Braves Can't Avoid Sweep, Injuries Starting To Take Place.

Braves 2, Marlins 6

Well, it is not looking so good for the Braves. Chipper was still nursing an injured hand, and McCann was taking a well deserved off-day. Our backup catcher, David Ross, was activated from the DL and got to start.
We had had Kawakami on the mound for the second time this year. He went 6 innings allowing 5 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and walked 3 while striking out 7.
In the first inning, Kelly Johnson missed the double play ball that would have ended the inning. Next batter was Cody Ross and he hit a home run. It should have been a 0-0 tie at going into the bottom of the first, but a costly error put us in a bad position that we couldn't overcome the rest of the game. Things like that are going to kill us this season.
Jeff Bennett finally had a good day as he went 2 innings allowing 2 hits, 0 runs, and he struck out 2.  
Jeff Francoeur had a great game going 2-4 with 2 RBIs, improving his batting average to .306.
Garret Anderson also had a decent day as he went 2-3 with a walk and scored both runs the Braves had. Kenshin Kawakami can apparently hit as well as he went a perfect 2-2, and yes he is our pitcher. Unfortunately, we could not score more than 2 runs today.


Injuries have already started to take effect on the team as Yunel Escobar will be out for 3-5 day with an abdominal strain. Chipper Jones has also missed two days so far with his hand injury and could miss another game if he doesn't feel he is ready. Jorge Campillo is also going to the DL with a fatigued right shoulder. Look at the player who have been injured so far..

DL- Tom Glavine, Jorge Campillo
Missed a few days- Chipper Jones, Garret Anderson, (soon to be) Yunel Escobar
Just Removed from DL- David Ross

It looks like James Parr will be getting called up for today's game and JoJo Reyes will be filling in for Tom Glavine and will be starting tomorrow against the Pirates.
Hopefully our bullpen holds up, but it looks like we will be making some changes... soon.
Here are the daily Box Stats provided by mlb.com

Florida AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Bonifacio, 3B 5 0 0 0 0 3 3 .386 Amezaga, CF 5 0 1 1 0 1 0 .222 Ramirez, H, SS 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 .289 Cantu, 1B 3 1 1 0 1 2 0 .370 Uggla, 2B 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 .323 Hermida, LF 4 1 1 1 0 2 5 .286   Carroll, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 Ross, C., RF 3 1 3 4 0 0 0 .207 Paulino, C 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .273 Sanchez, A, P 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000   Calero, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   Meyer, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   Nunez, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   a-Gload, PH 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 .222   Lindstrom, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 34 6 9 6 3 10 12   a-Tripled for Nunez in the 9th. BATTING 2B: Uggla (3, Kawakami). 3B: Hermida (1, Kawakami), Gload (1, Campillo). HR: Ross, C. (1, 2nd inning off Kawakami, 2 on, 1 out). TB: Amezaga; Cantu; Uggla 3; Hermida 3; Ross, C. 6; Gload 3. RBI: Ross, C. 4 (5), Hermida (2), Amezaga (1). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bonifacio; Hermida 2; Paulino. S: Sanchez, A. SF: Ross, C.. Team RISP: 2-for-7. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING CS: Amezaga (1, 2nd base by Campillo/Ross, D.). FIELDING DP: (Uggla-Ramirez, H-Cantu).		Atlanta AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Johnson, 2B 5 0 0 0 0 0 4 .286 Infante, 3B-SS 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Escobar, SS 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .343   Prado, 3B 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .286 Anderson, G, LF 3 2 2 0 1 0 0 .222 Kotchman, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 2 .267 Francoeur, RF 4 0 2 2 0 1 0 .306 Schafer, CF 4 0 0 0 0 3 4 .265 Ross, D., C 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .333 Kawakami, P 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 .500   a-Norton, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   Bennett, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   Campillo, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000   b-McCann, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .233 Totals 34 2 9 2 3 4 11   a-Flied out for Kawakami in the 6th. b-Grounded into a forceout for Campillo in the 9th. BATTING 2B: Anderson, G 2 (2, Sanchez, A, Sanchez, A), Francoeur (1, Sanchez, A). TB: Escobar; Anderson, G 4; Kotchman; Francoeur 3; Ross, D.; Kawakami 2. RBI: Francoeur 2 (7). 2-out RBI: Francoeur 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Kotchman; Johnson; Schafer 3. GIDP: Johnson. Team RISP: 3-for-7. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Escobar (1, 2nd base off Sanchez, A/Paulino). CS: Johnson (1, 2nd base by Sanchez, A/Paulino). FIELDING E: Johnson (2, missed catch).
Florida IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Sanchez, A (W, 1-0) 6.0 8 2 2 3 2 0 1.64 Calero (H, 4) 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.08 Meyer (H, 3) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.91 Nunez (H, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3.60 Lindstrom 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.25		Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Kawakami (L, 1-1) 6.0 5 5 4 3 7 1 5.25 Bennett 2.0 2 0 0 0 2 0 1.50 Campillo 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 5.40

 

 
We will start off a fresh, new series against the Pirates and it will be a perfect time to pull things together again. We did struggle against them last year, but I don't think that will happen this year. Jair Jurrjens will start the first game, JoJo the 2nd, and Vazquez for the last. Then we start a series against the Nationals with Lowe starting off and Kawakami probably after that. 
What we need to do this series
Score Runs early.
Minimize number of errors
Get starters to go into the 7th inning or longer
Minimize walks given up, especially with runners on
Get our bullpen to throw strikes.
Minimize the number of runs we allow in the late innings.