Atlanta beat up on Roy Halladay this afternoon. They scored three in the first and four in the second and coasted from there to an 8-2 win over Philadelphia. Freddy Freeman accounted for the three runs in the first with his 21 home run of the season. Jason Heyward went 2 for 4 with 4 runs batted in and raised his average to a respectable .273. Mike Minor picked up the win to even his record at 10-10. Atlanta sits 5.5 back of Washington as the season winds down. The division title is out of the question. The wild card berth? The magic number to clinch a spot in that winner take all, 163rd game of the season is 3. It could come as soon as Monday if the Braves win and the Brewers lose. Atlanta has announced that Kris Medlen will get the start in that game. You can’t argue with the choice. He’s been hot lately. You can argue all day about the merits of this extra game, but Chipper Jones is not a fan. He called it dumb, then acknowledged the reasons why MLB and the fans wanted it in the first place. It stokes interest, keeps a lot of teams going. Then, in the next breath, he said he wished it was there last season. (The Red Sox Nation feels the same way, so don’t feel bad). Anyway, Chipper just passed Lou Gehrig on the all-time hit list. As he finishes his farewell tour, writers keep asking if he might come back for another season. After all, there’s been no drop off in his production. The answer is the same to everyone. The game itself is fine, it’s everything outside of it (the nagging injuries, etc.) that he could do without. I honestly believe he’s serious, but who knows what will happen when late January rolls around.

After losing 2 of 3 to Washington in a critical series, Atlanta jetted off to San Francisco for their last West Coast swing of the year (and, presumably, Chipper Jones’ last West Coast swing as an active player). The Braves lost last night, but came back this afternoon and beat up on the Giant bullpen in a 7-3 win. Jason Heyward hit home run number 23, a three-run job that took the wind out of Madison Bumgarner’s sails. Heyward’s average stands at a respectable .278. Mike Minor made the lead hold up until he turned it over to the bullpen. After an awful start, his record now stands at 7-10. Atlanta finishes the set with the ESPN game tomorrow night before heading down to San Diego. Washington’s lead in the NL East stands at 6. There is one more month of the season, but things are rapidly reaching the point of no return. It might be time for Atlanta to focus on the wildcard. In a random note, Ben Sheets went on the 15-day disabled list with inflammation in his right shoulder. He won his first three starts, but since he’s gone 1-3 and was beaten up in yesterday’s loss to the Giants. There goes the six man rotation. Miguel Batista will fill his roster spot. He was called up from Triple-A and joined the big league club today. Batista has been around the block a few times. He’s 41 years old, so Chipper is no longer the oldest Brave on the active roster.

The Braves just finished off a home stand with a particularly ugly 5-0 loss to the Dodgers. They only got three hits, a total which is only one more than the number of balls that Jason Heyward lost in the sun. It was 1-0 after six, but the Dodgers struck for 1 in the 8th, and 3 in the ninth to blow open a close game. (The dropped balls by Heyward aided in the scoring). This wasted a good showing by Mike Minor. He only allowed one run, but it was enough to get the loss and drop his record to 6-10 for the year. Chad Billingsley handcuffed Atlanta. He picked up his sixth consecutive wins. The last Dodger to do that was Kevin Brown nine years ago. Atlanta can be forgiven if they were looking ahead. They jet off to Washington for a crucial series before heading to the West Coast for a week. The Nats are still ahead in the East by a comfy 5 games. It seems every time the Braves shave a couple of games from the total, the Braves lose a few and it goes back up to five. In this big series the Braves will send Tim Hundson, Paul Maholm, and Kris Medlin. Fredi Gonzalez is apparently serious about using a six man rotation for the next month. That could save the arms, but I’m concerned about the bullpen and the offense. Hope the bats get packed for the trip.

Paul Maholm notched his first win in an Atlanta uniform with a 4-0 win over the Mets. The runs came from 2 homers, one by Jason Heyward and the other from Dan Uggla. They were both of the 2-run variety, and Maholm made it stand up. He threw 95 pitches in the complete game gem, giving up 3 hits, striking out five, and walking none. Very efficient indeed. It saved the bullpen for the rest of the series in Queens. Now Atlanta is scoreboard watching as the Nationals play in the desert at Arizona. The Nats have won 6 straight and have stretched the lead in the East to four. Atlanta is doing better against the NL East. Every time I turn around, they’re beating a fellow team. They have a 28-18 mark, which is markedly better than last season. They used to lose regularly to the lesser lights in the standings, (the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins). This year, the tables have turned. Not only that, but those three have fallen to the back of pack. It looks like it’ll be a four-team race for the wildcard, with the Braves fighting with Pittsburh, St. Louis, and the loser of the San Francisco-Los Angeles fight in the West.

This has been a pretty good homestand for the Braves. After a sweep of the Phils, Atlanta took 3 of 4 from Miami. The last one came courtesy of tonight’s 6-1 win. Atlanta moves to 6-1 on their homestand and are 8-1 in their last nine. The only drama came due to the weather. One of the South’s classic pop-up summer thunderstorms hit in the third, delaying the game for about 45 minutes. That ended starter Mike Minor’s night. He pitched well in his abbreviated start, allowing two hits and no runs. Since the start of June, he’s 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA. But, let’s be honest, the rain just delayed things. The Braves got their runs early (scoring 3 in the first two frames) and coasted from there for the win. And it only gets better. Houston comes calling for the weekend. That’s the worst team in baseball Astros. The team so bad that they will soon be kicked out of the National League. (They’re going to the American League, not Triple-A, which would be fitting). The Nats lead is only 2.5 in the East. This could be the weekend where they make their move. Random note. The paly of Paul Janish is exactly what the Braves were looking for. He’s done well fortifying the shortstop position while the Braves wait for Andrelton Simmons (remember him?) to return from a broken hand. He’s about two weeks away, but he should get his cast off this weekend. When he does return, it’ll give the Braves some thought as to who will play when they have two quality shortstops.

Ben Sheets did it again. He gave up one run in six innings as the Braves downed Philly 6-1. He scattered six hits, strucks out four and walked run as he ran his mark in Atlanta to 3-0. He lowered his ERA to .5 and the opposing batting average to a miniscule .200. The good times can’t last forever, so it’s best to enjoy the ride. The win is Atlanta’s third straight after dropping the previous three. But the deficit in the NL East is still at 4.5. (The Nats are currently losing to Milwaukee, 6-0, in the 7th. Their six-game winning streak is in serious jeopardy.)
Atlanta’s offensive star was Brian McCann, who hit his 17th home run of the season with a 3-run shot in the fifth. Atlanta was 3-7 with runners in scoring position. Philly was 0-8. It’s been a forgettable season in Philadelphia, but the Eagles camp just opened up, so that has to take some of the sting off.
Anyway, the trading deadline is fast approaching, and while the Braves have some targets, they keep slipping through their fingers. Last week I talked about Ryan Dempster. A trade was in place for the Cub hurler, but he refused to approve it. The other object was Brewer Zack Greinke. He’s gone too, dealt back to the American League and the Angels. Back to Dempster for one last point. As long as he’s a Cub, there is hope, but reports are that he prefers to stay in blue, but he wants it to be Dodger blue. Whether or not Frank Wren can put something together will be the big story in the coming week.
Atlanta will spend the weekend at the Ted finishing off the series with the Phils. The schedule will get tougher. The Braves have 16 games remaining against teams with a losing record. That’s the lowest amount in the league. Last season, Atlanta had the wild card in the bag before the bottom fell out. This time around, getting that good arm could be the difference.

That title is a bad joke, but it’s not often you get inspiration from a typo. The best thing about is it has a hint of truth. Atlanta started the season with a 9-13 mark against the NL East. Since then, it’s been a perfect 8-0. This includes today’s 4-0 shutout win over Washington. (Game 2 of the day-night doubleheader is later.) In taking the first 2 of the 4-game weekend set, Atlanta moved to 1 1/2 behind the Nationals in the East. It also means Atlanta can do no worse than a split of this critical series and (if they do drop the next two) would leave DC 3 1/2 out, the same mark as when they entered. I really hope that made sense. Atlanta won this game behind Ben Sheets, who threw six and hasn’t given up a run in two starts. Not pitching for over a year does wonders for a person’s arm. And let’s not forget last night classic. Washington got a 9-0 lead after 4 and couldn’t hold it. The Braves came back and won 11-10 in 11 innings. I’ve said before that Washington is a young club. They might not be able to withstand the pressure that comes with a pennant race. The forgotten question of July and August is if they can keep the composure that comes to leading this late in the season. The media will be too focused on Stephen Strasburg’s innings and when the plug might be pulled to ask that one. Couple of other notes. Chipper Jones’ two-run pinch-hit home run broke the record for most RBI’s by a third baseman, surpassing George Brett and Mike Schmidt. (He just passed Jose Canseco on the all-time home run list). I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s a Hall of Famer. Also, the Braves called up Johnny Venters from Gwinnett (Triple A). He should be with the big league club tonight. They made room on the roster by putting Matt Diaz on the DL with a thumb injury. It’s the same digit he had surgery on two years ago. Also, it looks like the Cubs will trade Ryan Dempster before his next start on Wednesday. I mention this as the Braves are still in the mix. The Dodgers have the inside track, but Chicago doesn’t like what they’re offering, so maybe another squad like Atlanta can swoop in and pilfer him.

As I’m typing this, it’s the bottom of the eighth of the Braves second half opener against the Mets. There has been ten walks issued by Mets pitching, so if it’s seem like the game has gone on forever, it’s because it has. Atlanta has a 7-5 lead over New York. It’s a team they haven’t done well against, so they really want the victory, especially with the Nats winning their game against Florida. The Braves want to stay at 4.5 in the East. But there is some news I can relate while I wait for this one to get over. (Make that 11 walks issued). Chipper Jones has gone 2-4 with a homer. That RBI places him second on the all-time list for most by a third baseman. He’s tied with Mike Schmidt and one behind George Brett. Think he’ll get it during this homestand? It’s a safe bet. Injuries continue to plague Atlanta. You’ve heard about Brandon Beachy, and Andrelton Simmons went down just before the Break. Now back-up shortstop Jack Wilson jammed his finger during a routine play and was taked out. Fredi didn’t have another shortstop. He was forced to move Martin Prado from left. It’s only the third time in his career Martin played short. Atlanta won’t be able to recall a shortstop from the minors until at least tomorrow. Tyler Pastornicky probably won’t get the call. He’s been practicing at second for Triple-A Gwinnett. The Braves will be forced to make a trade for either a shortstop or more pitching. They may look to pry Zack Greinke loose. (They’ve reclaimed Ben Sheets, who hasn’t pitched in a few years. He’ll start Sunday.) Craig Kimbrel has come in to preserve the win and move their streak to five games. He did it. That’s getting things off on the right foot.

Most teams have that one club that gives them fits. For Atlanta, it’s the Washington Nationals. The Nats came into The Ted with a 3.5 game lead in the East. The Braves thought that maybe they can close the gap with this series. Uh, no. True, they made a game of it. Washington roughed up Randall Delgado early, but it was only 4-0 after four. (The Nats would scatter 15 hits) The Braves tied it in the 7th as Andrelton Simmons hit his third homer of the year. But a solo homer by Michael Morse broke the deadlock. The Nat pen made it stand up, and Washington gets out with a 5-4 win. Now the lead in the East is 4.5, and the Braves need to take the rest of the series to get closer in the division.
With Brandon Beachy out for the year, all the starters will have to step up. Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson are the ones most thought of, but I’m thinking of the back of the rotation. Mike Minor and Delgado need to have quality starts to keep the pressure off the first two hurlers I mentioned. Atlanta seems to think Jair Jurrjens is over his injury issues, and he did pick up a win against the Red Sox. But Minor continues to be the weakest link. His 6.14 ERA will be thrown against Stephen Strasburg tomorrow.
Both Dan Uggla and Martin Prado didn’t start. Prado was nursing a sore right hamstring, but he did come in as a pinch-hitter and scored during the Brave rally in the seventh. Uggla got a day off due to his slump. He’s 0 for his past 11, and had a nasty day against Arizona where he struck out looking three times.

Maybe it was the weather, but balls were flying fast and furious out of Yankee Stadium this afternoon as the Braves and Yanks finished up their set with a matinee game. The difference was, New York hit solo shots, while Atlanta’s had people aboard. The extra accumulated run caused a 10-5 Brave victory. Atlanta now journeys to Boston having won two of three from New York. This served two purposes. Not only did Atlanta serve up a measure of revenge (NY swept at the Ted last week), but the Braves interrupted New York’s momentum and stopped their ten-game winning streak. Atlanta now stands three games behind the Nationals in the NL East race.
As for individual hitting stars, Jason Heyward hit 2 of the homers (he now has 10), and Freddy Freeman knocked one out as well. Freddy now has nine on the season, and it looks like his vision problems have finally been put behind him. Martin Prado hit one as well. This was part of his 3-5 afternoon that also included 2 RBI’s and 7 total bases. (Heyward accumulated 8 total bases). David Ross has the other home run. Tommy Hanson got the win to go to 8-4. No save was recorded, but 4 Brave relievers pitched one inning apiece to seal the deal. They only allowed one run in that time frame.
Overall, it was a good performance after the bats spent three games in hibernation. I’m counting the last two with the O’s and Monday’s first game of the set. If this is a team that rides momentum, then this upcoming set with the struggling Red Sox should be very interesting.