Here’s the boxscore.

W: Jurrjens (6-6)
L: Hamels (4-5)

THIS AND THAT
-Chipper Jones had his first 3+ RBI game since June 7.
-Diory Hernandez hit his first big-league homer and got the silent treatment in the dugout.
-Martin Prado was 2-4 with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored.
-I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Matt Diaz needs to be in the lineup more. I don’t know where you put him. Francoeur is swinging better (though still isn’t very good), and Anderson has been raking, but you gotta get him in there. He went 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBI tonight.
-Casey Kotchman was 12-56(.214) in June with no homers, 2 doubles and 4 RBI. He has been hitting some rockets lately so I’d expect him to break out of this slump soon.

LINEUPS

PHILADELPHIA
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Dobbs LF
Feliz 3B
Bako C
Hamels SP

ATLANTA
Blanco CF
Prado 2B
C.Jones 3B
McCann C
Anderson LF
Kotchman 1B
Francoeur RF
Hernandez SS
Jurrjens SP

PITCHING MATCHUP
PHI: Cole Hamels (4-4, 4.44 ERA)
ATL: Jair Jurrjens (5-6, 2.93 ERA)

If Bobby and Wren weren’t gonna give up on Frenchy when he was struggling, why would they sign a platoon partner/replacement when he’s started swinging well. Some say that the roster needs a left-handed masher on the bench, but we already have one in Norton. I know Greg has struggled, but I think he’ll get his chance now that he’s healthy. And why would you assume he would be of any value when he hit only .246/.301./.392 last season with the Phillies.

Anyway, enough ranting… Rumor. Not. True.

Popular belief seems to be that Atlanta is sick and tired of his on-field antics and are ready to deal him for a power bat. ESPN’s Buster Olney concurs. I don’t think this is going to happen anytime soon, due to the sheer fact that there’s nobody in this organization who could fill in at short full-time with even average defense and offense.

Escobar is currently out of the lineup with a sore right hip.

LINEUPS
PHILADLPHIA
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Werth RF
Dobbs LF
Feliz 3B
Ruiz C
Blanton SP

ATLANTA
Blanco CF
Prado 2B
C.Jones 3B
McCann C
Anderson LF
Kotchman 1B
Francoeur RF
Hernandez SS
Lowe SP

PITCHING MATCHUP
PHI: Joe Blanton (4-4, 5.06 ERA)
ATL: Derek Lowe (7-6, 4.53 ERA)

GAME NOTES
-Garret Anderson is 15-39 (.385) with eight RBIs in his last 10 games.
-SS Jimmy Rollins is playing in his first game since 6/24.
-Derek Lowe is 5-0, 2.14 ERA, 7 GS against Philly since ’05.
-Brian McCann is 6-8 with 2 HR and 6 RBI against Blanton.
-Yunel Escobar is 4-8 with a homer and double against Blanton.

Here’s the boxscore.

-David Ross can hit. He hit his 6th homer of the year tonight. Ummm, this guy is our backup catcher. There’s gotta be someplace we can stick him to get him more at-bats.
-Chipper is right. If he or McCann aren’t in the lineup, this offense is in trouble. And if they happen to be facing a guy like Beckett, you might as well close your eyes, swing the bat, and hope for the best.
-I will say this about the Braves, they don’t seem to give up. They staged another comeback tonight, of course falling short, but it atleast shows they have a little bit of grit.
-Two balks were called against Jair Jurrjens. He wasn’t hit hard, but this defense seeing-eye singles, slow rollers, passed balls, wild pitches, errors, bloop hits, balls thrown to the wrong base and balks seem to occur more frequently.
-This team needs to turn it around. It’s still the first half of the season, but the frustration is starting to show. Jurrjens, Kotchman and Anderson all showed frustration in one way or another and Escobar has been quite the drama queen as well. There’s still time to right the ship, but it seems the fuse is running thin.

LINEUPS
BOSTON
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Youkilis 3B
Bay LF
Ortiz 1B
Varitek C
Kotsay CF
Green SS
Beckett SP

ATLANTA
McLouth CF
Prado 2B
C.Jones 3B
Anderson LF
Kotchman 1B
Francoeur RF
Ross C
Hernandez SS
Jurrjens SP

PITCHING MATCHUP
BOS: Josh Beckett (8-3, 3.74 ERA)
ATL: Jair Jurrjens (5-5, 2.89 ERA)

GAME NOTES
-Atlanta has lost 7 of its last 8 series
-Francoeur has multiple hits in 3 of his last 4 games during which he is 6-16 (.375). He also only has 5 K in his last 17 games.
-Garrett Anderson is the only Atlanta player with career success against Beckett going 9-20 (.450), 2 2B, HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 2 K
-Beckett is 4-1 with a 1.44 ERA and 42 K in his last 6 starts.
-Jair Jurrjens is currently riding a 3-game losing streak, during which he has only 5 runs of support.
-Boston will be without its hitting coach Dave Magadan tonight after he was suspended for a game by MLB.

Locke’s line: 7.0 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.

Locke has found more success with Lynchburg than he did with Myrtle Beach. The biggest change in performance has been fewer walks with only 4 in 21 IP. With the Pelicans he had 26 BB in 45.2 IP.

Locke was sent to Pittsburgh along with Gorkys Hernandez and Charlie Morton for CF Nate McLouth on June 3.

Here’s the boxscore.

W:Hanson (1-0)
L:Berken (1-3)

GAME NOTES
-Tommy Hanson’s line: 5.2 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 2 R, 5 BB, 5 K, 104 pitches, 60 strikes
-Hanson’s curveball isn’t as good as his slider, but it’s nasty. If he can learn when to throw it, he’ll be in business.
-I feel that Yunel Escobar costs this team an out every game with a baserunning or fielding mistake. If Atlanta had any sort of replacement, I’d be looking to trade him. But alas, Brooks Conrad probably wouldn’t cut it as a starting shortstop.
-Frenchy made a clutch play in the 3rd to keep the score tied 2-2. With Hanson struggling to locate his pitches, Salazar looped a single into right and Francoeur threw a one-hop strike to the plate to get Huff. That’s the one thing that a trade wouldn’t bring this team, an improvement defesnively in right field.
-Brian McCann’s arm is looking good. I don’t know what the glasses have to do with it if anything (probably nothing), but his throws seem to have a little extra juice on them. He did get some help from Laz Diaz on a call tonight.
-Speaking of Diaz… I don’t understand how this guy keeps his job. Brian McCann tried to stretch a single into a double and got in safely (according to replays), but Diaz called him out (maybe a makeup call?). What really upset me was that after McCann gave him a few choice words, Diaz followed McCann a little back towards the dugout. YOU DO NOT DO THIS AS AN UMPIRE. It might suck that players argue with you, but it’s part of the job. Players have adrenaline pumping through their veins… umpires don’t.
-Jeff Francoeur got robbed of extra-bases yesterday by Andrew McCutchen and just missed a grand slam tonight. I’m not saying he’s coming around, but for some reason it provides me with a small glimmer of hope. Ugh.
-After Hanson walked Brian Roberts to load the bases in the 6th, Peter Moylan had a HUGE strikeout of Adam Jones to end the inning and perserve a 4-2 Atlanta lead. Good for him.

Mets on DL:
Billy Wagner, Angel Pagan, Carlos Delgado, Oliver Perez, Jose Reyes, Ramon Martinez, J.J. Putz, John Maine

Can you imagine where the Braves would be right now if they had experienced the health problems New York has so far?

ATLANTA
McLouth CF
Escobar SS
C.Jones DH
McCann C
Anderson LF
Canzares 1B
Francoeur RF
Johnson 2B
Prado 3B

BALTIMORE
Roberts 2B
Jones CF
Markakis RF
Huff DH
Mora 3B
Scott LF
Salazar 1B
Wieters C
Andino SS

PITCHING MATCHUP
ATL:Tommy Hanson (0-0, 9.00 ERA)
BAL:Jason Berken (1-2, 7.04 ERA)

Yes, if all goes as planned, I heard that Smoltz will likely start against the Braves both in Boston (Sunday) and here (Friday or Saturday), which would be his second and third starts. He’s making his last scheduled rehab start tonight.

If the Braves and Red Sox keep their current rotations, Atlanta will be sending Jair Jurrjens to the mound both times.

Norton had struggled all year and currently sports a .098 average.

Canizares will be making his major league debut today. He’s known as a good hitter with some pop but terrible fielder. He’s going to wear No. 25, Andruw Jones’ old number.

Here’s a quote from the comments on David O’Brien’s blog:

David O’Brien

June 11th, 2009
12:01 pm
One player said this was what he was told about Canizares: “I hear he can’t run, can’t throw and can’t field, but the sumbitch can hit.”

Here’s the boxscore.

W: Karstens (3-4)
L: Jurrjens (5-4)
S: Capps (14)

GAME NOTES
-Jair Jurrjens started off very poorly throwing 66 pitches in the first 3 innings. He didn’t have much command and was very fortunate to only allow 2 runs. His final 3 innings looked a lot like the Jurrjens from the first month and half of the year, retiring the last 10 batters he faced. Here’s his line: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 74 strikes, 37 balls.
-Brian McCann just missed a game-tying homer. He hit a flyball to left-center that hit off the top of the wall that ended up back on the field. A half-inch further and the game would have been tied.
-Chipper Jones went hitless tonight, but swung the bat well. He just missed a couple homers.
-Greg Norton looks lost at the plate. But can you blame him? This series has been the first time all year he’s seen regular action.
-Charlie Morton looked good, but left after first inning with a sore left hamstring.

LINEUPS

PITTSBURGH
McCutchen CF
Morgan LF
Sanchez SS
Ad. LaRoche 1B
An. LaRoche 3B
Moss – RF
Jaramillo – C
Wilson – SS
Morton – SP

ATLANTA
McLouth – CF
Escobar – SS
C.Jones – 3B
McCann – C
Anderson – LF
Norton – 1B
Francoeur – RF
Johnson – 2B
Jurrjens – SP

PITCHING MATCHUP
PIT: Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00 ERA -
ATL: Jair Jurrjens (5-3, 2.84 ERA)

GAME NOTES
-Charlie Morton is pitching his first game in the majors this year. He was 7-2 with a 2.26 ERA in the minors. In 71.2 IP he had 62 K, 7 BB, 3 HR. He’s pitching on 5 days rest.
-Freddy Sanchez is the only Pirate with multiple hits off of Jurrjens, he is 4-8 with a double, triple and three RBI. He has walked and struck out once.
-Jeff Bennett turns 29 today.
-Chipper Jones is 8 for his last 13, and 29-73 (.397) in his last 23 games

David O’Brien

Jason Heyward has a strained oblique, and has stayed with the Myrtle Beach club throughout his rehab, contrary to some reports. He’s expected to be back playing as soon as this weekend.

I wonder if B. Jones gets consideration for a callup once healthy if Frenchy is still struggling. Probably not for a while anyway.