The Atlanta Braves finished the 1st half of the baseball season with 10-7 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Braves were in complete control of this game until the Braves reached into their bullpen in the 8th inning. Luckily, the Braves offense put up 10 runs which ended up being enough cushion for the Braves to grab the series clinching victory going into the All-Star break.
This was the second consecutive game in which the Braves scored ten runs or more. It was a similar cast of characters who were involved in the Atlanta thumping from the day before. Chris Johnson went 3 for 4 including a 3-run homerun in the 3rd inning that put the Braves up 7-0. This was Johnson’s third homerun in 2 days, and during these two games Johnson has gone 5 for 9 with 3 homeruns and 7 RBI’s.
Justin Upton and Jason Heyward went a combined 4 for 9 with 1 RBI and 4 runs scored. In the past two games Upton and Heyward have combined to go 8 for 18 with 6 RBI’s and 6 runs scored. Atlanta’s 4 through 6 hitters have been providing the big hits for this offense in the past two days, for Atlanta’s sake they hope it continues when they resume play on Friday.
Even though Upton, Heyward, and Johnson are driving in runs you have to have somebody getting on base. Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons has been doing that consistently since being move to the 2nd spot in the lineup.
Now, Simmons did not record a hit on Sunday but he did walk three times and he scored two of those times he reached base. Since being moved to the 2nd spot on June 27th against the Phillies, Simmons is batting .314 with a .376 OBP. Simmons has been one of the best hitters in all of MLB in the month of July, and he has been one of the main reasons why the Braves offense has been better of late.
The crushing blow for the Cubs came in the 7th inning when the Braves had the bases loaded with 2-outs. Tommy La Stella came up and drilled bases clearing double to give the Braves a 10-2 lead. That 3-run knock proved to be vital for the Braves as they ended up surrendering five more runs which would have tied the game if it wasn’t for La Stella.
Lost in this game, that featured 17 total runs, was the pitching performance by Atlanta Braves All-Star pitcher Julio Teheran. Teheran went 7 innings allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out six batters. All four runs came on 2-run homers and one of them came after a misplay defensively by La Stella that led to the homer by Chris Coghlan.
Teheran was able cruise comfortably after the Braves gained a big lead early. Teheran had a hand in the offense as he drove in a run in the 2nd on a groundout. This was just the kind of start Teheran needed going into the All-Star break after having a rough outing against the Mets. Since Teheran pitched Sunday he will not be able to pitch in the Midsummer Classic, but at least he will be recognized for his great 1st half during the festivities.
When you score 10 runs in a game you don’t figure on using your closer. But because of the disappointing outings by the Braves setup guys the All-Star closer had to close the deal in the 9th.
Thanks to a great defensive play by Justin Upton, crashing up against the ivy covered brick wall, Kimbrel was able to have an uneventful outing before the All-Star break. That gave Kimbrel his 29th save of the season and it lowered his ERA to 1.91. This might have been a warm-up outing for Kimbrel as he might be closing out the All-Star game to give the National League home field advantage in the World Series.
The Atlanta Braves finished the 1st half with a 52-43 record that leaves them tied for 1st place with the Washington Nationals in the NL East. This is two games off the pace from a year ago and considering some of the early injuries to the pitching staff and the offensive struggles this is a pretty good start.
The Braves have started to improve their offensive woes and if they can continue to improve that and get similar results from their pitching staff there is no telling what the Braves can do in the 2nd half.