Atlanta Braves shutout, again, to begin post-Wren era

The Atlanta Braves were the seventh victory of the year for Francisco Liriano and the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the post-Frank Wren era begins the same way it ended – a four hit, no run performance from the one-time National League East leaders.

Freddie Freeman had himself a two hit game, while Christian Bethancourt and B.J. Upton provided single knocks themselves, but other than that, it’s goose-eggs down the box score for the rest of the offense. The lone run of the ballgame came in the top of the sixth inning, when Andrew McCutchen took Aaron Harang deep, and once he stepped on home plate, it was all but over, as the Braves offense hasn’t been able to score runs in any way, for any circumstance for quite some time.

For those of you unhappy with Wren being gone while Fredi G is still managing, like I am, tonight was a “good loss,” as it proves that Wren’s absence means nothing to this club, and the problem is elsewhere. When the front office will wake up? That’s the question to end all questions.

With the win, the Pirates remain half a game up on San Francisco for the top Wild Card spot in the NL. Only six games remain for the Braves until 2014 comes to a merciful end, and on Tuesday, it will be Alex Wood taking the bump against Gerrit Cole in a battle of rising stars.