Welcome to another edition of Chatter Up! This time around we will be discussing two teams right in the middle of things in the NL East, The Atlanta Braves Vs. The Florida Marlins.

Answering our Questions about the Braves we have Conor Tapp from “The Braves Baseball Blog”

Q: Are the Braves beginning to worry at all about the lack of production they are getting out of their long time All Star Chipper Jones?
A: With Chipper’s, um… advancing age, this kind of continued decline in health and productivity should be expected. In the off-season, I was an advocate of moving Chipper to first to see if that would keep him healthy and signing a defense-first third baseman to go with the Braves’ groundball-heavy pitching staff, but that’s not the path Frank Wren chose to take. Still, with a wOBA of .334, Chipper hasn’t been terrible  when he’s able to play. I wouldn’t sweat the .226 BA. That will be up in the .280s by the end of the season.

Q: Do you envision Jason Heyward continuing his early success to help carry the load offensively for the Braves?
A: Yes, but I’d expect a near-term decline or at least leveling of his performance. Is that answer a cop-out? Yes. Does it also happen to be true? Also yes.

Q: Although Tim Hudson seems to have returned to ace form, are the braves worried about the early struggles of Jair Jurrjens and how he will Perform once he returns from the DL?
A: Allow me to use this opportunity to declare that Tim Hudson has not returned to ace form. He has issued 23 unintentional walks to 26 strikeouts in 60 innings. That 65% groundball rate is covering up those warts, but I wouldn’t expect Hudson to be so fortunate all season long barring some sort of improvement. As far as Jurrjens goes, I’m worried about the heavy workload he has been asked to bear over the past couple of seasons and the effect that might have on his health and performance. Kris Medlen offers a nice short-term (and possibly long-term) solution and might even be better than Jurrjens. As for the long view, with Julio Teheran and Arodys Vizcaino shredding minor league batters, Jurrjens is probably going to be a #4 starter for this club 2-3 years down the road. So while Jurrjens’ issues are troublesome as far as Jair is concerned, the Braves as a whole will survive with or without him.

Q: Do you believe this week’s Matchup between the Braves and Marlins will give us some good insight as to who the stronger team is in this Divisional Race?

A: I think it will give us a clear picture of who might win a three game series if these two teams played in May.

Q: Are the players feeling any added pressure to win this season knowing this is Bobby Cox’s final year as Manager?
A: I have no idea. I guess some of the veterans might sweat over it when they’re lying awake in bed at night, but I doubt it enters their thought process when they’re on the field.

Answering our questions concerning the Florida Marlins we have Chris Tower of “FishGuts Blog”

Q: With the Marlins playing the Braves and their young super star Jason Hewyard, How long will it be till the Marlins bring up their own future star in Mike Stanton?

A: From what I understand, the Marlins are likely waiting until the Super Two arbitration deadline passes, much in the same way the Nats are with Strasburg. Strasburg’s ETA is 6/4 or something around then, but with Stanton it’s a little more complicated.
The Marlins have Chris Coghlan, last year’s rookie of the year, and Cameron Maybin, a big part of the Miguel Cabrera both struggling in the outfield right now, so they have to figure out which one will be replaced when Stanton comes up. That’s the biggest question, so I think they’ll wait until the interleague series at Tampa Bay in June to call him up, that way they get a couple of DH series to get all three in the lineup and see which two stick. My guess is he’ll but up no later than a week after Strasburg.

Q: What is going to be the Marlins Key to keep in this Division race as the season goes on?

A: Starting pitching. The starters have, for the most part, been phenomenal this year, especially over the last 5 weeks, where they have something like a sub 3.5 ERA collectively. If that keeps up, the offense will figure itself out and they’ll go grab a left handed relief pitcher to shore up the bullpen.

Q:  How has both Hanley and the team handled the situation since his benching and team apology?

A: Hanley’s relationship with the team doesn’t seem any more stressed than it had been before. Hanley has had these situations before, he’s just immature, and you have to learn to live with it. He’s living proof that someone who is great at the sport doesn’t necessarily have to be a great role model or a great face for the franchise. He just wants to play the game, and that’s fine for me. Not everyone is Derek Jeter.

Q:  Do you see any difference in this Marlins team compared to the last few seasons where they can make a real push for a playoff spot?

A: Go back to question 2. The starting pitching goes 4 deep with quality that are pitching very well, and Nate Robertson is kind of a perfect upper tier NL #5 pitcher. they are going deep into games, and so it’s letting the bullpen pitch in spots, rather than out of need, and it’s helping a lot. The bullpen has battened down since a rocky start. That being said, I’m still not sure it’s a playoff team. Stanton’s going to go a long way in making me think they are. If he goes Jason Heyward on the league, the Marlins can be very scary.

5)  Does Fredi Gonzalez have full support from the Marlins organization for the way he handled the Hanley situation?

A: 100%, from the beginning. They were very public in supporting Fredi’s choice, no matter what. Pretty much every fan and writer supported him too. He handled it perfectly.

Special Thanks to both Conor Tapp and Chris Tower for their help this week.

To read more about these teams check out their blogs

Braves Baseball Blog

Fish Guts Blog

Labor Day Weekend is here but that doesn’t mean we here at NLEastChatter take a day off. Without further ado I give you the “Labor Day Edition” of the “NL East Daily Recap“.

Nelson Figueroa was a victim of the Long-ball as Home-runs by Aramis Ramirez in the 4th and Derek Lee in the 5th proved too much for the Mets to overcome as the Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 5-3. To read more check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

Kaz Matsui’s bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth off Phillie’s closer Brad Lidge helped the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4. It was Brad Lidge’s (0-7) 10th blown save of the year. To read more check out The Phillies Phandom Blog.

Jair Jurrjens (10-10) only gave up 3 runs over 7 innings but it wasn’t enough as Kip Wells (1-3) gave up 0 runs over 6 innings helping the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 keeping the Braves 8.5 games back of the Phillies. To read more check out The Braves Baseball Blog.

Josh Johnson (14-4) gave up 1 run over 5 innings and Hanley Ramirez hit a 2-run HR in the 4th helping the Florida Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 9-5. Livan Hernandez (7-10) gave up 6 earned runs over 5 innings putting the Nats in a hole that they never dug out of. To read more check out The Fish Guts Blog for all your Marlins info and The Centerfield Gate Blog for all things Nats.

Forty years ago – in August of 1969 – the New York “Miracle” Mets were on their way to one of the greatest runs in modern Major League Baseball history (and a world championship), and all because of the great play of pitchers like Tom Seaver and hitters like Cleon Jones. The Chicago Cubs helped: engineering one of the all-time memorable collapses of the twentieth century. That’s a fading memory now, but at least some of that era was on display at Wrigley Field on Sunday, as Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa hurled like the Seaver of old against the Mets’ traditional N.L. rivals – the North Siders of Chicago – striking out ten Cubbies and leading New York’s entry in the senior circuit to a decisive 4-1 victory.

Figueroa pitched seven complete innings and struck out ten, one of his best outings of the year, and one of the best outings by a Mets starting pitcher in the last month. Relievers Brian Stokes and Frankie Rodriguez pitched the game’s last two innings nearly effortlessly, adding a nearly flawless coda to the victory. To add to the win, the team hit well: every Mets starter had a hit, led by Angel Pagan, who had three, victimizing Chicago ace Carlos Zambrano, who suffered through his second shaky outing. The victory salvaged an otherwise depressing Mets visit to Chicago, where the New Yorkers had been defeated in two of three previous outings. The Mets are in the air to face the Rockies, before returning home to once again face the Cubs. You can read all about it, and you oughta, at The Real Dirty Mets Blog, where there’s a wrap up of the game – and all the news about the New York Mets.

There’s nothing boring about pitcher’s duels – as the Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals proved today, in a knock-down-drag-out of curve ball finessers at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. This was supposed to be no contest: with a kid with no experience, Garrett Mock, going up against a wizened ace, Adam Wainwright. But Mock and Wainwright dueled for six nail biting innings, matching nearly pitch-for-pitch in a equalizer that left both teams with nearly the same number of hits and runs. But when the game was ended, Mock ended up on the short end of the scoreboard, a 2-1 loser.

The difference in the game was a high fastball to Albert Pujols on a 3-2 count that the closest player to Lou Gehrig in the modern era put up the middle for a single in the sixth inning that broke a one-to-one tie – the difference, as it turned out, in the game. It was clear from the way that the pitch was thrown that Mock hoped that Pujols would either lay off the pitch (and walk) or swing and miss (and take his place on the bench). But you don’t throw a 3-2 fastball to Albert Pujols on a hope: another lesson for Washington’s young pitching staff. The St. Louis and Washington hitters
attempted to change the outcome in the last innings (both Mock and Wainwright left after six) but in vain – and the game ended as Mock and Wainwright had left it. And so Washington was swept in three games in St. Louis, but with this slight caveat: in this last game at least, the Nats showed that one of their young pitchers can go toe-to-toe with the best and play the game the way it ought to be played. To read about the game and get all the latest news on the Nationals, be sure to check in on Centerfield Gate blog.

The long difficult slide that the Florida Marlins have had against the otherwise hapless San Diego Padres is finally over – and not a moment too soon. The Marlins broke their losing streak on Saturday with an impressive outing from one of their big, young pitchers. Sean West, one of the big arms of their future, showed that he can step into the big leagues, with an impressive six inning seven hit showing against the Padres in Miami, giving the Marlins a victory and putting them back in the win column. The Marlins bats showed up, after being nearly silent the last two games, putting six
well-earned runs on the board with well-timed fourth inning hit from rookie Chris Coghlan – his 46th of August (a Marlins’ record). But the story today was West. “It’s huge just to know I can contribute like I am right now,” said West, who’s only 23 said. “I’m just trying to get six-plus innings in every time I go out.” This was West’s fifteenth start.

The Marlins had only six hits in the game, but they made them count in the 6-4 victory. Marlins manager, Fredi Gonzalez, thinking of the schedule ahead and the games remaining before the end of the season, was relieved: “I don’t
know if it’s desperation, but we’ve got to win ballgames,” he said. “When we pitch well, we’re a good club. When that doesn’t happen, we don’t look very good. But that’s not only us, that’s the other 29 Major League teams. When
you don’t pitch, it doesn’t look so good.” On Monday, the Marlins face the real test: three games versus division rival Atlanta at home. They then face-off against the Washington Nationals in Washington before heading back home to face the Mets. Then it’s back home to once again face the Nats. That’s twelve games in a row against the N.L. East. It won’t be long now and the Marlins will know whether they’ll be playing in the post season or practicing their putting in Broward County. For all the news about the Marlins, and Sunday’s game, be sure to go to our friends over at Fish Guts blog.

The Atlanta Braves went into Philadelphia with high hopes, and they battled and battled and battled – but when it was all over, the Phillies increased their lead in the N.L. East, and the Braves faded. Nor did the Braves creep any closer to the top of the wild card standings. The Braves are now 8.5 games back in the N.L. East with just over one month left in the season. Time is short and getting shorter. For the Phillies, the news couldn’t be better: they took the last game of their match-up against the Braves at sold-out Citizens Bank Park on Sunday night 3-2. But it was oh-so-close. Up until the seventh inning, Jair Jurrjens was in command of the game, throwing his fastball by a tough Phillies line-up. But a throwing error by third baseman Chipper Jones proved costly, leading to two Phillies runs – and the game. The error put runners at second and third and one batter later, Phillies’ hitter Carlos Ruiz put a ball into the left field corner, scoring two: “One thing about playing against the Phillies is that you can’t make mistakes,” Jones said. “If you make mistakes against them, they’re going to take advantage of it, which is what good teams do. We ended up making a couple of mistakes tonight and it ended up burning us.”

If Atlanta rued the error, Philadelphia credited themselves with clutch hitting – and staying in the game. Joe Blanton, often overlooked as one of the Phillies most dependable arms, pitched seven innings of three hit ball and the Phillies bullpen shit down the Braves lumber when it counted. Brad Lidge looked particularly effective – coming up with his 27th save. Atlanta now heads to Florida where they must win, while Philadelphia has a day off on Monday, before welcoming the San Francisco Giants. Oddly, the Phillies can help the Braves a lot by winning against Frisco, but the Braves can only help themselves in Miami. All of this will be the subject of great interest to our N.L. East Chatter blogs. You can read about the Phillies road trip at Phillies Phandom and be sure to keep up with the Braves at Braves Baseball Blog.

(AP Photo/Gregory Smith)

Omar Infante’s  single in the ninth inning gave the Braves a walk-off 4-3 win over the Phillies. Atlanta is now five games back of division-leading Philadelphia. To read more from the winning team check out Braves Baseball Blog. To read more from the losing team check out Phillies Phandom.

(AP Photo/Newsday, David Pokress)

David Wright suffered a concussion after being hit in the head in the 4th inning by a Matt Cain fastball. After the Mets scored 3 runs in the eighth to tie the game 4-4 Francisco Rodriguez allowed a 10th-inning homer giving the S.F. Giants the win by a score of 5-4. To read more checkout The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

(AP Photo/Tony Tribble)

Washington Nationals thanks to a six-run third went on to beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-6. To read more checkout CenterField Gate.

The Atlanta Braves are the only team starting a new series on Thursday night, so we will have a scaled down version just for them today, with a full version tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy!

I hope everyone enjoyed the first Chatter Up! segment, and as I mentioned, please feel free to email any recommend questions or comments about the segment to mrose@nleastchatter.com or go to this forum topic and post a reply.

Raul Ibanez gives all the offense Philly needed

The Phillies started off the second half the same way they ended the first half: winning.  The Phillies rode Jamie Moyer(9-6) through seven innings on their way to a 1-hit shutout of the second place Marlins by a 4-0 score.  Moyer is now 13-2 overall against the Marlins in his career after this gem completed by Madson and Romero each pitching a hitless inning.  The Phillies got three home runs for their four runs, including a two run shot and a solo shot from Raul Ibanez in the second and fourth innings.  Ryan Howard capped the scoring with his 200th career home run in the sixth inning.  Read more about the Phillies and Howard’s historic home run over at Phillies Phandom.

Marlins starter Chris Volstad actually pitched pretty well in the game, but unfortunately leaving some pitches up.  Volstad(6-9) actually went six strong innings while only giving up seven hits, the problem was that four of them were for home runs.  Without any offense behind him, it was tough to get a win.  Read more about the game from a Marlins perspective at Fish Guts.

Chipper hurts the Mets again

What did every Met fan think was going to happen when Chipper Jones stepped to the plate with runners on first and third in the seventh inning on Thursday?  If you said, “Get a hit”, you were correct.  Chipper singled to drive in the eventual winning run for the Braves on Thursday in a 5-3 win, while keeping the Braves six games back of the first place Phillies.  The Braves added an insurance run in the eighth on a rare Greg Norton hit to score pinch runner and former Met Ryan Church.  Back to back home runs by Yunel Escobar and Garret Anderson in the second put the Braves up early before falling behind later in the game.  Manny Acosta(1-0) got the win in relief for the Braves and Rafael Soriano worked the ninth inning for his thirteenth save.  Braves Baseball blog is your place for more Braves info.

The Mets sent Oliver Perez to the hill in only his second start back from the DL and off a walk-tastic win in NY last week.  He wasn’t great, but was better than last week, going six innings and three runs on five hits while leaving with a no decision.  He was helped out in the fourth inning as the Mets got three runs off Braves starter Derek Lowe while they had been down 2-0.  Pedro Feliciano(2-3) took the loss in relief as the fourth Braves run was charged to him in the seventh inning.  Check out The Real Dirty Mets blog for more Mets information and news.

Derek Lee hits a long ball

The Nationals didn’t start the second half with a new manager and a few new players the way they intended to.  The Nationals and Jim Riggleman lost to the Cubs by a 6-2 score at home on Thursday night.  Derek Lee stayed hot with a home run in the sixth inning which gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead at the time and they never looked back, and they put up three runs in the ninth as insurance.  Rich Harden(6-6) went six innings only allowing three hits and a run while striking out seven in getting the victory for the Cubbies, and three relievers closed out the game for them.

John Lannan(6-7) pitched into the seventh inning for the Nats while only giving up two earned runs and three overall, but the Nationals couldn’t fight back and the relief pitching dug a bigger hole.   The only offense came on a Nick Johnson RBI groundout in the sixth inning at the time cutting the lead to 2-1 and a solo home run in the ninth for Ryan Zimmerman but the game was out of reach at the time.  Check out Centerfieldgate for more Nationals insight.

Feliz Powers Phils

The Phillies started this homestand on July 3rd with a terrible record at home, especially for a 1st place team in July of a season.  They changed that with a 9-1 homestand which was capped by a series sweep of the Pirates this weekend.  Pedro Feliz hit his 6th home run of the season and 6th grand slam of his career in the first inning, giving J.A. Happ and the Phillies pitching all the runs they would need in winning 5-2.  Happ(6-0) finished a very solid first half,  with his sixth win against zero losses while starting the year in relief and finishing the half as likely Philly’s most solid starter.  The Phillies will go into the break with a four game division lead, check out Phillies Phandom for more Philly info.

Virgil Vasquez(1-3) took the loss for the Pirates and after a solid debut for the Pirates, has lost three straight starts.

Johnson stays strong

Josh Johnson made sure to show that he is absolutely deserving of the All-Star nod he got a week ago, with another very solid start on Sunday.  Johnson(8-2) got his eighth win of the year while pitching into the seventh allowing eight hits and one run, while striking out seven batters.  He was helped by some early runs by the Marlins hitting with Cody Ross delivering a bases clearing double in the first, and the Marlins led 6-1 when he left the game and won 8-1 at the end of the day.  Florida had been only one game back of first nine days ago, but faltered slightly as the Phillies stayed hot going into the break.  Most of their team and especially relief pitching will get their much needed break this week before getting back to the grind.

Doug Davis(4-9) only lasted four innings on Sunday as he gave up five runs on three walks and seven hits and a home run for the loss.

Hawpe delivers before the ASG

The Braves took a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning yesterday in Denver, in what would turn out to be a back and forth game between the teams.  The Rockies steadily fought back scoring single runs in the second,third, fourth and eighth while sprinkling in three runs in the seventh and the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.  First time All-Star Brad Hawpe hit a double with the game tied in the ninth which scored Seth Smith to give the Rockies the 8-7 win and sending the Braves to the break on a sour note.  Huston Street(3-1) got the win in relief as he pitched a perfect ninth of the inning before the Braves won the game.  The two teams used a total of thirteen pitchers, so those pitchers are very happy to see the break come so they can rest up.

Luis Valdez(0-1) took the loss while giving up the game winning hits and runs in the ninth inning for the Braves.  Check out the Braves Baseball Blog for more on this.

Schneider ends the drought

The New York Mets did what seemed the impossible this weekend, and won a series and at the same time, winning the rubber game.  Taking two out of three from the Reds will go down as only their second series victory since the beginning of June.  Mike Pelfrey(7-4) pitched seven strong innings giving up three earned runs and leaving with a 9-3 lead, but the Mets bullpen made it interesting before giving him the win.  Sean Green and Pedro Feliciano couldn’t get out of the eighth inning with a single out before Bobby Parnell had to come in and save them, but not before allowing three runs, all charged to Sean Green.  Francisco Rodriguez worked a shaky ninth inning giving up a run, a hit and a walk before retiring the side for his 23rd save of the first half and a 9-7 Mets victory.   Check out The Real Dirty Mets blog for more Mets info.

Aaron Harang(5-9) once again could not get the win in a start, getting his ninth loss while giving up five runs in just three innings pitched.

Valverde looks funny in glasses

The Washington Nationals continue have trouble winning games, and did just that on Sunday afternoon in Houston.  Brian Moehler(6-5) shut the Nats down for 6.1 innings while allowing seven hits and two runs en route to a 5-0 Astros win.  For a while it looked like Miguel Tejada’s RBI single in the first would hold up, but Kaz Matsui gave some insurance runs in the seventh with a three run homer.  Jose Valverde worked the ninth inning with a strike out and a hit to get his eighth save this season for the ‘Stros.

Jordan Zimmermann(3-4) also worked 6.1 innings for the Nats but was charged with four of the five runs the Astros got and now has a losing record for the Nationals.  Late last night, Manny Acta was fired by the Nationals after his team’s 26-61 start to the season., read more about that and the Nationals at CenterfieldGate.

Werth(background) hits a homer in 4 straight games

The Phillies kept on truckin’ Thursday night, even after falling behind early.  The Phillies rallied from an early 3-0 deficit in the finale of a four game set against the Reds to take three of four, winning this one 9-6.  Jamie Moyer(8-6) went the minimum required giving up six runs for the win, while Brad Lidge recorded his 17th save of the season.  Jayson Werth hit a solo shot in the sixth inning which gives him a home run in each of his last four games.  The Phillies welcome in the Pirates this weekend, for more go to Phillies Phandom.

Micah Owings(6-9) took the loss while failing to get through five and giving up seven runs and Encarnacion and Phillips homered in the losing effort.

The Marlins with a huge come from behind win

The Florida Marlins did something in the eighth inning in Thursday night which they had never done before, score ten runs in one inning.  They entered the inning trailing 7-4 and looking to be headed to a loss and 3.5 games back of first, they left the inning shockingly up 14-7 with much better fortunes.  Ross Gload actually made the first two outs of that inning, both with fielders choice grounders to earn RBI’s.  Kiko Calero(2-0) was welcomed off the disabled list with a relif win, while former Met Scott Schoeneweis(1-1) took a rough loss for the D’Backs.  We’ll see if the two teams can try not to combine for over 20 runs with Ricky Nolasco and Dan Haren on the mound tomorrow night in AZ.

Atkins comes through in the clutch

The severly struggling Garret Atkins came up to the plate in the eighth inning and got a hit that might just help get his confidence back, a two run double to win it.  Against usually solid Mike Gonzalez of the Braves(3-2), Atkins was able to get the best of this and get the Rockies to their fourth straight win and fifth in seven.  Juan Rincon(1-0) got the win in relief as Huston Street worked a shaky ninth for his 22nd save of the season.  The Braves just couldn’t shut the door on the Rockies, after taking three seperate leads, they allowed the Rox back everytime.  They ‘ll hope for better luck tomorrow.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog to follow the Braves more.

Ouch, 4IP 8ER

There was a point this year when the Mets had to consider Livan Hernandez their second best pitcher and he was at one point 5-1.  Now he is 5-5 after losing in brutal fashion to the Dodgers on Thursday. Hernandez(5-5) got through four pain staking innings giving up eight runs on eleven hits and four more walks, and led the Mets to an 11-2 loss and series loss.  Every single Dodgers position player that started the game got a hit in this game, and just when you wondered if the Mets could gain some confidence, there it goes.  Randy Wolf(4-3) pitched into the seventh for the cruising victory.  The Mets hope that facing a team with a losing record will be a remedy tomorrow night in Flushing.  The Real Dirty Mets Blog has all the info you want on the Mets.

Lannon shaky in loss

John Lannan has been very solid for most of the year, and was tonight through five innings, then things got bad.  Lannan(6-6) took the loss while working into the sixth inning and giving up five runs as the Nats lost 9-6 to the Astros on Thursday night.  The Nationals mustered offense early, but decided to quit after the fourth inning which didn’t help the pitching.  Alberto Arias(2-0) got the win in relief for the ‘Stros who evened their record for the night with the win.

Earlier in the night, they finished a suspended game from May, that was played in Washington.  The Nationals got the victory with a final score of 12-11.  Odd stat you will likely never see again? Joel Hanrahan(1-3) gets the win in that game since he pitched for the Nats, but has since been traded to the Pirates.  The loss goes to LaTroy Hawkins(1-3).  The two teams continue the rest of their series, in hopefully normal fashion starting tomorrow night in Houston.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more Nats News.

Rollins breaks out of his slump

Jimmy Rollins went 2-5 with 2RBI and a run scored last night, further breaking out of his slump while helping his Phillies win versus the New York Mets 7-2.  The Phillies got all their runs in the first three innings against Mets starter Livan Hernandez(5-4) who lost his third decision in a row and looked terrible from the start last night.  Greg Dobbs, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley each had two RBI each for Philly to move back into first place all alone in the NL East.  Rodrigo Lopez(1-0) won his first game in almost two full years pitching into the seventh inning only giving up six hits and two earned runs.  To get more info on the Phillies and their win last night, check out Phillies Phandom.

Some bright spots for the Mets were that Ryan Church continued to be hot, going 3-4 with a run scored, and his one out actually was a trapped ball by Greg Dobbs.  Also, the bullpen in their second straight day of long relief, pitched five innings of one hit ball.  To get additional info on the loss, check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog.

The Phillies and Mets will meet up today at 4pM on the Fox game of the week, Fernando Nieve takes on Jamie Moyer.

Volstad didn't have it tonigh

Rain delays aren’t a new thing to the Marlins being in Miami, and lately the Pirates have seen their fair share too.  The Pirates went through two rain delays Thursday against the Mets and dealt with another delay during the opening game of a series in Florida last night.  After all was said and done though, former Brave Charlie Morton(1-1) pitched six innings of one hit and no run ball against a big hitting Marlin team to get the win.  Pittsburgh pitching chased Marlins starter Chris Volstad(5-8) after only three innings and 47 pitches but four earned runs and added more later against Marlin relief.  Three pirates contributed two RBI each for Pittsburgh to take the opening game of the set and knock the Marlins out of their first place tie temporarily.

The Marlins’ Hanley Ramirez ended his RBI streak at 10 games when he failed to drive any runs in during this game and actually had no hits as well.  Catcher Scott Baker contributed three RBI on two hits and had two RBI in the game to lead the fish.

The two teams match back up at 6:10 in Miami tonight.

Nice debut

Brooks Conrad who was just called up to replace the injured Kelly Johnson wasted no time in making an impact for the Bravos.  In the seventh inning of a 5-5 game between the Nats and Braves, Conrad hit a three run home run to give the Braves the lead in a game they would eventually win 8-5 over the last place Nats.  Neither starting pitcher in this game could last a full five innings, and it was up to which relief pitchers could get the job done to win it.  The Braves had the better relief pitching, but by a slim margin as Rafael Soriano gave up two runs in his save chance in the ninth to record his ninth save by one run.  Boone Logan(1-0) worked a perfect 1.2 innings to earn the win for the hot Braves, winners of 5 in a row now, and they stayed two games behind the Phillies and moved into a third place tie with the Mets.  Jesus Colome(1-1) gave up the three run home run and took the loss for the Nationals who have now lost four games in a row.  Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more.

The Nationals continuously fought back in this game, including Christian Guzman getting two hits in four at bats and driving in three runs.  Adam Dunn hit his 21st home run as well to lead the team.  Check out CenterfieldGate for more Nats news.

The two teams continue their series at 1:05PM on Saturday afternoon.