Twenty-four hours after the fact, he reported only that his hips felt a little stiff; otherwise, he felt the way he normally does after pitching in spring training.

That’s one reason why the Braves’ pitching probables were listed Wednesday as “undetermined” for the Saturday and Sunday games at home against the Reds. The iffy weather in Florida, where the Braves still had two games to play, was a factor.

But Wednesday’s game was played without rain delays, and by Thursday, manager Bobby Cox had settled on Jair Jurrjens and Hudson to follow Derek Lowe this weekend. That repeats the previous starting sequence, skipping Kenshin Kawakami, as was planned.

The Braves are off Monday, which theoretically would be Kawakami’s spot. It might take until Sunday to see whether Cox goes to a six-man rotation or assigns one of the six starters to the bullpen.

MARLINS 8, BRAVES 3: Tommy Hanson, who had thrown only two innings over the last 12 days, struggled to get through five innings on 104 pitches. Then the bullpen allowed a seven-hit, six-run sixth inning.

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Added: September 4, 2009

Norton, who is hitting only .147 (10-for-68) on the season, had a chance to tie the game in the seventh inning with a runner at third and only one out. Instead of finding a way to get the run in, he struck out against rookie reliever Tim Wood, and the Braves lost 8-7.

Norton took an awkward swing at a 2-1 change-up, getting fooled on what he said looked like a sinker rotation out of Wood’s hand. Then with two strikes, Wood had the advantage. Norton struck out chasing a change-up in the dirt.

“The disappointing thing — and I alluded to it earlier this year — the whole pinch-hitting thing isn’t what your batting average is, which people seem to look at it,” Norton said.

“It’s how many big hits you have. I was in a situation last night where going home, I felt like I lost the game.”

Braves manager Bobby Cox has come under fire from some fans for sticking with Norton. That chorus has grown louder this road trip since with September call-ups giving Cox more options on the bench, such as Brooks Conrad and David Ross, now that Clint Sammons can back Ross as the third catcher.

But Cox said he still has confidence in Norton, a veteran pinch hitter whose 13 career pinch-hit home runs rank 11th all-time. Norton led the majors last season in pinch-hit RBIs (18), pinch-hit homers (3) and pinch-hit walks (17).

Moylan unveils ‘Rally Head’

Reliever Peter Moylan has a new look, and it’s not pretty.

With so much free time around the clubhouse this week, given Monday’s three-hour rain delay, Adam LaRoche got wind that Moylan paid tribute, or poked fun at, John Smoltz last year by shaving his head half bald. The Braves went on to win a couple of games after that.

So after seeing a photo of it in Kelly Johnson’s phone, LaRoche dared him to do it again.

“[LaRoche] said let’s rally-head it to the playoffs,” said Moylan, who smiled when asked how much money he was doing it for and said: “I’m not at liberty to say.”

Last year Moylan waited about an hour before he shaved the rest of his head. This time he agreed to go with the half-bald look for more than two weeks, at least until the Braves’ trip to St. Louis, where Smoltz is now pitching for the Cardinals.

“When we go to St. Louis, they want me to write Smoltzie on my head,” Moylan said.

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Added: September 4, 2009

For the second consecutive night, the Braves had to turn to their bullpen in the sixth inning, and Kris Medlen was not up to the task. Medlen got battered by the Marlins for four runs, and the Braves committed two errors in what deteriorated into an 8-3 loss.

Chipper Jones was charged with an error trying to stop the damage at 4-3 in the sixth, when he couldn’t make a catch for the second out near the stands in foul territory.

So after opening this series with back-to-back wins, the Braves head back to Atlanta knowing that instead of having a two-game cushion on the Marlins, they are now tied for second place. Both the Braves and Marlins are four games behind the Rockies in the National League wild-card standings and 8-1/2 behind the Phillies in the NL East.

After what started as such a promising series with wins by both Kenshin Kawakami and Tim Hudson, the Braves finished this key road trip against the Phillies and Marlins at 3-4.

The Braves had hoped for an economical effort from Hanson, but he opened with a 26-pitch first inning on his way to a short night. He was erratic with his control, walking four and hitting a batter.

Still, Hanson limited the damage to one run after walking pitcher Ricky Nolasco to lead off the third inning. Cameron Maybin made him pay with a run-scoring double to left center. But because Hanson lasted only five innings, Braves manager Bobby Cox had to turn the game over to a taxed bullpen.

After letting a sixth-inning, bases-loaded jam turn into a five-run inning Wednesday night and spoil a 3-2 lead, Medlen was back in the deep end Thursday night.

This time he let a 3-1 lead slip away on a leadoff walk and three consecutive one-out hits. Brett Carroll foiled him again. After hitting a bases-clearing double off Medlen on Wednesday, Carroll came back with an RBI double Thursday night.

That brought up a couple of heavy-hitting pinch hitters in Hanley Ramirez and Cody Ross, both of whom drove in runs with solid hits to right, one of which was misplayed by Matt Diaz.

Medlen has looked more like the nervous rookie who came up in the spring than the confident reliever he had been in recent weeks. He has given up nine runs in his past six innings and has a 10.50 ERA and a .429 opponents’ batting average in the past six games.

Medlen was charged with four runs in the inning, and Eric O’Flaherty two more unearned after Jones’ error opened the door for three runs. After Jones dropped the pop-up in foul territory, Chris Coghlan, Nick Johnson and Jorge Cantu all followed with run-scoring hits off O’Flaherty.

The Braves had taken a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth inning after loading the bases on Nolasco. After Nolasco intentionally walked Diaz, both Martin Prado and Jones came through with run-scoring singles. But Nolasco stopped the bleeding there, retiring both Brian McCann and Garret Anderson with the bases loaded.

Stopping the bleeding is something the Braves couldn’t do.

Marlins 8, Braves 3

Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO AVG.

M.Diaz rf 4 0 1 0 1 3 .326

Prado 2b 4 0 2 1 0 1 .302

C.Jones 3b 4 0 1 1 0 0 .277

McCann c 4 1 1 1 0 1 .283

Sammons c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200

G.Anderson lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .284

Gorecki lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .227

Y.Escobar ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .305

Ad.LaRoche 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .275

Church cf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .280

Hanson p 2 0 0 0 0 2 .069

Norton ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .145

Medlen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

O’Flaherty p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Carlyle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

L.Valdez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Conrad ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333

Totals 35 3 7 3 1 10

Florida AB R H BI BB SO AVG.

Coghlan lf 5 2 2 1 0 1 .304

Maybin cf 3 0 2 1 1 0 .216

Helms 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .283

N.Johnson 1b 2 1 1 1 2 0 .297

Sanches p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Pinto p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Hayes ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .200

Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —

Cantu 3b-1b 5 0 1 1 0 0 .280

Jo.Baker c 4 1 2 0 1 1 .276

Uggla 2b 4 0 0 0 1 2 .243

B.Carroll rf 4 2 2 1 0 0 .263

An.Gonzalez ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .100

Ha.Ramirez ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .356

Bonifacio pr-ss 0 1 0 0 0 0 .252

Nolasco p 1 0 0 0 1 1 .154

C.Ross ph-cf 2 1 2 2 0 0 .268

Totals 35 8 13 8 6 6

Atlanta 010 020 000 — 3 7 2

Florida 001 006 10x — 8 13 2

E: C.Jones (17), M.Diaz (2), N.Johnson (10), Pinto (1). LOB: Atlanta 7, Florida 11. 2B: Church (28), Coghlan (20), Maybin 2 (6), Jo.Baker (25), B.Carroll 2 (7), C.Ross (32). HR: McCann (18), off Nolasco. RBIs: Prado (41), C.Jones (63), McCann (75), Coghlan (39), Maybin (4), N.Johnson (51), Cantu (75), B.Carroll (13), Ha.Ramirez (86), C.Ross 2 (74). S: Bonifacio.

DP: Atlanta 1, Florida 1.

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Hanson 5 2 1 1 4 5 3.07

Medlen L, 3-5 BS, 2-2 fl 3 4 2 1 1 4.68

O’Flaherty (TM) 4 2 0 0 0 3.28

Carlyle 1 3 1 1 0 0 8.86

L.Valdez 1 1 0 0 1 0 3.38

Florida IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Nolasco W, 10-8 6 7 3 3 1 7 5.27

Sanches 1 0 0 0 0 1 1.37

Pinto 1 0 0 0 0 1 3.12

Lindstrom 1 0 0 0 0 1 5.14

T: 3:13. A: 13,711 (38,560).

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Added: September 4, 2009

The Braves could activate center fielder Nate McLouth from the disabled list and have him in the lineup Friday night when they face the Cincinnati Reds.

Though McLouth is batting .258 and hasn’t played since straining his left hamstring against Philadelphia on Aug. 15, he could provide a spark for Atlanta (70-64), which is four games behind Colorado in the wild-card standings.

McLouth is batting .324 with two homers and eight RBIs against Cincinnati this season. If ready, he’ll try to help the Braves avoid a third straight loss after falling 8-3 to Florida on Thursday.

“It’s one of those things where hamstrings are funny in how they respond and how quickly the guy becomes pain-free and tightness-free,” general manager Frank Wren told the Braves’ official Web site.

The Braves dropped the final two in the four-game set against the Marlins to split the series after losing two of three at NL East-leading Philadelphia to open the trip.

Atlanta begins a brief three-game homestand against Cincinnati (60-73), which has won nine of 11 and is coming off a four-game sweep of last-place Pittsburgh.

The teams have split six games against each other this season, all played in Cincinnati.

Brian McCann hit his 18th homer Thursday for the Braves. The catcher is 4 for 9 with two homers against Cincinnati’s scheduled starter Bronson Arroyo (11-12, 4.35 ERA).

Chipper Jones, who has four RBIs in his last two games, is batting .375 against the Reds this season and 11 for 23 with three homers lifetime against Arroyo, who looks to avoid a third straight loss to Atlanta.

Though Arroyo is 4-3 with a 6.40 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves, he’s posted a 20.57 ERA in losing his last two. He gave up nine runs in 5 2-3 innings of a 10-2 loss to Atlanta on April 25.

In his last start, the right-hander allowed two runs in 7 1-3 innings of Sunday’s 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Atlanta counters with Derek Lowe (13-8, 4.38 ERA), who’s one win shy of matching his victory total from last year while with the Dodgers.

Lowe, who allowed one run in 5 2-3 innings to earn the victory in a 9-1 win at Philadelphia on Saturday, is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA as a starter against Cincinnati.

The right-hander gave up two runs and struck out eight in seven innings to earn the win against Arroyo and Reds on April 25.

Brandon Phillips is 0 for 9 against Lowe, but homered and drove in three runs during Cincinnati’s 5-3 win over Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Phillips is batting .404 with two home runs and nine RBIs in his last 11 games, with the Reds averaging 5.4 runs during that span.

“I think we’re all playing as a team,” Wednesday’s winning pitcher Homer Bailey told the Reds’ official Web site. “We’re all feeding off of one another. I think the team chemistry that’s been going on has helped a lot.”

Cincinnati rookie center fielder Drew Stubbs had three hits and homered for the third time in four games Wednesday.

The Reds are looking for a season-high fifth consecutive road victory.

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Added: September 4, 2009

–LHP Mike Gonzalez on Wednesday gave up his first earned run in 23 appearances since the All-Star break. The ninth-inning, game-winning home run was the first run he’d allowed since June 30 (vs. the Phillies) and the first earned run since July 9 (vs. the Rockies).

BY THE NUMBERS: .398 — RF Matt Diaz’s batting average against left-handed pitchers, ranking third in the National League and fifth in the majors as of Aug. 30.

QUOTE TO NOTE: “We overdo a lot of things in baseball now.” — Manager Bobby Cox, on all the amenities in today’s game, like indoor batting cages.

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Added: September 4, 2009

–3B Chipper Jones was back in the lineup after sitting out a start to work on his swing. He had a .500 average against Marlins RHP Ricky Nolasco coming in, and he drove in a run in the fifth inning.

–RHP Tim Hudson reported slightly sore hips but otherwise only normal spring-training-type soreness after his season debut Tuesday, his first appearance in a year after Tommy John surgery. He is scheduled to start again Sunday against the Reds.

MEDICAL WATCH:

CF Nate McLouth (strained left hamstring) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 16. He began a rehab assignment Aug. 28 with Class AA Mississippi, but he aggravated the injury and left the Aug. 29 game. He made a rehab appearance with Class A Rome (Ga.) on Sept. 3, and he is expected to be activated Sept. 4.

RHP Jorge Campillo (right shoulder tendinitis) went on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 29, and he was transferred to the 60-day DL in June.

ROTATION:

RHP Derek Lowe

RHP Jair Jurrjens

RHP Javier Vazquez

RHP Kenshin Kawakami

RHP Tommy Hanson

RHP Tim Hudson

BULLPEN:

RHP Rafael Soriano (closer)

LHP Mike Gonzalez

RHP Peter Moylan

LHP Eric O’Flaherty

RHP Manny Acosta

RHP Kris Medlen

LHP Boone Logan

RHP Luis Valdez

CATCHERS:

Brian McCann

David Ross

Clint Sammons

INFIELDERS:

1B Adam LaRoche

2B Martin Prado

SS Yunel Escobar

3B Chipper Jones

INF Kelly Johnson

INF Omar Infante

INF Brooks Conrad

OUTFIELDERS:

LF Garret Anderson

CF Reid Gorecki

RF Ryan Church

OF Matt Diaz

OF Gregor Blanco

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Added: September 4, 2009

Author:Fox Sports
Author’s Website:http://www.foxsports.com
Added: September 3, 2009

First with each other — as Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla got into a clubhouse argument before the game. Then it was very nearly literally with the Braves after Matt Diaz jawed at Marlins reliever Tim Wood for hitting him with a pitch in the seventh inning.

Ultimately the Marlins took it out on the scoreboard, defeating the Braves 8-7 on a walk-off home run by Wes Helms. It was their second walk-off win against the Braves this season.

That swing made a winner out of Leo Nunez, even though he had given up the tying home run to Yunel Escobar in the top of the ninth. The home run by Helms ended a streak of six scoreless outings by reliever Mike Gonzalez.

The Marlins pulled within a game of the Braves in third place in the division and fourth in the wild-card race. The Braves , now up 2-1 in this series which ends today, dropped to 3 1/2 games behind the Rockies in the wild-card race, pending the outcome of the Rockies-Mets game.

The Marlins came back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to open up a 7-3 lead on the Braves with a five-run sixth inning. Kris Medlen inherited a bases-loaded situation left by Javier Vazquez, and Brett Carroll greeted Medlen with a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double.

The Braves rallied back when Chipper Jones hit a bases-loaded double of his own to bring the Braves to within 7-6. Jones had been given the start off to rest his back and clear his head, but came through when called on as a pinch hitter. It was only his seventh hit in his past 54 at-bats.

Pinch hitter Greg Norton couldn’t shake his own problems though and struck out for the key second out with Jones at third base. Diaz then was hit in the arm by Wood’s pitch to load the bases for Martin Prado, who flew out to center.

Vazquez seemed to be pitching uphill but still finding a way to get by. That all changed in the sixth inning.

He wriggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, but wasn’t so fortunate in the sixth. Medlen gave up a three-run double down the first baseline by Carroll on his second pitch. All three runs were charged to Vazquez. Medlen then gave up two of his own after allowing four hits to the six batters he faced.

Vazquez was charged with five runs in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and has 199 this season.

Vazquez, who took a no-decision, has a five-game losing streak against the Marlins dating to 2003 when he was with the Expos. The Marlins have scored 16 runs in 25 1/3 innings off him in four meetings this season.

The Marlins made him work Wednesday. Vazquez had piled up 100 pitches by the time he walked Cody Ross to lead off the sixth inning.

Next for Braves

Who: at Marlins

When: 7:10 p.m. today

TV; radio: SPSO; 640, 96.1

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Added: September 3, 2009

Said Aaron, with a sigh, “I told Bobby. I told them all, and I told them, ‘Y’all better go and get Chipper Jones.’ “
At the time, Cox served as GM in addition to manager, and Aaron served as farm director before being promoted to senior vice president. As Aaron tells it, Cox was dead set on taking Todd Van Poppel until Aaron spoke with Van Poppel’s father and discovered he’d be difficult to sign.Continue Reading

First of all, I just wanted to say I’m a huge fan of all three of you. Obviously, being a Cubs fan, I have a soft spot for Maddux, but all three of you exemplify what it means to be a major league player both on and off the field. You are great teammates, and you care enough to work on hitting and bunting in addition to taking pride in fielding your position well. You three should all be admired for this, in addition to the stellar pitching accolades you have accrued for the better part of the past two decades.

That is why what I’m about to do is so difficult. I’m begging you three to all retire after this season.

Continue Reading…