New Day, New Series
Leah | May 13, 2008 | 12:02 pmThe Pirates series definitely could have gone better, but at least we didn’t get swept as it looked like there for a minute. Hopefully the offense gained some sense of confidence from the second game going into Philadelphia. While we always seem to take the toughest teams to beat more seriously than the rest, for whatever reason, last year we still had problems with the Phillies; they seemed to always prove to be a thorn in the Braves’ sides.
But this is a new year and while the Phillies are at the top of the list somewhere in runs-scored, they’re not blowing anyone away. As a team, the Phillies are only hitting a not-so-whopping .250, while the team ERA is at 4.05. They’re not as bad off as the Padres that’s for sure, and for now they sit in second place in the NL behind the surprising first-place team of the Marlins. Of course, their ballpark figures into this equation as well. While the Phillies’ ballpark isn’t Coors Field, some of the Braves usually hit well at Citizens Bank Park.
If everyone in the starting lineup starts tonight, here is how they match-up against the Phillies in BA and vs. Kyle Kendrick (Yahoo! is somewhat nifty):
KJ: .221/.333 - 6 ABs
Escobar: .233/.000 - 2 ABs
Chipper: .334/.333 - 6 ABs
Teixshy: .234/.250 - 4 ABs (probably won’t play, so Norton: .290/0 ABs)
Mac: .293/.200 - 5 ABs
Frenchy: .280/.200 - 5 ABs
Kotsay: .258/0 ABs
Blanco: never played against them.
Reyes: no ABs, but he does have a 2.70 ERA in 3.1 IP against them.
The Braves need to take at least two games of this series. Our lineup needs to be more patient at the plate and we need to stop leaving men on base and in scoring position. There’s no excuse. We’ve been injury-ridden, but the offense has to find some consistency on the road.
