDad
July 20th, 2010
10:25 am
Not pitching a young pitcher (Latos or Medlen) to limit their innings artificially is about the most stupid thing I’ve heard of in baseball in years, right up there with the DH and All-Star Game home field advantage. Put them in rotation, assess their recovery time, monitor their performane and arm strength, and adjust on that basis. There’s no law that says a pitcher can’t pitch 250 or 350 innings, with or without prior experience. For these guys we’re probably talking 200 or under, barely a full season for a starter.
Medlen needs to be pitching in the rotation. Right now, who’s better? You want another reliever put Lowe back in the bullpen.
I suspect this is all about the influence of player agents on the players and team conduct.
Blackberry Cobbler
July 20th, 2010
10:32 am
Braves looked not-so-good against the Brew-Crew. Offense struggled in 3 of the 4 games and the pitching (Hanson and Lowe) questionable.
The Braves need to pick it up a bit. Winning 2 of 3 from the Padres would keep the momentum going. Losing 2/3 would, I think, send a message that this team ain’t all it’s cracked up to be and Wren better do some more dealing.
If you can’t take 2/3 from the Padres at home, how you gonna convince folks that this team is worthy of the post season? It all starts right now.
Ted M
July 20th, 2010
10:49 am
Matt Diaz goes 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI tonight
Ted M
July 20th, 2010
10:52 am
Congrats to Yunel’s for his hot start however he would not be doing this for the Braves had he stayed.
Ted M
July 20th, 2010
10:56 am
I really like Infante, his play and his attitude but I don’t understand why he can’t speak English. This is his 9th season in the majors.
jack
July 20th, 2010
11:09 am
why do you people keepsaying we need a power hitting left fielder, we already have one
bigboi
July 20th, 2010
11:38 am
I don’t think alot of the players that played for Montreal back in the day spoke French either.
dennis gavin
July 20th, 2010
11:42 am
Let Venters serve his time and get it over with, This way Padres never see him and when and if they face off in playoffs Venters can show his stuff then.
Daybed Wagmoe
July 20th, 2010
11:45 am
Will McLouth start against a lefty tonight?
Let It Ride Mike
July 20th, 2010
11:57 am
Letter A jersey lies torn
Tomahawks broken
Mighty Friars impose will
Ross
July 20th, 2010
12:37 pm
Team of girls from the west
Falls on harder times
Inside pitches scare them off
Dorothy Davis
July 20th, 2010
12:38 pm
Could we put a different head on Tommy Hanson tonight? He has the stuff, but no confidence in it. Maybe a shrink would help.
Carroll Rogers
July 20th, 2010
12:41 pm
Dorothy, Hanson is scheduled for tomorrow night. It’s Jurrjens tonight.
Jay H.
July 20th, 2010
12:48 pm
Any word, Carroll, on whether Venters appeals?
Catherine
July 20th, 2010
4:19 pm
Thanks, another good website for boats for sale by owner in Atlanta is http://www.acewebads.com
Catherine
July 27th, 2010
4:12 pm
A good website to find an apartment for rent in Atlanta is http://www.acerenting.com