Ryan Langerhans Traded To A's

Langerhans, who was hitting .068 at the conclusion of today's play (a 9-7 loss to the Rockies), was traded to the Oakland A's for either a player to be named later or cash. Willie Harris was called up from Richmond to take the roster spot. He will hit singles and steal some bases, but I wouldn't expect much more from him. I do expect him to hit more than .068.

I do feel sorry for Ryan, and I wish him the best in Oakland and that his career doesn't fall down a cliff like Charles Thomas's and Dan Meyer's, the last two former Braves to be traded to Oakland.

Braves Held To Two Hits, Shut Out By Nats

The Braves had one hit in eight innings. They loaded the bases with two out against Chad Cordero, but Scott Thorman struck out and the Nationals won 2-0 to snap their six game losing streak.

Jason Bergmann had six innings of one-hit ball for the Nationals and Jesus Colome and Jon Rauch held the Braves hitless. Chad Cordero allowed a single and two walks, but was able to finish the game off.

John Smoltz went eight innings and allowed two runs in the eighth, on RBI singles by Ronnie Belliard and Ryan Zimmerman. Macay McBride and Tyler Yates managed to hold the Nats off the board in the ninth.

The offense has been positively anemic this season so far, batting just .226 as a team through tonight's game. Now the Marlins come to town next. Everyone send alarm clocks to the Braves' bats so they can wake up.

W - Jason Bergmann (1-1)
L - John Smoltz (1-1)
S - Chad Cordero (1)

Three Stars
P Jason Bergmann - 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 8 SO
P John Smoltz - 8 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO
2B Ronnie Belliard - 1-5. GW RBI

Braves Get Late Burst of Runs, Beat Nats

The Jones boys homered in the same game for the 56th time, and the Braves put enough distance in front of the Nationals and won 8-3, extending their winning streak to four games and extending Washington's losing streak to six.

Chipper Jones opened up the scoring with a long two-run homer to right-center, his first of the season, and it stayed that way for a while. There were some wasted opportunities on both sides; Washington left 11 men on base and the Braves left seven. Chuck James allowed no runs through six innings of work and after Jerome Williams allowed Chipper's homer in the first, he didn't allow anymore runs the rest of his five innings. Andruw Jones made it 5-0 with a long three-run shot to left off of Ryan Wagner. This would prove to be very helpful, as Rafael Soriano had his first bad outing of the season, allowing three runs on four hits in the eighth. Kelly Johnson's two-run double and Renteria's subsequent RBI single made it 8-3, and Bob Wickman closed it off with a so-so ninth. He allowed a hit and a walk, but no runs.

The Braves are 7-1 for the first time since 1995, which is very encouraging. They've had the pitching. Now, they need the offense to be a little more timely and consistent. Then they'll be smoking. :D

W - Chuck James (2-0)
L - Jerome Williams (0-2)
HR - Chipper Jones (1)
Andruw Jones (2)

Three Stars
P Chuck James - 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 SO
3B Chipper Jones - 2-5, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
CF Andruw Jones - 1-4, HR, R, 3 RBI

Glavine Loses Again To Braves, Wilson Saves Day

Tom Glavine pitched against the Braves for the 16th time tonight. Before this game, he had a 3-9 record with a 5.68 ERA, the worst against any other team with more than 10 games started against them. The Braves made it worse and tacked on another loss to that record, defeating the Mets 5-3.

But they almost didn't.

John Smoltz started the game for the Braves and pitched all right, giving up just two runs in six innings, despite a WHIP near 2 for the game. Paul LoDuca drove in the first run for the Mets with a solo homer, but the Braves got it right back with an RBI groundout by Jeff Francoeur. Matt Diaz hit a solo shot off of Glavine in the bottom of the second to put the Braves up 2-1. In the top of the fifth, Jose Reyes walked, reached third on an infield groundout and Carlos Beltran singled him home.

The Braves scored three in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to two sac flies and a bases-loaded single. The Mets got a run back in the seventh and the scored remained so going into the ninth. With one out, Carlos Delgado walked and David Wright singled him to third. Moises Alou flew out to center field and Wright stole second.

Shawn Green then smacked what looked like a double to right, which would have tied the game, but it found Craig Wilson's glove instead, sealing the game for the Braves.

W - John Smoltz (1-0)
L - Tom Glavine (1-1)
S - Bob Wickman (2)
HR - NYM - Paul LoDuca (1)
ATL - Matt Diaz (1)

Three Stars
1B Craig Wilson - 1-2, R, BB; game-winning catch made on Shawn Green line drive
P John Smoltz - 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO, W
RF Shawn Green - 3-5, 2B, RBI