Braves avoid sweep

The Braves held off a sweep without their starting left side of the infield. Chipper Jones, who is still hampered by a quad injury, missed his fifth straight start, while Yunel Escobar was out with an injured shoulder. I guess it was a good thing he got thrown out of Tuesday’s game because he didn’t have a chance to injure his shoulder even more. Omar Infante subbed for Escobar, but left in the second inning with an injury of his own and was replaced by Brent Lillibridge, who proved to be a worthy replacement, getting his first career double in the eighth inning off of Mitch Stetter.

Jorge Campillo was brilliant allowing just two runs over seven innings, while Kelly Johnson contributed two hits and drove in three runs in the Braves 4-2 victory over the Brewers. The win gave Atlanta a 3-3 record in their short, six game home stand. They’ll now head way north to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays for their final interleague series of the regular season. Chipper Jones hopes to contribute as a designated hitter for the series and with the extra day off between games, hopefully he will.

Meanwhile, I was just talking with my friend yesterday about the Braves mounting injuries. Just rolling off those on the DL, Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Rafael Soriano, Mark Kotsay, Matt Diaz, Martin Prado and of course Mike Hampton, I couldn't believe how many names were spewing from my mouth. So it really came as no surprise that another Braves player came up limping yesterday afternoon. What is surprising is that the injuries aren't the real reason the Braves are 4 games out; it's their play especially in one-run situations that’s killing them. It's been nice to see that the team has begun to show life in the closing innings like on Tuesday when Mark Teixeira belted a two run homer in the ninth, but once again they came up a little short. In my mind they're ability to make the playoffs will rely more-so on their tenacity as a team, than their mounting injuries. Make no mistake about it, losing 3/5 of your projected rotation is painful, but leaving men on base, especially in scoring position, hurts more.

News&Notes: Congrats to Mississippi Brave Tommy Hanson on throwing a no-hitter on Wednesday. The 21 year old right hander recorded 14 strikes on the way to recording a no-no, which was the first in Mississippi Braves history...The Braves have signed six of their top 10 draft picks...Mark Kotsay is expected to be activated from the DL in time for the Braves series against the Phillies.

It's been fun blogging with you,
Kate