Atlanta Braves
The Dodgers took down the Braves last night after a short start from Sean Newcomb, winning 7-4, but there were still lots of good outcomes in this one. We witnessed Nick Markakis collect his 2,000th career hit and also saw Ozzie Albies get his first of many hits as he launched a three-run homer.
Alex Wood got his revenge last night against the Braves after having his worst start of the season against Atlanta a few weeks ago. He looked like the guy he had been all year last night against his former team, going six innings allowing seven hits and just one run.
On the braves side, it was Sean Newcomb who went just 4 2/3 innings giving up three runs, but only four hits. The Problem??? Walks… He gave up seven of them also striking out that many in the process. His control issues are becoming a reoccurring issue, much like they were throughout the minors.
The Braves scored in first inning after a two out single by Freddie and then a double into the gap by Tyler Flowers. In the 3rd inning, the control issues started to kick in for Sean Newcomb, who walked a batter and gave up two hits, proceeding to walk the bases loaded. Luckily, he was able to get out of the inning allowing just a single run. In the 4th, Newcomb walked the lead off hitter and two hitters later, gave up a two-run homer to Chris Taylor. Nick Markakis got his 2,000th career hit with a one out single to left field in the bottom of the fourth. Fast forward to the 7th inning when Enrique Hernandez hit an RBI single and Yasiel Puig grounded into a double play that scored a run. In the 9th, Austin Barnes hit an RBI double to score Logan Forsythe off of Ian Krol. In the bottom half of the ninth, with the Braves down by six, Ozzie Albies came up after the first two hitters got on base and came up with his first major league hit. A three-run shot to left center field into the first row of seats. It would not be enough though, as the Dodgers won it by a score of 7-4.
After the game, Sean Newcomb spoke to the media about his walks problem and said “I’ve just got to do a better job of pounding the zone and stop trying to miss so many bats. I think I’m trying to be too fine, trying to punch people out and making things happen myself.” Braves manager Brian Snitker also said that Newcomb isn’t walking these guys on purpose and that he is just trying to do a little too much, but that they are going to continue to let him take the mound and figure these things out.
Alex Wood improved to 13-1 this season, while Sean Newcomb fell to 1-6. The Braves hitting wasn’t bad at all last night, except for again… leaving runners on. They left seven on base and went just 2-8 with RISP, but everyone in the order got at least one hit with the exception of the pitcher. The Braves actually out hit the Dodgers 11-9 but couldn’t pull the trigger when needed to. For the Dodgers, they didn’t hit great. They had nine hits with five of them off of the bullpen pitchers but did draw a lot of walks. They too did very bad with runners on, even worse than the Braves, leaving eleven on base and were 3-13 with RISP
The Dodgers won the series 2-1, but the Braves are glad that they squeaked one in there. After a short rain delay, twenty hits allowed and eleven walks given up by both teams combined, the game still managed to finish in 3 1/2 hours. The Dodgers now head to New York to play three with the Mets, including Yu Darvish making his debut, and the Braves stay home and invite Miami to play three with the fish.
The struggling Braves are looking for some wins this weekend against a team that has won seven of their last ten games. It will be Adam Conley for the Marlins and R.A Dickey for the Braves, who was placed on revocable waivers a few days ago, so any of these next few starts could be his last in a Braves uniform. The game starts at 7:35 and its John Schuerholtz poster giveaway night as well as Fireworks night. Should be a fun one, and hopefully the Braves can make it look better with a win on Friday night at SunTrust Park.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons continue training cap as we inch closer to the first preseason game. If you have yet to do so, go ahead and start checking our week by week season predictions for your Falcons. We break down and predict every game this season to get you prepped and ready to go for what should be a fantastic year of football for Atlanta fans.
Below are the links for weeks 1-4:
https://sportstalkatl.com/atlanta-falcons-3-things-to-continue-to-watch-at-training-camp/