Controversy Ruins Teixeira's return to Texas

Tuesday marked Mark Teixeira's first game back in Arlington, a place he played in for five years before being traded to the Braves last summer. While he may have caught up with some old teammates, for the rest of the Braves, their 7-5 loss was a bit of a disappointment. Tim Hudson gave up six runs in one of his worst outings of the year, but the run total is a little misleading when you consider a controversial call in the third inning that if ruled in the Braves favor would have resulted in a total of three runs instead of five for the Rangers at that point. The extra two runs become even more important when you consider Brian McCann’s three run homer in the eighth inning would have forced extra innings. Alas, it was not meant to be for Atlanta. Hopefully, they’ll be able to take the frustration from Tuesday night and pour into the next two games in Texas.

The game also marked Rangers catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia first game against his former team. The match-up afforded him some time to catch-up with some of his old teammates, although he says he has kept in touch with a couple of Braves players, "I've been talking to Chuck James and Jo-Jo [Reyes]," Saltalamacchia said. "I've called Frenchy [Francoeur] and Mac [McCann] a few times, but they don't answer and don't call back. Typical. I've texted Chipper a couple of times." Jarrod did not play on Tuesday.

News&Notes: The Braves can get some needed bullpen help soon, when Mike Gonzalez rejoins the team on Wednesday...Completely random, but it is interesting to note that the entire NL East Division lost on Tuesday night. Click here for the up-to-date standings.

It's been fun blogging with you,

Kate