Jurrjens shines in ATL debut as Braves drop Hammer on Bucs 10-2

Jair Jurrjens pitched 5 masterful innings before running into a bit of trouble in the 6th. You really could not have asked JJ to do more in his first start, he gave the bullpen the lead and 5 1/3 innings of quality stuff. Jeff Bennett did a nice job of inducing the double play to get Jurrjens off of the hook thus preserving the lead. Jurrjens was given a 3-0 lead following a Matt Diaz HR, his first of the year. The ball was typical Diaz as he hit a monster HR down the RF line. There are maybe 10 guys in the league who can hit the ball down the opposite field line 15 rows deep and Diaz is one of them. The Braves' offense will be improved once Matty proves he is more than a platoon player.

Kelly Johnson sat out Wednesday night while resting his injured right knee but Martin Prado filled in admirably hitting a triple in the first inning and showing some nifty footwork on a double play in the 6th.

The bullpen looked much better tonight and the order shook out exactly as most had predicted outside of the 9th as the Braves did not need Soriano. This is how they appeared Bennett (6th) / Acosta (7th) / Moylan (8th) / Ring (8th) / Resop (8th) / Ohman (9th)

If any of you play fantasy baseball and your league scores points for "holds" Moylan should have significant value in that category, at least until Mike Gonzalez returns. Though he was replaced in the 8th it had more to do with Cox wanting Ring to pitch to LaRoche than anything else. Moylan is a fantastic story as he was out of professional baseball for close to a decade before signing with the Braves after the World Baseball Classic. Look for a complete profile on Moylan in the next couple of days.

The Braves' 7 run rally in the 8th cost Soriano fantasy owners a save opportunity. The hardest part of playing FBB is rooting for your favorite team NOT TO SCORE.

Martin Prado took a nasty spill after colliding with LaRoche near the 1B bag. Luckily Prado was able to shake it off and stay in the game. The Braves really can't afford to lose another middle infielder with Kelly currently on the mend.

Random Notes

• Frenchy had a great at bat in the 2nd inning. After patiently working the count to 3-2 he sat kept his weight back on a change-up and drove the ball through the right side of the infield. Fantasy owners take note. If Frenchy can increase his walk rate (he almost doubled it from 2006 to 2007) and hit the ball the other way he could raise his avg to close to .300


• Of course just as I type the above note Frenchy jumps on the first pitch in the 6th and hits a week ground ball to the 3rd baseman. Still - it's nice to improvement.


• We say this every night at SNS but Escobar hits the ball from foul line to foul line. I see a batting title in his near future.


• Matt Diaz got contacts in the offseason to improve his depth perception. Though this was done for purposes of improving his defense one can't help but think it will also benefit his hitting.


• Brayan Pena rocks the double ear flapped batting helmet- that's a look that is tragically under utilized.


• Royce Ring is likely to be a situational lefty for the pen - hey, every team needs one. To all young lefties out there; if you can throw hard enough to break a pane of glass and can keep it in the strike zone you too can pitch in the league for a dozen years.


• Texeira hit a DEEP 408 ft HR to CF that would have left virtually every park in the league


• Yunel hit a 378 ft HR to left center. If he can continue to hit for power while maintaining his average the Braves have a chance to put a dynamic offense on the field for the next 150+ games. This would give them a significant advantage in October as teams win playoff games with power hitting and power pitching.