Two Wins Against the Mets

I thought I would sum up both weekend games in this one post. Except for Friday's rain out which will be made up as part of day/night doubleheader on May 20th. We got another outstanding pitching performance from Tim Hudson. He is finally stepping up to be the ace that we envisioned him to be when we got him from the A's. Finally the bats are coming alive. Chipper had an outstanding game, getting 3 hits in his 1st 3 AB's. Kotsay might not be Andruw Jones in CF but he definitely is alittle bit better at the plate. With KJ out of the lineup, Kotsay was moved to the 2 hole and came through for us. Then magic struck, with the bases loaded and KJ at the plate, pitch hitting for the pitcher, he came through, hitting a grand slam homer to put the Braves out in front for good. The Braves ended up winning 11-5.

Tim Hudson 1-0
John Maine 0-1

Sunday's game was the matchup that we, Braves fans were dreaming about, Johan Santana v. John Smoltz, then our dreams were almost dashed due to the Friday rain out. Then on Friday night, Smoltz and Glavine talked, made the switch so Glavine will start in Colorado on Monday so Smoltz could pitch his regular turn on Sunday and we get that dream match up so early in the season, Santana v. Smoltz.

It was everything we could expected and more. Smoltz went 5 innings and held the mighty Mets bats scoreless. Santana pitched one heck of a game also. But what counts is runs on the board, he gave up a run then in the 8th with a runner on, Mark Teixeira takes one out of the park for a 2-Run Homer, he takes Heilman out for a 3-0 lead. Soriano came on in the 9th, gave up a run and held on for the save, giving Smoltz his 1st win of the season and Santana his 1st NL loss.

The bullpen seems to have found what was lacking in the 1st two or three games because they are now coming in and holding the other team.

Taking these two games against two of the Mets top starters should give our team a boost. We proved to the Mets and the rest of the NL East and league that we don't necessarily have to play long ball, we can play small ball too.

Here are my stars of the game for Sat's game:
Tim Hudson
Chipper Jones
Off the Bench: Kelly Johnson -PH Grand Slam Homer then a curtain call.

Here are my stars of the game for Sun's game:
John Smoltz-5 strong innings with 6 K's, 2 Hits and NO Runs.
Mark Teixeira-Game Winning 2 Run Homer
Bullpen-Getting done when the game seems to be on the line.

If there was one guy that I thought in the Braves bullpen that would struggle considering what their ERA was, I would say Will Ohman. Yet, he has a 0.00 ERA has two Holds and given up just 1 hit. Boyer has stepped it up.

I think we were a little hesitant about Mark Kotsay and his back trouble, well he is producing at the plate and making diving plays in the outfield. He let one fly from CF that landed one hop right in front of McCann. If he can stay healthy and continue to produce, this might be another steal, this time by Wren.

Braves are 3-3 and tied for 1st in the division.

We take our first road trip of the season out west to the Rockies before coming back east to play the Nationals again.

I will take 2 wins against the Mets any day considering we got them against their top two guys in the rotation, Maine and Santana. Good work Braves. Onward to Colorado.