The Horror…The Horror…

Glavine went six last night, which was one less than I needed to become world conqueror, but one more than I thought he would actually do. Despite back to back solo homers (vintage Glavine, really, giving up the bases empty shots but bull dogging it with men on) Glavine looked good. If only he could have hung in one more inning the Braves may have avoided the 7th inning apocalypse.

Chipper had another good night, going 2 for 5 with his 8th homer of the year. The rest of the offense was lackluster, leaving men on base, striking out at inoportune times, and generally looking like a team that would only score two runs. The most egregious offense (or lack of offense) came in the 7th inning when they put men on the corners with no outs and proceeded to ground into three straight outs.

To make it more fun, Smoltz hit the DL for the second time this season. Dr. James Andrews, according to ESPN, diagnosed him with rotator cuff inflammation and gave him an injection at the point of swelling. The reccomendation is to rest, and not pitch, until the swelling goes down and the discomfort desists. That could be a fair amount of time based on Smoltz’s reaction and the nature of the injury. Hopefully, he will be able to return in a few weeks and again be a productive member of the staff.

I haven’t heard who the call up will be to replace Smoltz. Since he has been put on the DL, the Braves are allowed to call up James, and its my guess that that is who they will use. I’d like to see Charlie Morton get the call. He’s pitched 26 innings with 23 strikeouts against 11 walks and 19 hits. He has yet to issue a Home Run. Cox loved him over spring training and while he has been a wild, it would be fun to see what he does against Major League pitching.

In other “Minor League News”, Mike Hampton is pitching right down the road in Durham, for the Richmond Braves today. It’s possibly his final rehab outing before rejoining the big club and pitching on Saturday the 10th. It still kills me that he strained his pec while warming up. I just don’t know what to say about it? Ever piece of his body appears to be hanging by the thinnest of threads. I worry that he’s going to detach a retinae snapping his to the side as a line drive whizzes by. Though, with his luck, the line drive will hit him dead on and detach his entire face.

Braves vs. Nats, again, tonight. Jair Jurrjens takes the mound against Shawn Hill. Jurrjens has been a nice consistent addition to the staff and Shawn Hill was awesome while playing for one of my minor league teams on EA Baseball, so I assume this will be quite the pitcher’s duel.