The Braves had the national spotlight with ESPN in town and their best pitcher going Sunday night in Brandon Beachy against the Washington Nationals. But neither was enough to overcome what’s fast becoming an oppressive losing streak. The ailing Braves had managed their first lead of the weekend series but fumbled it away with two unearned runs in the fourth inning and watched the Nationals work over their former teammate Livan Hernandez on the way to a 7-2 victory and a weekend sweep.

Brian McCann was out of the Braves starting lineup Sunday night as he continued to battle flu-like symptoms. The catcher was nearly back for the nationally televised game against the Nationals, according to manager Fredi Gonzalez, but wasn’t quite ready after going through pre-game running drills.

How the winning run scored: Christian Marrero delivered the game's lone run with a sixth-inning RBI triple that scored Ernesto Mejia. At the plate:Mejia and Felix Pie had two hits each, accounting for four of the Braves 7 hits. The Red Wings managed only 3 hits and could not capitalize on 3 Braves' errors.

Mike Minor put the skidding Braves in another hole after giving up a three-run run homer and four runs in the first two innings Saturday afternoon against Washington, but that wasn’t even the worst part of their day. The Braves rallied to tie the score on Dan Uggla’s two-run homer in the fifth, but that was before the faltering bullpen faltered again, and the defense turned shoddy, and the patchwork lineup failed to produce any more runs.

The Braves sent ace Tim Hudson to the mound Friday night to put a stop to their four-game losing streak against a Nationals team he had owned throughout his career. What seemed like the perfect formula fell apart on a perfectly weird night for Hudson.

CINCINNATI – Randall Delgado had already given up two grand slams this season including one last weekend, and the Braves weren’t going to risk him giving up a third at the most homer-friendly ballpark in the National League. After the Cincinnati Reds loaded the bases against Delgado with one out in the sixth inning Thursday, the Braves brought in Kris Medlen to face Devin Mesoraco.

As lonely as it might feel to be Mike Minor these days, in the midst of such a trying stretch in his young career with the Braves, there is somebody who knows exactly what he feels like. Tom Glavine, a two-time Cy Young award pitcher, 305-game winner and future Hall of Famer, was about where Minor is entering this weekend series against Washington, 32 starts into his career.

After Tommy Hanson’s strong start and Eric O’Flaherty’s nifty escape in the eighth inning, the Reds ended the drama quickly in the ninth inning against Braves reliever Cristhian Martinez. Todd Frazier hit a walk-off homer with one out in the ninth to give Cincinnati a 2-1 win against the Braves, who have lost four out of their past five, including all of the first three games of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park.

If it wasn’t too surprising when the Reds hit four home runs off the Braves’ Mike Minor on Monday night, it was another matter when they hit three off Brandon Beachy on Tuesday night. After allowing only one home run in his previous 72 innings, Beachy gave up a career-high three homers in the first four innings of a 4-3 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park.

How the winning run scored: In top of the first, with two outs and the bases empty Stefan Gartrell smacked a solo homer to center field off of Red Wings starter Luke French to give Gwinnett a 1-0 lead. Ernesto Mejia followed with a double, and he was driven in by Drew Sutton.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Freddie Freeman spent part of his weekend switching between glasses and various contact lenses and trying out assorted eye drops in a somewhat successful effort to alleviate his dry eyes. But that didn’t distract the Braves first baseman from his hitting approach, which includes swinging at the first pitch more than any other National League batter.

It was just a glance. A quick look toward the stands offered Tyler Pastornicky a reminder of how far he had come. When the Braves rookie got his first major-league hit in the season-opener against the Mets he turned to see family and friends reacting wildly to his accomplishment.

Series preview: Braves at Reds When (TV): 7:10 p.m. Monday-Thursday (SPSO). Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5 Probable starting pitchers: Monday: Braves LH Mike Minor (2-3, 7.09 ERA) vs. RH Mike Leake (0-5, 6.21) Tuesday: Braves RH Brandon Beachy (5-1, 1.33) vs. RH Mat Latos (2-2, 4.

For the second time in four weeks, Braves rookie Randall Delgado got wild and then got grand-slammed, putting his team in a hole in the early innings. And just like the time before, it was a day game without Chipper Jones in the lineup.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – It’s not as if the Braves are a bad team at home, it’s just that their engines have hummed at a different level on the road during the first quarter of the season. They did it again Friday, mounting a two-out, two-run rally in the fifth inning of a 5-3 win against Tampa Bay in an interleague series opener at Tropicana Field, the Braves’ 10th win in their past 12 road games.

Brandon Beachy wanted to be more efficient this season and go deeper in games. Well, the perfectionist reached the ultimate goal eight starts into it. The 25-year-old Beachy pitched the first complete game of his career Thursday night via shutout in a 7-0 win over the Marlins.

The Braves have used a torrid offense to hide what’s ailing Mike Minor – scoring 22 runs in his previous two starts – and won in spite of his struggles. But Wednesday night in their series opener against Mark Buehrle and the Marlins, Minor had nowhere to turn.

The Braves offense has improved this year, no doubt about that. But for much of the past few days, they’ve been shouting it from the mountaintops. The Braves swept a weekend series from the defending World Series champion Cardinals by scoring 23 runs, then on Tuesday took aim at Johnny Cueto, the Reds right-hander with the best ERA in baseball.

They came home flying high after one of their best road trips in years, but the Braves were brought back down by a loss to the Reds that extended their Monday blues. Jonny Venters allowed two runs on three hits in the eighth inning and the Braves began a four-game homestand with a 3-1 loss, their fifth in seven games at Turner Field.

ST. LOUIS  -- Chipper Jones might not reach 3,000 hits and 500 homers, traditional Hall-of-Fame numbers, but he’s coming up on a pretty special number of his own. He needs 14 RBIs to surpass Mike Schmidt and George Brett for the most RBIs by a player whose primary position was third base.

ST. LOUIS – What was supposed to be a challenging, three-city trip through Denver, Chicago and St. Louis turned out to be a joyride for the Braves, who just swept the defending World Series champion Cardinals on Sunday to finish out the trip 7-2. The Braves worked their offensive game plan to perfection Sunday for a 7-4 win to complete their first three-game sweep at Busch Stadium since Sept.

ST. LOUIS -- Somewhere Gene Kerns is smiling. The Braves scout who discovered Brandon Beachy and his dynamic fastball at a Virginia wood bat summer league in 2008, had to get a kick out of watching the undrafted free agent get the better of Adam Wainwright Saturday night -- a former first round draft pick of the Braves in 2000, and now 20-game winner with the Cardinals.

They play because they want one more shot at the big leagues. They play because they love baseball. Gwinnett Braves pitcher Eric Junge and catcher J.C. Boscan have combined to play professional baseball for 30 years. Some of the time has been spent in what fans like to think of as baseball’s romantic spots: the small towns such as Yakima, Wash.

The Braves got a vintage Tim Hudson pitching performance Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley Field, but wasted it in a 1-0 loss to the Cubs. They didn’t hit a lot of balls hard against left-hander Paul Maholm. And on most occasions when they did, there was a Cubs defender waiting to snag it.

Randall Delgado didn’t get a win with his strong performance Tuesday night, but the Braves made sure the rookie pitcher didn’t get a loss. Dan Uggla drove in two runs with a tie-breaking, bases-loaded single in the eighth inning to propel the Braves to a 3-1 win against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, their fourth in five games on a nine-game trip.

How the winning run scored: Jose Constanza led off the game with a double, then came around to score on Stefan Gartrell's RBI single. Immediately following the Gartrell hit, Ernesto Mejia hit his fourth home run of the season. At the plate: Gartrell extended his RBI streak to five games.

DENVER – The Braves have scored more runs than any other team in the majors, but their pitching faltered a few too many times lately for most folks to feel entirely comfortable about the way things were headed. That’s why Brandon Beachy’s performance Sunday made a three-game sweep against the Rockies even more satisfying than it would’ve been if the Braves had won nothing but slugfests and left Coors Field with a weary pitching staff.

Chipper Jones won one for the ages Wednesday night. Or was that the aged? After he centered a fastball away to send another retirement gift careening over the outfield fence, four hours on the dot from when what figured to be a pitcher’s duel with the Phillies began, Jones dropped his bat and began to walk up the first-base line.

While Randall Delgado rebounded from two poor starts, it was the Braves’ bats that couldn’t bounce back just hours after a dramatic victory. Delgado pitched a career-high eight innings, but the Braves dropped a 4-0 decision to the Phillies on Thursday afternoon at Turner Field.

There have been some wild games in Atlanta over the years and the Braves’ 11-inning, 15-13 victory Wednesday ranks among them. Here is a sampling of some of those unforgettable moments since the Braves moved to Atlanta for the 1966 season. Chipper caps comeback May 2, 2012 (Turner Field) Braves 15, Phillies 13 What happened: Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning, the final of several dramatic moments.

It already was one of the wilder games in recent Braves history, and Chipper Jones took it to another level with his two-run walk-off homer in the 11th inning, giving the Braves a 15-13 win against the Philadelphia Phillies before a happily fatigued crowd at Turner Field on Wednesday night.

They came to town with a sub-.500 record, sitting in fourth place in the NL East. But they were still the Philadelphia Phillies, which meant trouble for the Braves. The Phillies scored two runs in the eighth inning against reliever Jonny Venters and beat the Braves 4-2 on Tuesday night in a series opener at Turner Field, their eighth consecutive win against Atlanta.

After starting April winless in four games, the Braves had a chance to finish it atop the National League East. They’ll have to wait, though, after a 9-3 loss on Monday dropped them one-half game behind the upstart Washington Nationals, who were idle.

How the winning run scored: Greg Paiml opened the 10th with a leadoff double, was bunted to third by Luis Durango and scored on Jose Constanza's sacrifice fly. At the plate: The Braves managed only six hits, the same as the Mud Hens, in 10 innings, two by Durango.

As much fun as Braves fans have had watching back-to-back ninth inning heroics out west, and a six-run barrage Friday night, the Braves won those games on the strength of three consecutive quality starts from Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy, and Tommy Hanson.

The Braves brought home more than a little jet lag and some warm fuzzies from a scintillating 5-2 trip to the west coast. They continued their clever work at the plate too, working station to station and using right field to work ahead of A.J. Burnett and the Pirates, until Dan Uggla and Chipper Jones broke it open with back-to-back two-run hits for a 6-1 win.

So much for easing his way back into the Braves’ rotation. Tim Hudson took the mound Tuesday night in the final outing of his minor league rehabilitation stint in Gwinnett with a little more at stake. As the veteran gears up to come off the disabled list Sunday against the Pirates, the Braves sent Jair Jurrjens packing for a minor league stint in Gwinnett, leaving a greater need for Hudson to reclaim his place at the head of the Braves’ rotation.

MLB Network analysts Mitch Williams and Dan Plesac weigh in on the Braves’ decision to demote Jair Jurrjens to Triple-A Gwinnett: Williams: The velocity, and more important, the location has not been there. Jair’s been putting himself in too many hitters’ counts and paying for it.

Authorities in southwest Florida say somebody stole a World Series ring and trophy belonging to major league pitcher Derek Lowe. The Lee County Sheriff's Office said Monday that Lowe's 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series ring was taken from his Fort Myers home.

How the winning run scored: Center-fielder Jordan Danks doubled to right-center off Gwinnett starter Erik Cordier with one out in the fourth. He scored on a single to right by right-fielder Greg Golson. The win gave the Knights the series win 2-1 after the Braves won the opener.

PHOENIX – After building a winning streak by pounding teams into submission, the surging Braves got back to winning in more traditional fashion Saturday night, with good pitching and just enough timely hits. Tommy Hanson pitched seven strong innings and Dan Uggla hit a long, tie-breaking homer in a 3-2 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 10th win in 11 games.

Three doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in two nights would be fairly solid team totals, but that was the damage wrought by Freddie Freeman alone against Arizona pitching in one-sided Braves wins Thursday and Friday. With three hits Friday, including a pair of RBI doubles in a 9-1 win, the Braves’ 22-year-old first baseman continued a torrid stretch in which he was 10-for-17 (.

A little over a year from the day he looked so frazzled in a fill-in start against Milwaukee, Mike Minor pitched like a savvy veteran Thursday night while working eight strong innings against Arizona in the hitter-friendly confines of Chase Field.

Braves second baseman Dan Uggla had never managed a hit off R.A. Dickey. He was 0-for-24 off the Mets veteran knuckleballer when he came to the plate in the third inning Wednesday afternoon. But by the time he circled the bases after a two-run homer to set the tone for the Braves’ 14-6 win, his mind was elsewhere.

Johan Santana has had frustrating nights before against Atlanta, but nothing like Tuesday, when the Braves knocked out one of baseball’s winningest active pitchers after he recorded only four outs. The Braves scored five runs in the second inning and cruised to a 9-3 win against Santana and the New York Mets at Turner Field, their first win in five games against the Mets this season and the briefest outing of Santana’s 266 career starts.

Mets slugger David Wright had such a hot bat that Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez decided to have Tommy Hanson pitch around the right-handed hitter  and face left-handed hitting Ike Davis with two out in the sixth inning of a tie game Monday. The decision backfired when Davis pounded a Hanson curveball to the right-field bleachers, his three-run homer sending New York to a 6-1 series-opening win at Turner Field that snapped the Braves’ five-game winning streak and kept them winless in four against the Mets.

Apparently the two days off Chipper Jones needed to alleviate some swelling in his surgically-repaired left knee were just to build a little anticipation. The opportunistic veteran is not one to let a big moment pass, certainly not this week, and not this year, his last in a Braves uniform.

Series preview: vs Mets When (TV); 7:10 p.m. today (FSSO); 7:10 p.m. Tuesday (SPSO); 12:10 p.m. Wednesday (SPSO) Radio: 680, 93.7, 100.5 Today: Braves RH Tommy Hanson (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. RH Dillon Gee (0-1, 5.06 ERA) Tuesday: Braves RH Randall Delgado (1-0, 3.

Not all the excitement of the home-opener had worn off just yet. Mike Minor wanted to get in on the action. With the Braves debuting new cream-colored throwback-style uniforms Saturday night at Turner Field, Minor had a throwback performance of his own.

The Braves finally had themselves a bona-fide big inning Friday night against Milwaukee and looked as if they would cruise to their third consecutive win in the home opener at Turner Field. But after taking an 8-3 lead with a six-run fifth inning, they needed a two-run, broken-bat single by Dan Uggla in the eighth to lift them to a 10-8 win — their third in a row since an 0-4 start.

Chipper Jones made coming back from the disabled list look easy Tuesday night — and inviting. Tim Hudson saw the impact the veteran third baseman had when he returned to the lineup in Houston, helping the Braves turn an 0-4 start into a series win, and Hudson wouldn’t mind doing something similar when he returns to the rotation from spinal-fusion surgery.

The Braves barely had time to walk dogs, tuck in kids or make a dent in DVR recordings during their only previous trip home since mid-February. They didn’t unpack their suitcases so much as replenish them with clean underwear for the trip that began a day later in New York.

Fans going to Turner Field for the Braves’ home opener Friday night won’t find much new on the field, thanks to the team’s stand-pat winter. Off the field, however, the new season brings a lineup of changes. Among them: day-to-day swings in ticket prices, the option of paperless ticketing, a trade of “Tooner Field” for “Taco Mac Family Zone,” another upscale club area and a concession stand selling an acclaimed chef’s steak sandwich.

Metro Atlanta's transit authority is announcing the return of its Braves shuttle as the team gears up for its home opener. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, or MARTA, says the shuttle bus is a good way to avoid snarled traffic and expensive parking.

NEW YORK -- No one got hurt. That was the best that could be said for the Braves’ bust of a trip to New York, where the team that collapsed in September was swept by the Mets and got no hits against Jonathon Niese for the first six innings of Sunday’s series finale at Citi Field.

The Braves realize that if their own pitchers hung zeroes on the scoreboard almost every inning, getting only a two-run homer every 24 innings from their own offense is a recipe for abject failure. That’s not what Braves hitters are trying to do, but that’s how it has worked out this season and the end of the last one.

The first day of the Braves’ 2012 season looked quite similar to the final days of the 2011 season, only with better pitching. Tommy Hanson and the bullpen limited the New York Mets to one run and seven hits, but the Braves mustered only four hits of their own in a 1-0 loss at Citi Field against the team that’s a consensus pick to finish last in the National League East.

Dave Shotkoski wasn't kidding himself. He had already done his time in the minor leagues and knew major league pitching wasn't in the cards. But even with a wife, newborn daughter and job in Illinois, the chance to play major league baseball, even if just for a few weeks, wasn't one the 30-year-old could pass up.

The Braves wrapped up their spring exhibition schedule with a little nostalgia Tuesday night in Gwinnett before packing up for New York and Thursday’s opener against the Mets. Legendary former manager Bobby Cox was back in uniform and spikes for the first time since tipping his cap on the final day of the 2010 postseason, and club president John Schuerholz led a record Coolray Field crowd of 10,568 in “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.

The trash-talking started a little early, more than 24 hours before iconic former Braves manager Bobby Cox takes on his protégé Fredi Gonzalez Tuesday when the Braves minor league All-Stars meet the Atlanta Braves for an exhibition Tuesday at Coolray Field.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Jason Heyward began Wednesday batting .190 with a .250 on-base percentage for the spring, but by the end of the day there was plenty of reason for the Braves and their right fielder to feel good about the direction he seemed headed.

Stan Kasten, former president of the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, was a man without a team when he met a reporter for a weekday lunch at a Dunwoody restaurant last summer. Kasten was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt. He planned to catch a movie after lunch.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Sitting in his corner cubby of the Braves spring HQ, Dan Uggla was talking one day about a new approach to waking up his bat. He spoke enthusiastically about the need to constantly rethink baseball — “That’s what makes this game so crazy and awesome.

In that position, anyone’s ego would be vulnerable to a little buffing. And Derek Jeter brought the loofah. Teammates at the World Baseball Classic in March of that year, the Yankees shortstop laid it on thick for Jones. Can’t you see yourself in pinstripes? Jeter asked him.

A selection of comments from the Braves about Chipper Jones, who announced Thursday that 2012 will be his final season. “It’s an honor for me to say I’ve been able to play with him for eight years. I grew up — this probably isn’t going to make him feel real good — but I grew up watching him play.

Braves third baseman Chipper Jones announced Thursday that the 2012 season will be his last. Here is a look at some of the top moments of his 18 seasons with the Braves. 1. Smashing playoffs debut. As a rookie, hit two home runs in his first postseason game, Game 1 of the 1995 National League Division Series against the Colorado Rockies,  including the game-winner in the ninth inning of a 5-4 Braves victory.

Athletic trainer Jeff Porter had for close to 30 years been a guy who rushed to the aid of many a banged-up Brave. He was a first responder to the scene of an injury, the first comforting voice a downed player would hear. Within two hours after the crash that killed his wife, Kathy, it was a team’s turn to tend to the man they all knew as “Bubba.

It's been less than three months since a horrific New Year's Eve crash claimed the life of the wife of Atlanta Braves trainer Jeff Porter. Still, Porter is ready to thank the countless supporters he says have helped his family through the tragedy. "It was amazing.

It’s Michael Bourn’s desire to play where he is wanted. The Braves say they would like to have him in uniform past this season. How it works out remains to be seen. However, the Braves are counting on a full season with the speedy center fielder as the leadoff hitter they have coveted since 2006.

It’s Michael Bourn’s desire to play where he is wanted. The Braves say they would like to have him in uniform past this season. How it works out remains to be seen. However, the Braves are counting on a full season with the speedy center fielder as the leadoff hitter they have coveted since 2006.

Freddie Freeman knows there is concern about his right knee — but he’s getting a little tired of talking about it. It’s time to get about the business at hand. Freeman made his first spring-training appearance of the season Tuesday in the Braves’ 5-2 loss to the Nationals in a Grapefruit League game.

Braves single tickets for the 2012 season went on sale Monday at 10 a.m at braves.com./tickets, at the ticket office at Turner Field, the Braves Clubhouse Store at CNN Center,  Publix Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Some dates of note include the Braves home opener on Friday, April 13 against the Brewers (magnetic season schedules courtesy of Georgia Power will be donated to the first 45,000 fans Friday and Saturday nights of opening weekend, April 13-14).

Developers have asked Gwinnett County for permission to scale back a large commercial center at Coolray Field and build more apartments instead, altering a concept county officials used to justify spending $64 million on the baseball stadium. Plans for property surrounding the Lawrenceville stadium, built to lure an Atlanta Braves minor league team from Richmond, originally called for 351,000 square feet of commercial space and 610 upscale residential units.

Brian McCann is ready to finger point. Pitchers, catchers and one unsparing critic reported first to the Braves’ otherwise fantasy-based spring-training camp. The evolving leader of this team just spent the most reflective offseason of his baseball life.

Major league baseball teams started coming to Florida for spring training almost a century ago, traveling by rail from the often still-frozen North to get in shape and play some exhibition games in the sun. For baseball fans needing an early fix after a long winter, spring training is hard to beat.