NewsWinning season gives Braves confidence
Atlanta (86-73) vs. Washington (56-103), 7:30 p.m. ET
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
10/02/09 1:32 AM EST
ATLANTA -- Discouraged that they weren't able to complete their goal of reaching the playoffs, the Braves are determined to finish the season strong and maintain some of the momentum they built over the course of the past couple of weeks. Chipper Jones said that if somebody had told him at the beginning of the season that Atlanta would notch 90 victories, he would have predicted a playoff spot.The bid for 90 victories ended on Thursday night, when the Braves lost a third consecutive game. But regardless of what happens the rest of the way, they have come a long way from the 72-90 campaign they endured last year.
"To make that dramatic of a jump gives us a lot of confidence, and it should give Braves fans a lot of confidence that next year we can contend," Jones said. "I don't think there's any doubt in anybody's mind in here that we can be a playoff team next year." The Braves' postseason hopes were erased Thursday afternoon, when the Rockies secured the final National League playoff spot with a win over the Brewers. Entering Tuesday, Atlanta was two games behind Colorado in the NL Wild Card chase and riding the confidence the club had gained while winning 15 of the previous 17 games. The Braves will continue their four-game series against the Nationals on Friday night, when they send Derek Lowe to the mound to make his final start of the season. Lowe signed a four-year, $60 million contract in January and managed to live up to the expectations of his salary while going 7-3 with a 3.44 ERA in his first 13 starts this season. But the veteran sinkerballer became frustrated when he went 8-6 with a 5.42 ERA in the 20 starts that have followed. Like the rest of his teammates, Lowe will be looking to make one final solid impression and provide himself the opportunity to carry some positive momentum into the offseason. "You want to finish the season strong and use that as motivation for next year," Braves right-handed reliever Peter Moylan said. "If we can win out and just miss out by just a couple of games, we can look at it as just a couple of games and be more locked in for next year." Pitching matchupATL: RHP Derek Lowe (15-9, 4.55 ERA)
Lowe provided six solid innings after allowing the Nationals to score twice during the first inning of Sunday's game. He hasn't regained the dominance he possessed at the end of the 2008 season and in the early weeks of this season, but he has allowed three earned runs or fewer in five of his past six starts. Lowe is 1-2 with a 4.28 ERA in five starts against the Nationals this season. WSH: RHP Livan Hernandez (8-12, 5.48 ERA)
Hernandez is making his last start of the season. He believes he has six years left in his baseball career and wants those years to be with the Nationals. It's not a secret how much he loves the city of Washington and respects the Nationals -- so much so that he wanted to be on the team in 2008, so he could pitch the first Opening Day at Nationals Park like he did in 2005 in Robert F. Kennedy Stadium. Hernandez didn't achieve his goal last year, because the two sides couldn't reach an agreement. But being back with Washington this season is good enough for him. Tidbits
Moylan set a franchise record when he made his 85th appearance of the season this week. With Mike Gonzalez's appearance on Thursday night, the Braves became just the 12th team in Major League history to have two pitchers with at least 80 appearances in the same season. ... Javier Vazquez recorded at least five strikeouts in each of his 32 starts this year. Randy Johnson (35 in 1999), Bob Gibson (34 in 1970) and Curt Schilling (33 in 2002) were the only pitchers in Major League history to achieve longer streaks from the start of the season. ... Because it will be part of FOX's Game of the Week package, Saturday's game against the Nationals will start at 4:10 p.m. ET. Tickets
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• 640 WGST, Project 9-6-1 Up next
• Saturday: Braves (Jair Jurrjens, 14-10, 2.61) vs. Nationals (Ross Detwiler, 1-6, 5.35), 4:10 p.m. ET
• Sunday: Braves (Tim Hudson, 2-1, 4.08) vs. Nationals (J.D. Martin, 5-4, 4.69), 1:30 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.
