Braves Win Phillies Series- Chipper Jones Hurt

Good for the Braves to take another series over the Philadelphia Phillies with a win on Sunday afternoon. The final score was 3-2 Atlanta. They beat Roy Halladay without a Chipper Jones or Jason Heyward. The Braves are 5-4 vs the Phillies this year.

- Tim Hudson pitched 7 innings giving up four hits, two runs, walking five, and striking out three. He got a break today considering his five walks.

- Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel did their usual finishing touches in the 8th and 9th innings. Venters ended up with the win and Kimbrel his tenth save.

- Dan Uggla finally contributed in away and hit his 7th home run in the 8th inning off Halladay. This put the Braves in the lead at 3-2. Uggla was 2-3 with 3 runs and a walk.

- Freeman is responsible for the other two RBI. He was 1-3 with a sac fly.

* Tommy Hanson will be on the mound tomorrow as the Houston Astros visit for a two game series. Hanson has had good success vs. the Astros in his career. Let's hope he can continue that success.

Now the bad news: Chipper Jones has a small meniscus tear in his right knee.

"ATLANTA -- Concerned about the growing discomfort in his right knee, Chipper Jones underwent an MRI exam Sunday afternoon and learned that he has a small meniscus tear.

Braves physician Dr. Marvin Royster provided Jones an injection early Sunday evening with the hope it will provide him some relief while he rests the next couple of days. If it does provide some lasting relief, the 39-year-old third baseman might be able to avoid having the knee repaired via an arthroscopic surgical procedure.

"We'll know in a couple days," Jones said. "If the shot helps then I'll play as long as I can. If the shot doesn't help, then they'll go in and clean it up."

When Jones tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in August, it seemed his left knee might prove to be the problem this year. But while his left knee has cooperated for more than three months, the right knee has proven to be a problem over the past three weeks.

After Jones attempted to run sprints about 10 minutes before the scheduled first pitch of Sunday's game against the Phillies, he removed himself from the lineup. The Braves' medical staff then set up the MRI exam.

"It's been coming on for three weeks," Jones said. "I have good days and bad days. We've treated it. I've taken anti-inflammatories and some pain killers to be able to play. But today, nothing helped."

Jones said he asked if it would be better for him to simply undergo the arthroscopic surgery now and likely miss just a couple of weeks. But Royster gave him some hope that they will be able to simply medicate the ailment.

"Doc Royster seemed to think he could put some stuff up in there that will help it while I'm out for a few days," Jones said.

Jones hit .321 (17-for-52) with four doubles, two homers and a .903 OPS in his first 16 games of the season. He has batted .247 (22-for-89) with nine doubles, two homers and a .788 OPS in the 23 games that have followed."

Let's hope that this heals up and doesn't bother him enough to miss significant time. Braves have already suffered a share of injuries to a couple players this month specifically, Peter Moylan, Brandon Beachy, Jason Heyward and now Chipper Jones.

Braves Win 5-3

After a frustrating loss to the Phillies last night, the Braves recovered today and beat the Phillies 5-3. Last night was one of those "They should of won" games where the Braves had several opportunities to put the game away quickly but didn't. This included two situations with bases loaded and one out. Brian McCann grounded into a double play the first time. Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman struck out for outs two and three the second time. There was a very questionable strike three call that went for a ball as well.

- Jair Jurrjens did his job yet again. He pitched 7.1 innings allowing three hits, two earned runs, walking one and striking out six. He now has five wins, zero loses and a 1.66 ERA to start the season.

- Venters and Kimbrel closed the game out for the final 1.2 innings. Kimbrel got save number nine.

- Martin Prado is definitely player of the week. He was 2-4 with a home run and three RBI today. "Prado has raised his average from .252 to .295 while hitting .386 (22-for-57) this month. In the 22 games the Braves have won this year, Prado has hit .376 (35-for-93) with five homers and 21 RBIs. In their 19 losses, he has hit .205 with one homer and six RBIs." So obviously he is a very important part of the ball club.

- Freddie Freeman collected a couple of hits.

* Tim Hudson will be on the mound tomorrow as the Braves face last years NL Cy Young award winner Roy Halladay. We are going to need an outstanding performance from Hudson in order to have a chance at this one. Just ticks me off that the Braves should of had game one in the bag. They could of finished with another series win regardless of tomorrow's outcome.

The Braves schedule does get easier as they play the Houston Astros followed by the Arizona Diamond Backs after the Phillies series, however, both series are only two games a piece. Winning all four shouldn't be a hard task.

Braves Updates

Going to do a list style here. Sorry for the lack of articles lately.

• Braves barely avoid being swept by the Washington Nationals.

• Braves lose game one of Phillies series. Several runners in a couple of bases loaded opportunities were left stranded in this very frustrating game.
  

• Brandon Beachy heads to the DL with a strained oblique. Replacement is yet to be determined (Minor?).

• Jason Heyward's shoulder is feeling better. Not ready to return full time yet.
  

Braves Lose Two In A Row to Nationals

Boy, do things turn sour quickly in Atlanta.

Errors and blown saves.

Braves Off Day- Phillie Series Catch Up

The Braves have a much needed off day today (Monday) as they head back home to get ready to play the Washington Nationals. The Braves won the series in Philadelphia winning two out of three games. Finally, the Braves look a little more legit, and the best part is that Dan Uggla hasn't even started hitting yet. They get another test as they play the Phillies again starting Friday. This time in Atlanta.

In game two the Phillies returned the favor and shut out the Braves 3-0. Julio Teheran did alright for his first start in the majors. Can't really expect a 20 year old player to throw 9 innings of shut out ball vs. the Phillies in Philadelphia. Either way, it was a good experience for him. I think it's obvious that he is not ready just yet. I hate to say this, but I'm glad he was able to get a start in while the Braves didn't waste one of our regular starters in a game where the offense put up 0 runs.

Game three was good. The Braves beat another good pitcher in Cole Hamels. The final score was 5-2 Braves. Jair Jurrjens keeps on rolling. He threw 6.1 innings and gave up only one run. He is 4-0 to start the season and has a 1.50 ERA. Freddie Freeman might be back on the rise. He was 3-4 with an RBI and two runs. He hit a home run off of Hamels.

* The Braves will play Washington tomorrow with Tim Hudson on the mound. Another complete game shut out for Hudson?