Coming into the series with Philly, the Braves were a 0.5 game behind them in the NL East. On Wednesday, the Braves completed a sweep of their divisional rival to snag a 2.5 game lead in the division.
In April, this team looked so discombobulated that the thought of them grabbing the division lead a little over a month later couldn’t have been seen even by the most loyal fans. If you did think the Braves would turn around so quickly then you were looking through Braves tinted glasses.
The nine-game losing streak is a thing of the past as the Braves reeled off their eighth consecutive win on Wednesday, completing a perfect home stand prior to an 11 game road trip that will really test how good the Braves are. More on that later.
I thought Tuesday’s matchup would be the pitcher’s duel. Instead, it was Wednesday’s. Kyle Kendrick of the Phillies continued his good work against the Braves and Derek Lowe, who historically has pitched well against the Phillies, did just that today.
The strong outing from Lowe is something the Braves have been expecting since they inked him to a 60-million dollar contract last offseason. They haven’t gotten many of these from Lowe since he became a Brave.
The Braves drew first blood in the 1st inning. Back-to-back singles by Prado and Heyward put runners on the corners. Prado would score on a double play by Chipper to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. They could have gotten more in the inning, but the double play killed it.
Lowe pitched a gem
In the bottom of the 2nd, Troy Glaus almost homered for the 3rd consecutive game. He got a hold of a Kendrick pitch and drove it deep to left field. Raul Ibanez leaped and robbed Glaus of a homerun. The ball bounced out of his glove and Glaus ended up with a double, but he did prevent the solo shot.
The Phillies even the score at one in the 3rd inning with three consecutive singles from Schneider, Kendrick, and Werth. That would be all they would get on Lowe this afternoon.
Earlier in the game, Chipper was removed due to an undisclosed injury. Omar Infante came into the game for him, and he was the hero in the 8th inning.
Nate McLouth led off the bottom of the 8th with a walk. Melky bunted McLouth to 2nd to get him in scoring position. Martin Prado struck out looking to make it two outs with McLouth still at 2nd.
Charlie Manuel chose to put Jason Heyward on with an intentional pass. That just shows the fear Heyward has already struck into all of baseball. A rookie already getting intentionally walked because he already has a reputation of coming through in clutch situations.
That brought up Infante with two on and one out. On a 3-2 pitch from Jose Contreras, the runners took off, and Infante looped a single over Utley’s head at 2nd base to bring home McLouth and give the Braves a 2-1 lead.
The game went to the ninth inning and Billy Wagner was called into the game by Bobby Cox. After saving last night’s game, Wagner was looking to do the same today. He got Utley to line out, and Howard to ground out to open the inning. He walked Francisco to keep hope alive.
The hope didn’t last long as Wagner struck out Victorino to end the game and give the Braves a sweep of the Phillies.
Derek Lowe gets the bulk of the credit for this win. Lowe gave the Braves eight strong innings of work. His final line was:
8.0 IP 6 H 1 R 1 BB 7 SO
Infante was the hero in the 8th
And the one walk allowed by Lowe was intentional. This is the kind of start that the Braves have needed from Lowe and he finally came through. Everything was working for Lowe today. His sinker was in top form and that is when he is at his best. It was nearly unhittable today.
The Braves improved to a season-best nine games over .500 at 31-22. With their eighth straight win they have now opened up a 2.5 game lead over the Phillies at the top of the NL East.
The Braves resolve will be tested now though. An 11-game road trip and cripple even the best of teams. Plus, the Braves won’t be getting a day off in between. Their last day off was May 24th and they won’t get another one until June 14th before they open a series with the best team in baseball so far the Tampa Bay Rays in Atlanta starting the 15th.
This 11 game road trip starts in Los Angeles against the Dodgers with a four game set starting tomorrow. The good news is most of the Dodger faithful will likely be over at Staples Center watching game one of the NBA Finals. Or at least, I hope so.
After the Braves complete a four game series with the Dodgers, they go to desert for another four game series with the Diamondbacks. They took two out of three from Arizona when they came to Atlanta earlier in the year.
Things don’t get easier for the Braves as they head to Minnesota to take on the Twins.
This will be good though. We’ll see exactly what the Braves are made of on this road trip. It’s going to be tough, but we’ll get to see if the Braves are good enough to be a serious threat to take the NL East this season. I think they are, but we’ll find out for sure during this road trip.
I think a successful trip for the Braves would be 7-4. I think if they can win seven of eleven on the trip then they completely prove to all the doubters that they are contenders. Even a 6-5 road trip wouldn’t be the worst thing. They just need to be above .500 on the trip.
While the sweep of Philly was great, there’s no time to celebrate. This is an extremely tough stretch and hopefully when the Braves come back to Turner Field on June 15th they will still have the division lead.
