Section 435 An Atlanta Braves blog. From the upper deck at Turner Field.

Balks be Damned and Your Daily Kotsay

Atlanta 5, San Diego 2. Your trusty blogger resumed his vigil tonight after a harrowing bout with disease.
Talking about composure, Tim Hudson definitely lost his in the second after getting called for a balk. It didn’t look like a balk from 400 feet away, definitely looked like he was throwing to third. The video replay [...]

Two-for-One Reds’ Series Update

I’ve been clobbered by the pollen for the last couple of days, so I’m going to take care of the rest of the series in a single post.
Saturday’s Game
Atlanta 9, Cincinnati 1. Things worth noting:

Jo-Jo Reyes was excellent through 5 but he abruptly lost his command in the 6th. I think pulling him was both [...]

Hudson Triumphant

Atlanta 2, Cincinnati 0. It may have been Ken Griffey Jr. showing up that inspired the crowds to return to the Ted tonight, but it was definitely the Tim Hudson show. He did more than just answer any lingering questions that some of us may have had about his health. He pitched a 3 hit, [...]

The Chuck James Experiment

Atlanta 7, Miami Marlins of Miami 4. The Chuck James Experiment started for the Bravos tonight and yielded precisely the results you’d expect from him: 5 IP, 4 ER. Even a 5 run lead doesn’t feel safe when Chucky toes the rubber. Chucky has an aversion to throwing strikes which leads to high pitch counts [...]

Stranded? Call AAA – Not the Braves

Miami Marlins of Miami 7, Atlanta 2. The story of tonight was our complete inability to drive in runs. 13 runners left on base. We had 12 hits to the Marlins’ 11, but could only manage to plate a pair. Not much more to say than that.
Of course, I can’t help but feel that had [...]

Smoltz 3K Day

Washington 6, Atlanta 0. Smoltz had another special day, worthy of the elite milestone that he achieved. He only needed 4 strikeouts to reach 3,000, but he ended up with 10 in 7 innings. He gave up only 1 earned run.

Unfortunately, Smoltz was outdueled by John Lannan, who was outstanding. He was a completely different [...]

Tim Hudson’s Triumphant Return

Atlanta 7, Washington 3. Hudson returned to the mound tonight after his wonky start last week. The public address announcer referred to his performance as solid when naming him the player of the game, but I think that might be a little generous. His line looked a lot better than his pitching, going 6.2 and [...]

Jair Jurrjens. Delivered.

Atlanta 6, Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles 1. This game was all about Jair Jurrjens. He was fabulous today. If this is a sign of what’s to come from Jair, he will be the anchor of our rotation for years to come.

He threw 7 strong innings, allowing only 1, and striking out 8. Of [...]

Andruw Returns in Fine Form

Atlanta 6, Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles 1. Aside from Kelly Johnson’s uncharacteristic blundering in the infield tonight, you could not have asked for a much better game out of the Braves. Jeff Bennett redeemed himself for his last couple of performance with 4.2 strong innings on short rest. The bullpen acquitted itself well, [...]

Snatching Victory from the Jaws of a Closer Victory

The Braves found a way to blow another one-run game – this time by scoring two in the 9th. Tim Hudson was brilliant, again. He’s on his way to another Cy Young half-season. Unfortunately, we put some insurance on the board and won by 3, so we’ve still yet to win one of those all-important [...]