First things first, go over to NLEastChatter’s homepage and check out the “Chatter Up!” between myself and Matt F, the Braves Baseball Czar.
Now, what a win!

The legend of Ross Gload continues to grow.

Ricky Nolasco kept the Braves’ bats in check and Ross Gload blasted a walk-off home run to beat Atlanta, 4-3, on Tuesday night before 13,128 fans at Land Shark Stadium.

Heading into the top of the ninth tied at 2, the Braves broke the stalemate when Garret Anderson led off the inning with a solo homer to right field off reliever Leo Nunez. The home run was Anderson’s eighth of the season.

Rafael Soriano tried to shut the door in the ninth but could not. The Braves closer walked Cody Ross on four pitches before John Baker sacrificed Ross to second. That’s when pinch-hitter Ross Gload blasted a 3-1 pitch into the right-field seats to give the Marlins a 4-3 win.

Nolasco squared off against Atlanta’s talented right-hander Jair Jurrjens in a battle for sole possession of second place in the National League East. The Marlins starter had another quality outing, holding the Braves’ hot offense to just two runs on seven hits over seven innings while striking out five. Jurrjens was stingy on the mound as well, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out five.

The third inning was rough for both starters as Atlanta’s Martin Prado continued his hot streak at the plate, driving in Ryan Church with a single to left field. The Marlins answered in the bottom half when Hanley Ramirez drove in Nolasco and Emilio Bonifacio with a one-out double off the left-field scoreboard.

The Braves evened the score when Nolasco gave up a leadoff homer to Chipper Jones in the top of the sixth. Jones finished the game 1-for-4.

Gotta go with Gload for the CCHOTG. First career walk off home run comes in a game against a divisional foe the Marlins were battling with for a wild card spot. Huge home run.

There’s been a lot of chatter of Hermida being moved to Cincy, and after that crap he showed tonight, I’m gonna pack his bags and buy his ticket. I’ve always been a Hermida supporter, but that play in the eighth where he was caught not paying attention and was picked off by Escobar following a one out single was a microcosm of the guys entire career: a great play, followed by one of the most mindnumbingly terrible baserunning gaffs you’ll ever see.

Maybe I’m being too harsh on the guy; we did win, after all. But man, that was infuriating.

Jeremy’s awfully lucky we didn’t need to bring Scott Olsen up tonight.

Got the horse going tomorrow, and you have to love the chances of winning the series with JJ. That would be huge, especially with the rumors that Beinfest is looking to make a move swirling around. Just hope it’s not Cody.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ge-tradenews072509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

The Tigers have some interest in reacquiring outfielder Cody Ross from the Marlins and playing him in right field. Florida looked like they’d be in seller mode after being swept by the Phillies but have played well since and are on the lookout for bullpen help, with the Red Sox trying to interest them in Takashi Saito. If the Phillies acquire Halladay, though, the Marlins may stage a selloff, with outfielder Jeremy Hermida a likely bat to move. Triple-A infielder Gaby Sanchez might also be available.

Eh, not really sure there’s any reason for the Marlins to move Cody right now as he’s their 2nd best everyday player and certainly has more value ot the team than in a trade.

He’s pretty convincingly a better player than Nate McLouth, and the package the Pirates got for him wasn’t all that impressive. You want more than a couple of C prospects for a guy like Cody, who is really one of the better CF in baseball.

Also, not sure why it keeps being reported that we are looking for bullpen arms. None of the guys in the pen looks like he doesn’t belong, and in a worst case scenario (Ayala and Donnelly implode, Kiko’s arm falls off) we’ve got Lindstrom in the wings who could make the kind of impact he did in the 2nd half last year. In all honesty, the bullpen should be the least of our worries.

But then again, the front office seems pleased with Bonifacio’s work this season, so who knows what’s going on in their heads. Either way, this Braves series should decide once and for all whether the team is buying or selling.

Speaking of Bonifacio, the Gaby Sanchez’s time in the Witness Protection Program doesn’t seem to be ending, as he’s been up with the team and had a number of opportunities to see time over the last week and hasn’t had a single at bat.

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Pinch-hitter Jeremy Hermida drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, pinch-hitter Chris Coghlan homered in the eighth and the Florida Marlins kept rolling up the West Coast with a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.

All-Star Josh Johnson (9-2) pitched seven resilient innings as the Marlins followed up a three-game sweep in San Diego with a victory over the major league-leading Dodgers, whose five-game winning streak ended.
After Andre Ethier’s two-run double in the sixth tied it at 3 for Los Angeles, Cody Ross singled off reliever James McDonald (2-2) before Hermida drove him home with a single off Brent Leach.

In his first official start since July 12th in Arizona, Josh Johnson went 7 innings with 3 ER, 5 H, 0 BB and 4 K, making the menacing Dodgers lineup look like any other team when facing JJ. The bullpen, as has become routine as of late, followed him up with 1 hit and 1 walk in 2 innings of work and Leo Nunez once again recording the save.

On the offense, it looked way better than it did in San Diego. The Fish didn’t score a run until a Wes Helms double in the 5th inning to plate Bonifacio but they added two in the 6th, one in the 7th, and two in the 8th to win it 6-3. In the end every Marlins with an PA had a hit but Dan Uggla, with Bonifacio, Helms, and Paulino having multi-hit games. Chris Coghlan had a pinch hit home run in the 8th.

One interesting note: Hermida pinch hit for Carroll when Carroll’s 8th spot came up against a RHP. Dodger manager Joe Torre quickly countered with a LHP from the pen but Hermida was left in, as opposed to Fredi making a second pinch hitting move with Gaby Sanchez. Even more interesting was that Chris Coghlan, not Sanchez, was on deck to PH for Johnson, even though CC has hit .222/.323/.333 in 63 plate appearances vs LHP. With every decision made, it’s becoming more and more puzzling as to why the Marlins called up Gaby Sanchez in the first place.

Well then, now that all that is settled, it’s time for everyone’s favorite segment, the handing out of the Craig Counsell Hero of the Game Award!

Today’s winner is…

It’s a tie!

For keeping one of the top offenses in baseball to 3 runs, the first part of the award goes to Josh Johnson!

And for hitting a 2 out, PH single to bring in the go-ahead run in the 7th, the second part of the award goes to Jeremy Hermida!

You two share now.