After a wild walk off win yesterday, the Atlanta Braves were one again clicking on all cylinders today as they defeated the Washington Nationals with a final score of 6-3. With this win, the Braves have clinched the series victory against the Nationals.
"It's nice to have two (wins) under your belt, and have a chance tomorrow to get greedy and see what we can do," said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves have won seven of the past eight three-game series against the Nationals, and will send Aaron Harang to the mound Sunday against Gio Gonzalez to finish a six-game homestand.
Shorstop Andrelton Simmons (wrist) and catcher Evan Gattis (illness) were finally back in the starting lineup tonight. They combined for three hits, both off which came off of Gattis' bat.
B.J. Upton's struggles from last season seem to have carried on into 2014, but today he put those struggles to rest with a great performance. B.J. went 2-5 with a homer (which he belted in the first inning).
"It's been feeling better and better every day," said center fielder B.J. Upton, who hear boos earlier in the homestand, but only supportive cheers Saturday when he had two hits and lined out in another at-bat. "Obviously started off kind of rough (this season), but it’s still early. Each day I've been feeling a little more comfortable at the plate."
Freddie Freeman along with Justin Upton could be the most feared one-two punch in all of baseball. Freeman has a batting average of .425 in 2014 and hammered his third home run for the season tonight. Upton, over the last seven days, is batting at .500 with a .366 batting average for the year. He too has three homers.
During the game, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had to leave after injury his thumb. It occurred as he was trying to avoid a tag on a pick-off play at second base. He will be out the next 4-6 weeks.
"I think he did it on the bag," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "It's unfortunate, but we've got to step forward from here."
[Box Score]
Batters:
Jason Heyward, RF (0-4, 1 BB, 1 K, .140 AVG)
B.J. Upton, CF (2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, .167 AVG)
Freddie Freeman, 1B (3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, .425 AVG)
Chris Johnson, 3B (0-5, 4 K, .244 AVG)
Justin Upton, LF (3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, .366 AVG)
Dan Uggla, 2B (2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, .195 AVG)
Evan Gattis, C (3-4, 1 RBI, .286 AVG)
Andrelton Simmons, SS (0-3, 1 BB, .290 AVG)
Alex Wood, P (0-2, .000 AVG)
Ryan Doumit, PH (0-1, 1 K, .143 AVG)
Jordan Schafer, PH (0-1, .000 AVG)
Pitchers:
Alex Wood, SP (5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, 1.89 ERA)
Anthony Varvaro, RP (1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 3.00 ERA)
Jordan Walden, RP (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA)
David Carpenter, RP (1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 5.40 ERA)
Craig Kimbrel, CL (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 1.59 ERA)
"It's nice to have two (wins) under your belt, and have a chance tomorrow to get greedy and see what we can do," said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves have won seven of the past eight three-game series against the Nationals, and will send Aaron Harang to the mound Sunday against Gio Gonzalez to finish a six-game homestand.
Shorstop Andrelton Simmons (wrist) and catcher Evan Gattis (illness) were finally back in the starting lineup tonight. They combined for three hits, both off which came off of Gattis' bat.
B.J. Upton's struggles from last season seem to have carried on into 2014, but today he put those struggles to rest with a great performance. B.J. went 2-5 with a homer (which he belted in the first inning).
"It's been feeling better and better every day," said center fielder B.J. Upton, who hear boos earlier in the homestand, but only supportive cheers Saturday when he had two hits and lined out in another at-bat. "Obviously started off kind of rough (this season), but it’s still early. Each day I've been feeling a little more comfortable at the plate."
Freddie Freeman along with Justin Upton could be the most feared one-two punch in all of baseball. Freeman has a batting average of .425 in 2014 and hammered his third home run for the season tonight. Upton, over the last seven days, is batting at .500 with a .366 batting average for the year. He too has three homers.
During the game, Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman had to leave after injury his thumb. It occurred as he was trying to avoid a tag on a pick-off play at second base. He will be out the next 4-6 weeks.
"I think he did it on the bag," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "It's unfortunate, but we've got to step forward from here."
[Box Score]
Batters:
Jason Heyward, RF (0-4, 1 BB, 1 K, .140 AVG)
B.J. Upton, CF (2-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, .167 AVG)
Freddie Freeman, 1B (3-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, .425 AVG)
Chris Johnson, 3B (0-5, 4 K, .244 AVG)
Justin Upton, LF (3-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, .366 AVG)
Dan Uggla, 2B (2-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, .195 AVG)
Evan Gattis, C (3-4, 1 RBI, .286 AVG)
Andrelton Simmons, SS (0-3, 1 BB, .290 AVG)
Alex Wood, P (0-2, .000 AVG)
Ryan Doumit, PH (0-1, 1 K, .143 AVG)
Jordan Schafer, PH (0-1, .000 AVG)
Pitchers:
Alex Wood, SP (5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, 1.89 ERA)
Anthony Varvaro, RP (1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 3.00 ERA)
Jordan Walden, RP (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA)
David Carpenter, RP (1.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 5.40 ERA)
Craig Kimbrel, CL (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0 HR, 1.59 ERA)