The Atlanta Braves entered Friday night’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals a bit shorthanded. President of Baseball OperationsJohn Hartmade the first of potentially many deals before the trade deadline, sending both UTKelly Johnsonand 3BJuan Uribeto the New York Mets for two Minor League pitching prospects. So Atlanta only had three bench players available this evening.
-= Related:Atlanta Braves Head to Arch City to Plan MLB Best Cardinals=-
Manny Banuelosdidn’t have a great start for the Atlanta Braves. He was consistently up in the zone and over the plate with his fastball and change-up. Banuelos allowed 4 ER on 6 hits and 3 walks in 5+ innings pitched. But given the limited resources on the Atlanta bench tonight, Manny had to go a little longer today than he probably should have. Remember he is on an innings limit coming offTommy Johnsurgery.
Offensively the Atlanta Braves could only muster 2 runs on 6 hits in their4-2defeat to the St. Louis Cardinals. A.J. Pierzynski andAndrelton Simmonsboth had two hits apiece. The other two hits belonged toCameron MaybinandNick Markakis. I’ll give the Cardinals pitching staff credit for the win, as they are the best all-around staff in baseball. But the Atlanta Braves need to find a way to manufacture runs to stay competitive in this road series.
A bright spot this evening for the Atlanta Braves was again the effectiveness of the bullpen, allowing no runs in three innings of work. Sure,David Aardsma‘s attempted toss toJoey Terdoslavichat first in the sixth inning was ugly. And I didn’t enjoyJason Frasor‘s two walks and a hit in 0.1 inning. But the Braves bullpen managed to put out its own fire tonight to keep the team in the game until the final at bat.
More from Atlanta Braves
- Atlanta Braves: Felix Has Already Shown Enough to Win a Rotation Spot
- Atlanta Braves Implode Late To Phillies, Cole Hamels Remains Sidelined
- Kyle Wright Shines As Folty Struggles In Atlanta Braves Loss To Red Sox
- Atlanta Braves: Grapefruit League Play Check Up
- Sean Newcomb’s Up & Down Day Against The Orioles
I understand that John Hart will likely make more trades between now and next Friday, but I feel that today’s trade with the New York Mets really handicapped the options forFredi Gonzaleztonight. When he’s got a decent bench to mix and match with, he’s had success. Today’s trade put a lot of stress on Banuelos to go deeper into the ball game than initially anticipated.
Tomorrow night’s game has the makings of a great pitchers’ duel between 2015 NL All-StarsShelby MillerandCarlos Martinez. Martinez has the better record on the year, but Miller has the lower ERA. Expect a low scoring affair in a game that should go down to the wire. Looking for a win tomorrow, Go Braves!
Next: Julio Teheran: Are The Atlanta Braves Going to Move Him?
More fromATL All Day
- Atlanta Braves: Felix Has Already Shown Enough to Win a Rotation Spot
- Atlanta Braves Implode Late To Phillies, Cole Hamels Remains Sidelined
- Kyle Wright Shines As Folty Struggles In Atlanta Braves Loss To Red Sox
- Atlanta Hawks Sweep Back-to-Back Games Over Weekend
- Atlanta Braves: Grapefruit League Play Check Up
Add us as a preferred source onGoogleLoading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations