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Monday, April 21, 2008
Braves get big boost from bullpen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Don’t look now, but the Braves are in the middle of a four-game winning streak and have climbed back to .500 (9-9).
Chipper Jones and the rest of the offense has been on a tear (they’ve averaged six runs a game during the four-game win streak), but the bigger surprise has been the way the pitching has really stepped it up.
The staff has taken a few more big hits lately — Tom Glavine going on the DL for the first time in his career and Peter Moylan wondering if he’ll need season-ending surgery — that could have been demoralizing, but the guys have really picked up their teammates:
• Thursday: John Smoltz threw a gutsy five innings in a 4-1 win in Florida in which Braves pitching struck out a total of 16 Marlins, and Will Ohman, Chris Resop, Manny Acosta and Buddy Carlyle backed him up with four shutout innings.
• Friday: Pitching for the fourth time in six days, Jeff Bennett went a season-high 4 2/3 innings, allowing only two hits, and Ohman, Carlyle, Blaine Boyer and Acosta did the rest.
• Saturday: Chuck James filled in for Glavine with a one-run five-inning performance that he and the team sorely needed, and once again, the bullpen (Jorge Campillo, Blaine Boyer and Acosta) had his back with four shutout innings.
• Sunday: Jair Jurrjens continued the string of great starts and gave the ‘pen some much-needed rest with his seven innings of one-run ball, and Boyer and Ohman shut the Dodgers down the rest of the way.
That means the bullpen has given up one single, solitary run in 14-plus innings of work over the past four days.
You can’t work a ‘pen that much and expect that dominance to continue, so here’s hoping Tim Hudson has recovered from the flu and is ready to go tonight against Washington.
And while we’re hoping, let’s send get-well wishes to Chipper’s quad, Glavine’s hamstring, Mike Hampton’s pectoral muscle, Moylan’s elbow, Smoltz’s shoulder and Rafael Soriano’s elbow.
So whose performance surprises you the most? Do you think they can continue to hold down the fort until the big arms are back?
Note: The Braves love the weekend. In Friday-Sunday games, they’re 7-2; Monday-Thursday, they’re 2-7.
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