Atlanta Braves Edge Phillies, Boost Confidence!
Atlanta Braves‘ fans, I know what you’re thinking after tonight’s game on the eve of Independence Day. Man, we barely beat the Philadelphia Phillies, clearly one of the worst teams in baseball!
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I won’t make you suffer me talking about how a win is a win is a win, but I will argue that this victory was more of a boost than it appeared.
Jonny Gomes hasn’t exactly wowed fans this year with his sub-Mendoza line, .192 BA, three homers (now 4), 11 RBI line. His 2nd inning home run off of Adam Morgan was a boost for loyal fans who still believe Jonny has something to offer down the stretch.
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Juan Uribe also homered off Adam Morgan in the 7th for the 2nd run. Although Uribe has been a considerably better hitter than Gomes, doubling up on homers in the game against a tough pitcher has to be a boost for the Atlanta Braves!
Adam Morgan is no slouch. I saw him pitch for Alabama, and he was no slouch then, and no slouch now. Although the 25-year-old rookie was making just his 2nd start in the bigs, he faced Atlanta Braves’ batters sporting an excellent 1.59 ERA. He was also coming off his first impressive win against the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.
Morgan went just 5.2 innings against the Cardinals, and allowed six hits, but gave up just one earned run in the Phillies 9-2 victory on June 21st. That score alone is one reason for a boost for the Braves, as even the basement dwelling Phillies can step it up and play against one of the toughest teams in the NL behind a good pitcher. If St. Louis succumbed to that, then the 2-1 victory tonight is a boost indeed!
Another boost was the pitching effort of Julio Tehran. With a 4.94 ERA coming into tonight’s game, Julio has indeed struggled with command and pitch selection issues, but he was on task this evening! Teheran ended his evening with a line of 7 innings pitched, giving up just one run on seven hits, and striking out four Phillies’ batters. He struggled at times with some command tonight as well but got the job done. Boost!
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I’ve loved watching the Atlanta Braves play this year. In recent years, fans have grown spoiled with the home run, but this team is an ABC, fundamental, small-ball kind of team.
As a team, they’ve hit pretty well. They’ve gotten more hitters on base than any fan thought they would pre-season, and things are starting to come together in the starting rotation and bullpen. Baby steps!
As I mentioned in my recent Freddie Freeman Injury Update, with 9 more games to play before the All-Star break, we’ll face 7 of those games on the road, but all games are against teams that are struggling to get out of the basement in their collective divisions, including the Philadelphia Phillies in the current homestand. That easier schedule is another boost!
A 2-1 edge may not seem like much, and indeed the Atlanta Braves need to pick up their team hitting that has suffered in the last 10+ games. I remain confident in this team’s ability to shock baseball writers. Trust me – this win is a boost for the team, and should be a boost for fans!