Braves win Opener!

Atlanta started the season with a 4-1 win at the home of the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies. Derek Lowe pitched brillantly in his Braves debut, giving up only 2 hits in eight shutout innings.
Brian McCann provided a two run homer in the top of the first.

Jeff Francoeur and Jordan Schafer each homered in the top of the second off Phillies' starter Brett Myers. Schafer's home run came was a bomb to center and came in his first major league at bat.Chipper added a couple of hits. This team looks like it will be much more competitive than last year's squad if injuries can be avoided by the starters and the bullpen can avoid meltdowns like the one Mike Gonzalez teased Phillies fans with in the bottome of the ninth.
This is the first season opener since I became a Braves fan that Skip Caray isn't with us. I always loved listening to Skip and he and the rest of the crew were like members of the family when TBS was showing the Braves. I miss ya Skip. I'm sure you are smiling tonight. RIP sir!
GO Braves!

Chipper hits number 400!

Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones hit career home run number 400 last night in the Braves 7-5 win over the Florida Marlins. Chipper became the third switch hitter of all-time to hit at least 400 home runs. He also went 4 for 5 at the plate to raise his league leading batting average to .418.



Congrats to Chipper and here's to continued good luck and success for the rest of the year.

Reports from the game Yahoo Sports

ESPN

Braves bounce back

The Atlanta Braves recovered from Friday Night's beating at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks and won today's game 3-1. The Braves got a second straight, albeit short, outing from pitcher Jorge Campillo and two hits apiece from Chipper and Jeff Francoeur. Unfortunately, Campillo had to leave after four shutout innings because of a blister.

Chipper is now hitting a league leading .417 and Frenchy hit his fifth home run of the year in the bototm of the ninth to win it for the hometeam. It seems that Jeff's bat is heating up. Now if Tex's will and Smoltzie will get back, it'll be go time.

To view the boxscore, click ESPN

Speaking of Smoltz, here's an article from ESPN.com Smotlz

Braves sweep Mets!

The Atlanta Braves swept the New York Mets in a four game series in Atlanta this week. Home has been the place to be for the Braves this year as they have the major's best home record this year. The Braves' bats were on fire and the pitching staff shut down the New York offense. Atlanta is now in second place in the NL East and awaiting the return of John Smoltz, Mike Hampton and closer Rafael Soriano from the disabled list. The first boost from a return from the disabled list might be around the corner as John Smoltz will start a rehab assignment at Double A Mississippi

Chipper Jones continued to swing a hot bat and Jeff Francoeur showed signs of breaking out of his slump. When Mark Texiera's bat gets going look for the offensive output to experience a surge in production.




Finally, Bobby Cox signed a contract extension to remain manager of the Braves for an additional year. Read more about it here

Happy Birthday to Chipper Jones

Today is the 36th birthday of Atlanta Braves Third Baseman Chipper Jones. The future Hall of Famer started his night off with a single in the bottom of the first in Atlanta's game vs the Florida Marlins and hit his seventh home run of the season to center in the second inning. The Braves are currently batting in the bottom of the third inning and have the lead 6-2. Edit: Chipper finished the game 3-3 with one walk as the Braves beat the Marlins 7-4.
Chipper's had a fantastic start and hopefully he will have a healthy season this year.

Another Huge night for Chipper and the Braves!

For the second consecutive night Chipper Jones hit 2 home runs to lead the Braves to victory as the Braves beat the Dodgers 6-1 Friday Night. Chipper hit a three-run homer off Dodgers pitcher Derek Lowe in the fifth inning and added a solo shot off of Chan Ho Park in the seventh. He ended the evening 3 for 5 and raised his average to a National League best .455 and has a National League best 18 RBIs too.



Jeff Francoeur accounted for the Braves' other run with an RBI single in the 2nd inning. Great to see the Braves' bats come to life and always great to have Chipper pounding the ball to all fields.

Friday's USAToday reported that Chipper is leading the Majors in hitting since the start of the 2006 season for all players with 700 or more at bats. Since then, Chipper is hitting .336 overall; .356 with 43 home runs and 145 RBI hitting left-handed and .294 with 14 homers and 54 RBI batting right-handed.

Big night for Chipper, Smoltz, and the Braves

Following a closed door meeting before tonight's game, Chipper Jones went 4-for-4 with a double and two homers, and John Smoltz recorded 10 strikeouts in five dominating innings, to lead the Atlanta Braves to a much needed 8-0 victory over the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium Thursday Night. Chipper, Mark Texiera and Brian McCann hit back to back to back homers in the top of the fifth to put the game out of reach. It was the first time the Braves hit three consecutive home runs since May, 2003, when Rafael Furcal, Mark DeRosa and Gary Sheffield performed the feat.
Chipper is now leading the National League in hitting with a .443 average. This was the 37th multi-homer game in his career.

In improving his record to 3-0 this year, Smoltzie lowered his ERA to a miniscule 0.56. This start has been in spite him having to battle tightness in his shoulder. John is now 4 strikeouts away from 3,000 in his career. ESPN reported that Smoltz was the first pitcher since 1900 (that is not a typo) to pitch exactly five shutout innings with ten strikeouts in a win.