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IL1 Gwinnett Stripers

R-Braves Game Notes

August 16, 2007 - International League (IL1)
Gwinnett Stripers News Release


Richmond Braves (69-54) vs. Toledo Mud Hens (71-54)

Game #124, Home Game # 62 ♦ Thursday, August 16, 2007 ♦ 7 PM ♦ The Diamond ♦ Richmond, VA

RHP Blaine Boyer (2-2 4.92) vs. RHP Jordan Tata (3-3 3.29)

TONIGHT'S GAME: Is the second of a two game series and the 12th of 12 meetings; the sixth of six at The Diamond. Richmond is 3-8 vs. the Mud Hens, 2-3 at The Diamond. The Hens have beaten the Braves five straight times. The Braves are 390-333 all-time against Toledo. The 48th of 48 games vs. West Division clubs; the 24th of 24 at home. Richmond is 24-23 vs. the West, 13-10 at home. It is the sixth of a seven game homestand (Richmond is 2-3). The Braves lead the South Division by a half game over second-place Durham.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME: The Mud Hens beat the Braves 8-7 Wednesday at The Diamond. The Mud Hens rallied after trailing 5-1 to earn their fifth straight win over Richmond and shave the Braves lead in the South Division to a halfgame. The Hens grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on a bases-loaded walk to Mike Hessman. Richmond responded by sending 10 men up in the home half. Doug Clark singled two runs home, Iker Franco drew a bases-jammed walk, and Wes Timmons produced two more runs with a single as the Braves opened up a 5-1 advantage. Toledo came right back and batted around in the second to re-take the lead. Ramon Santiago doubled a run in and scored on a Timo Perez triple. Chris Shelton brought him home with a single. Hessman smacked a three-run homer to cap a six run inning and give the Hens a 7-5 lead. Toledo added a run in the fourth on a Perez sacrifice fly. Richmond rallied back with two in the fifth on RBI singles by Franco and Timmons to cut the Hens lead to 8-7. The Hens bullpen allowed just two singles over the final four innings. Eulogio De La Cruz picked up the win. Jose Capellan earned a save. Trey Hodges took the loss. Franco, Timmons, and Carlos Mendez had two hits each for the Braves. Perez had three hits for the Mud Hens.

IT'S A HORSE RACE: The Braves lead over Durham in the South Division is down to a half game. It is the first time the Braves lead has slipped below a game and a half since April 14. Richmond has been in sole possession of first in the South every day since April 10. Richmond led by a club record 10 games on May 19. Since then the Braves have played exactly .500 ball (42-42). Durham has gained ground despite Richmond winning eight of their last 12 games.

BRAVES BOOMING BATS: The Braves are hitting .316 as a team in 15 August games. Richmond is averaging 5.8 runs a game in August. They have scored five or more runs in all nine August wins and eight or more runs in six August games. Barbaro Canizares (.472 in 14 August games) and Brandon Jones (.419 in 15 games) have led the Braves August charge. Jones equaled a club season high with a 13 game hitting streak that ended Monday.

THEY SHOULD BE GETTING PAID BY THE HOUR: The Braves are averaging a game time of just under 2:55 for the 22 home games scheduled for nine innings since July 4. 11 of those 22 games have exceeded three hours, including the last two. None of those games extended beyond 10 innings and only two went into extra innings. The Braves played four three-hour plus games in a row July 20-23, their first such stretch since May of 2005. Richmond has also played two doubleheaders since July 4 at home with combined times of 3:55 and 4:04

ON THE LEADER BOARD: The Braves lead the IL in batting average (.272), ERA (3.58), most shutouts (13), and fewest home runs allowed (78). They are second in steals (128). Richmond also leads in on-base percentage (.344). Gregor Blanco is fourth in the league in runs scored (68). Martin Prado, now with Atlanta, is third in batting average (.320). The Braves are tied for second in the IL in fielding percentage (.982 with Scranton/Wilkes- Barre). Their 81 errors is tied for the second fewest in the IL. Richmond leads the league in percentage of opponents caught stealing (67-158 .424).

NUMBERS OF NOTE: Ryan Basner equaled a club season high for most strikeouts by a reliever with six last night. The Braves and Hens combined for 13 walks last night, one short of the season high (14 at Syracuse June 21). The Braves have scored 89 first inning runs this season, the most of any one frame. The Braves are 18-16 in one-run games. They won 10 of their first 12 one run decisions this season. The Braves play their final game outside the South Division tonight. Their final 18 games this season are all against South Division opponents.

The IL Playoff Chase

SOUTH DIVISION

Record GB

Richmond 69-54 --

Durham 69-55 0.5

WEST DIVISION

Record GB

Toledo 72-53 --

Indianapolis 63-60 8.0

NORTH DIVISION

Record GB

Scranton/WB 71-53 --

Rochester 69-57 3.0

WILD CARD

Record GB

Durham 69-55 --

Rochester 69-57 1.0

Buffalo 64-59 4.5

Indianapolis 63-60 5.5

'07 Braves Vs. Mud Hens

July

12 ♦ @TOL L 5-3

13 ♦ @TOL W 7-5

20 ♦ @RIC W 8-5

21 ♦ @RIC L 4-1

22 ♦ @RIC L 7-4*

23 ♦ @RIC W 4-3

28 ♦ @TOL L 4-1

29 ♦ @TOL L 2-1

30 ♦ @TOL L 10-3

31 ♦ @TOL L 8-4

August

15 ♦ @RIC L 8-7

16 ♦ @RIC 7 PM

* - Suspended game

UPCOMING PITCHING PROBABLES

Friday, August 17 vs. Norfolk 7 PM RHP Kevin Barry vs. RHP Jim Johnson

Saturday, August 18 @ Norfolk 7:15 PM LHP Jo-Jo Reyes vs. RHP Jon Leicester

Sunday, August 19 @ Norfolk 6:15 PM LHP Dan Smith vs. LHP Craig Anderson

Monday, August 20 vs. Norfolk 7 PM RHP Trey Hodges vs. RHP Tim Kester

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International League Stories from August 16, 2007


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