Atlanta Braves

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tropicana Field is the closest major league stadium to Chipper Jones’ hometown of Pierson, Fla., and plenty of folks will make the trip southwest to St. Petersburg this weekend to see the pride of Pierson play his last scheduled series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“I’ve got my people coming tomorrow [Saturday], probably upwards of 100,” the Braves third baseman said prior to Friday’s interleague series opener. “It’s nice to be able to get back fairly close to my hometown so some of the people can come down and watch me play.

“It’s 3, 3-1/2 hours. They’re getting a big 50-seat bus and bringing it down, tailgating, all kind of stuff. So if you hear a bunch of rednecks up in the rafters, that’s my crew.”

Jones laughed. He was thrilled they wanted to come see him, and proud they could see him still playing at such a high level, at age 40, in his final season before his planned retirement.

He had a .306 average with five homers and 24 RBIs in 27 games before …

Continue reading Fla. native Chipper’s “people” to turn out en masse Saturday »

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Any day is a pretty good day when there’s reason to discuss Greg Maddux, and so today is a good day, 5:30 a.m. alarm be damned.

We can thank Brandon Beachy for bringing the great “Mad Dog” into the discussion. For with the five-hit shutout that Beachy threw Thursday against the Marlins, he moved into some select early season company that includes Maddux.

Beachy hugs catcher Brian McCann after throwing a five-hit shutout against Miami on Thursday.

Beachy, with a 1.33 ERA in eight starts, is just the third Atlanta Brave to post a sub-1.50 ERA in his first eight starts in a season. The others were Maddux (1.13 in ’94) and the guy with the splendid, cinematic-sounding name, Buzz Capra (1.06 in ’74). Actually, the name sounds more like the character of a columnist writing on baseball in a black-and-white movie.

But anyway … yes, every couple of decades or so for the Bravos, along comes a Buzz, a Mad Dog or a Beachy blazing out of the gate.

Or, as someone so …

Continue reading Beachy running with big dogs, including Mad Dog »

Brandon Beachy scattered only five hits in his first career shutout and complete game victory in a 7-0 win over the Miami Marlins. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Carroll Rogers reports.

Continue reading Video: Beachy Cruises as Braves Blank Marlins »

BRANDON BEACHY

On Gonzalez not needing to even ask how he felt about ninth:

“It means a lot. They’ve noticed what I’m trying to do and they’re giving me the opportunities. I really appreciate that.”

On wanting to go deeper in games:

“Yeah that’s about as deep as you can go. I was pretty pleased. It was fun.”

On what it feels like to walk off the mound, game over:

“I told Craig. Man, I’m jealous. You get to do this all the time. You get pumped up there in the last inning. That’s a lot of fun.”

On if had to talk his way back out there:

“No, they gave me the opportunity and I wasn’t about to say I didn’t want it.”

On if felt as strong as he looked in ninth:

“Yeah, I felt good. I was throwing my pitches down in the zone still. I made some good ones there, actually a backup slider to get the first guy so that wasn’t the best pitch but I’ll take the result all day.”

On the key to going deeper this year:

“I’ve been more aggressive. Even when I’m getting behind in the count, I’m not …

Continue reading Braves postgame quotes following 7-0 win vs. Marlins »

Series preview: Braves at Rays

When (TV): 7:10 p.m. Friday (WPCH), 4:10 p.m. Saturday (WPCH), 1:40 p.m. Sunday (SPSO).

Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5

Probable starting pitchers:

Friday: Braves RH Tommy Hanson (4-3, 3.43 ERA) vs. RH James Shields (6-1, 3.52)

Saturday: Braves RH Randall Delgado (2-3, 3.79) vs. RH Alex Cobb (3-2, 3.42 in 2011)

Sunday: Braves RH Tim Hudson (2-1, 3.96) vs. LH David Price (6-2, 3.10)

About the Braves:

Batting: Martin Prado was 16-for-34 (.471) with five doubles and two strikeouts during an eight-game hitting streak before Thursday…. Michael Bourn was 52-for-139 (.374) with 25 runs, 10 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in his past 32 games before Thursday, including a .386 average with seven extra-base hits and a .463 on-base percentage in 16 road games…. Jason Heyward was 10-for-50 (.200) in 14 May games before Thursday, albeit with six extra-base hits (three homers) and 10 RBIs.

Pitching: Hanson is 3-1 with a 3.25 ERA in his past five starts, with one or …

Continue reading Series preview: Braves at Rays »

Vivlamore reporting from Turner Field with your Braves report.

The Braves will put Jason Heyward in center field again – but it won’t be for a while.

After his first ever action in center field at the major-league level, Heyward will once again make way for Michael Bourn.

“It was fun,” Heyward said of the assignment. “I feel I can play every position in the outfield. … The more I play, I’ll feel more comfortable. That was just to give Mike B a day off. We came in today, (Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez) was like ‘I’ll see you in another 30 days.’”

Heyward had three put outs. He broke back on one fly ball before racing in and making the catch. Gonzalez said he was pleased with Heyward’s defense in center.

“We have to do it,” Gonzalez said of giving Bourn a rest. “Bourn uses his legs. That’s his weapon, one of his top skills. We’ve got to give him a breather every once in a while.”

* Gonzalez said execution was the issue when the Braves allowed a double steal in the fifth inning …

Continue reading Heyward to return to center field – but not for a while »

Vivlamore reporting from Turner Field with your Braves report.

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez joked his team must have done something to anger Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

The Braves drew the American League East in interleague play this season which means series against the Yankees (two), the Rays, Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays.

“I don’t like it this year,” quipped Gonzalez of interleague play which begins Friday. “Did you see the schedule?”

The Braves open with a three-game series against Tampa Bay.

While Gonzalez knows baseball fans appreciate interleague play, and for that reason the notion is growing on him, he would like to make one change. He would adjust the designated hitter rule to be used when an American League team visits a National League city. That way, NL fans can see a game with the designated hitter and AL fans can see a game and different strategy when the pitcher must bat.

For the players, even going into its 16th season, interleague play …

Continue reading Braves begin tough interleague schedule against Rays »

Vivlamore reporting from Turner Field with your Braves report.

The linescore was ugly, no doubt.

However, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said don’t read too much into the numbers from Jair Jurrjens’ Triple-A outing Wednesday.

Jurrjens allowed 12 hits and 11 runs (10 earned) in 4-2/3 innings against Buffalo.

Gonzalez had the benefit of reading the team’s internal report on the outing from the G-Braves manager Dave Brundage and pitching coach Marty Reed.

“To paraphrase, they misplayed some balls behind him and one got misplayed and became an inside-the-park home run,” Gonzalez said. “He pitched better than what his numbers show. It was just one of those games.

“The slider was good. The separation between the change-up and the fastball was good.”

Jurrjens is 2-1 with a 5.06 ERA in four starts with the G-Braves, including Wednesday’s rough outing.

Gonzalez said there has been no issue with Jurrjens’ health. Jurrjens missed the second half of last season with a bad right knee. He …

Continue reading Gonzalez: Jurrjens outing not as bad as numbers look »

(Staff writer Carroll Rogers is filling in for David O’Brien today.)

Lot of questions flying about what the Braves should or will do about Mike Minor, who is now 2-3 with a 7.09 ERA in eight starts this season. He

Minor has given up 6-plus runs in four straight starts

gave up six runs in 4 2/3 innings in an 8-4 loss to the Marlins last night, to fall to 0-2 with an 11.95 ERA in his past four starts.

Minor has allowed 27 earned runs in his past 20 2/3 innings. This is after showing such promise in a three-game stretch while going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA.

All I can tell you about what happens next is the impression I got from manager Fredi Gonzalez last night, and that’s the Braves plan to be patient with Minor and keep running him out there, at least for now.

Here was his response when asked about the trouble Minor ran into after being nearly perfect his first time through the order.

“It’s kind of a little complex,” Gonzalez said of Minor’s big-inning problems. “He is getting …

Continue reading Braves practicing patience with Minor »

MIKE MINOR

On what happened second time through:

“I gave up a couple hits, got out of rhythm, was making non-competitive pitches and they hit them.”

On if things compounded after a while:

“Yeah a little bit. I threw a curveball to (Bonifacio) on the groundball to Francisco….It could have been a big break for me if that was a double play and it went the other way. After that I gave up a couple more hits. It just kept on going. They kept getting more hits and runs. That’s what good teams do.”

On if felt any different second time through:

“I felt good the first time through and then the next time through I felt like my secondary pitches, I threw a lot in dirt, they weren’t even competitive right out of the hand, already too low to even bite at. I felt like I threw pretty much all my offspeed pitches the second time through just like that. It’s easy for them to sit back and wait on a good pitch and hit it, when I can’t throw anything over the plate that’s offspeed….and then my …

Continue reading Braves postgame quotes following Wednesday’s loss to Marlins »