DEL.ICIO.USMLB: ATLANTA BRAVES
Braves edged by Cardinals
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Monday, April 27, 2009
When Braves first baseman Casey Kotchman out-hit St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols Monday, the Braves had to figure it was their night.
And they would be wrong.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur breaks his bat on his way to striking out in the 9th inning as the Braves fall 3-2 to the Cardinals on Monday.
Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com
Braves backup catcher David Ross, filling in for Brian McCann, confers with pitcher Peter Molan before he gives up a run in the seventh.
Despite holding the league’s most feared hitter to a mortal 1-for-5 evening while getting three hits from Kotchman, the Braves fell to St. Louis 3-2 in the opener of an eight-game homestand.
Kotchman had a chance to cap his night with the potential game-winner, but flied out with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning. It was the latest example of offensive frustration for the Braves, who put five runners aboard in the seventh and eighth innings and came away with only a run.
“We had some runners on tonight we just didn’t get the giant hit that we were looking for,” manager Bobby Cox said. “We had the right guy up though.”
The Braves had come home feeling a little insecure about their offense after averaging only 3.7 runs per game on a 4-5 trip. They didn’t do much to change that Monday.
They hit into a pair of double plays and watched Yunel Escobar picked off first base to end the sixth inning. Escobar and Kelly Johnson combined to go 1-for-7 at the top of the order, with Escobar’s dribbler on the infield the only hit.
Johnson’s slump is official. The second baseman is hitting .103 (4-for-39) over the last 11 games.
“Until we start doing something at the top, we’re going to continue to struggle,” said Chipper Jones, who went 1-for-3. “… We continue to waste JJ’s good outing with bad offensive performances.”
Starter Jair Jurrjens held off the Cards’ powerhouse, allowing two runs in six innings, and yet came away winless for the third consecutive start. He’s 0-1 with a 1.33 ERA in that time. The Braves have scored only three runs in the last three games Jurrjens started.
He had to feel good about what he started in the first inning when he struck out Pujols on a 95 mph fastball, a coupleticks faster than his norm. That helped cooled off Pujols, the newly-named NL player of the week, who had hit .450 (9-for-20) with three homers and 11 RBIs in his previous six games.
But Ryan Ludwick and Chris Duncan followed Pujols with a pair of two-out singles to score a run.
Jurrjens then gave up a leadoff walk to Joe Thurston in the second inning and Thurston later scored on the first of two RBI singles by Rick Ankiel.
“I was trying to be too perfect and it cost me the two-out base hit by Duncan,” Jurrjens said. “After that I was a little bit scared to trust [my fastball] and throw it over the plate and I got behind, threw a lot of pitches. With this lineup, it’s really difficult to fall behind every hitter.”
Jurrjens threw twice as many pitches as Cardinals’ starter Joel Pineiro through three innings _ 66 to Pineiro’s 30. He settled in to retire nine of the last 10 batters he faced but left at 99 pitches through six innings.
Pineiro gave up only two runs in 6-2/3 innings but scored the winning run himself. He drew a walk from reliever Peter Moylan in the seventh inning and scored on Ankiel’s second RBI hit.
“There’s nothing worse than walking the pitcher,” Moylan said.
Jurrjens, Moylan, and Buddy Carlyle combined to hold Pujols to one single with two strikeouts. Pujols put a charge into one Carlye pitch in the ninth but it died in outfield. By then, the rest of the Cardinals had done enough damage without him.
“Take that man, I don’t think we got him out four times all year last year,” Jones said of Pujols. “The guys did a good job of keeping him at bay, keeping everybody at bay. We pitched, and we played defense. We just didn’t hit. Kotch had a good game. Aside from that it was pretty slim pickings.”
