News
Rotation gets credit for Braves' run
Atlanta (86-71) vs. Florida (84-74), 7:00 p.m. ET
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
09/30/09 1:17 AM ET
ATLANTA -- Braves general manager Frank Wren has received many compliments regarding his offseason reconstruction of a rotation that possessed Jair Jurrjens as its only definite carryover at the conclusion of the 2008 season. Now as this year's regular season nears its end, Wren is getting to reap the benefits of his labor. While winning 15 of their past 18 games, the Braves have displayed the game's best starting rotation and given their fans a chance to believe. "To be playing for something and watching the scoreboard every night, makes it fun for everyone," said Wren, whose club snapped a seven-game winning streak on Tuesday night and fell three games behind the front-running Rockies in the National League Wild Card race with just five games to play. Before Tuesday night's loss, the Braves handed out stickers that read "Believe," and their fans will certainly be hoping that Javier Vazquez will restore some belief when he takes the mound to face the Marlins during Wednesday night's series finale at Turner Field. Vazquez has proved to be even better than the Braves could have imagined in December, when they acquired him via a trade with the White Sox. The 33-year-old right-hander's 2.83 ERA would easily rank as a career best, and his 229 strikeouts rank as the second-most in the NL. "We felt like we were getting a quality pitcher. We loved everything about him since his days in Montreal, and he's just reinforced that with the way he's pitched this year and the way he handles and carries himself around the club," Wren said. "He's a favorite of everyone." Vazquez has gone 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA in his past four starts. Showing the depth of the Braves rotation, this span has actually been trumped by Jurrjens, who has gone 4-0 with an 0.62 ERA in his past four starts. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other Braves pitchers who have produced better four-start spans during Bobby Cox's current tenure as Atlanta's manager were Tom Glavine (4-0 with a 0.62 ERA in 1998) and Greg Maddux (4-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 2000). "We feel real good about the type of people we brought in the organization and where they can take us," said Wren, who also acquired Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami during the offseason. "If we can get into the postseason, we feel like we have the kind of pitching that would show very well." If the Braves are going to reach the postseason, they know that they may have win each of their remaining games. In order to do so, they'll need Vazquez to end the recent struggles that he's experienced against the Marlins. Over the course of his past 21 starts, Vazquez has gone 11-5 with a 2.41 ERA. Minus the three starts he made against the Marlins during that span, he would have a 1.87 ERA. Vazquez and the Braves don't have time to worry about what happened in the past. Instead, they're focused on regaining the confidence they'd possessed entering Tuesday. Pitching matchupATL: RHP Javier Vazquez (15-9, 2.83 ERA)
The right-hander is coming off a dominating performance against the Nationals last Friday night. He threw a three-hitter in a complete-game victory over Washington. Vazquez now has won four straight games and continues to be one of the NL's most solid performers. The Braves need this from him to keep up any hopes of pulling out the Wild Card berth. FLA: RHP Ricky Nolasco (12-9, 5.28 ERA)
Nolasco held the Mets to three runs on four hits over seven innings while striking out seven. Despite the solid performance, Nolasco's outing did not get off to a good start. In the second inning, the Mets strung together three hits, the last being a Jeff Francoeur three-run homer, but the right-hander was able to hold New York to just one hit over his final five innings. Tidbits
With his third-inning homer on Monday, Chipper Jones increased his career total to 426 and moved into a tie with Billy Williams for 40th on the all-time home run list. Next on the list is Mike Piazza, who collected 427 homers. ... Ryan Church was away from the team for three days last week while tending to his wife, who is expecting to soon give birth to their latest child. ... The Marlins have won nine of the 17 games played against the Braves this year. ... The Braves honored longtime Atlanta sportscaster Chuck Dowdle before Tuesday night's game. Dowdle, who has spent the past 24 years at WSB-TV, will retire later this year. Tickets
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• 640 WGST, Project 9-6-1 Up next
• Thursday: Braves (Tommy Hanson, 11-4, 2.98) vs. Nationals (TBD), 7:00 p.m. ET
• Friday: Braves (Derek Lowe, 15-9, 4.55) vs. Nationals (TBD), 7:30 p.m. ET
• Saturday: Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 14-10, 2.61) vs. Nationals (TBD), 4:10 p.m. ET
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
