The Cardinals are winners of four straight games. They come into the game with a swagger that dates back to last year. They were the team that got hot in September and overcame the Braves’ seemingly insurmountable lead in the NL Wild Card. They clinched on the final day of the season when they won and the Braves lost their final game.

Their swagger also comes from their success against the Braves as well. They have a 11-3 record against the Braves since 2010. Last season, they went 5-1 against the Braves last year. They have not lost a game to the Braves in St. Louis since September 13, 2009.

The Cardinals come into the game 2nd in the NL in runs scored, trailing the Braves. They also come into the game with the NL’s 2nd best rotation ERA at 2.82.

Needless to say, the Braves are hoping to send a message to the Cardinals and around the NL that they are here to stay. Moreover, they are hoping to exorcise the demons of the success that the Cardinals have had over them the past few years. The Braves have a tall order, but they have a team that matches up well against the Cardinals. A series win would help give them confidence against the Cardinals. It would also send a message to the Cardinals that they do not own the Braves. Regardless, the Braves need a good showing against one of the best teams in the NL.

Look at the comparison’s between Kemp and Bourn through the first 31 games of the season so far:

There has not been a hitter to rival Kemp offensively last season or so far this year. Kemp leads the NL in home runs, runs scored, batting average, slugging, OPS, OPS+ and total bases through May 10th. Likewise, there has not been a leadoff hitter to rival Michael Bourn either. Bourn has been the catalyst behind the Braves’ offense that has boomed since the first four games of the year. Kemp’s value is tied solely to offense. Bourn is valuable offensively and defensively, which is where he overtakes Kemp.

Overall, Bourn has been the most valuable player in the National League at this point. He has been worth 2.2 WAR through the first 32 games of the year. If he held up this pace, he would be worth a WAR of more than 11. To put this in perspective, Kemp was worth 7.8 WAR last year. The last player to eclipse 11 WAR in a year was Barry Bonds in 2001 and 2002. I’ll admit that the likelihood of this happening is not high.

It would be nice for Bourn to get some praise and appreciation from people around baseball. While Kemp is the “sexy” player in the media, Bourn has quietly been more impressive. I am not predicting that Bourn will be worth more than Kemp throughout the year. But, for now, Bourn has been the most valuable player in the National League at this point. The Braves know how valuable he is. Hopefully other will realize how valuable he is too. He deserves the accolades.

The Braves have played 9 games against the NL East. Six of those games came at the hands of the Mets. The Braves lost the first four games to the Mets. The other three games that the Braves lost were to the Philadelphia Phillies. In these nine games, the Braves have a 3-6 record. They have a 16-6 record against the rest of the National League.

The Braves have been outscored by their NL East foes 48-47. The 48 runs allowed to the Mets and Phillies are more than one-third of what they have allowed in the other 22 games they have played. The Braves have outscored the rest of the NL 119-93 in those 22 games. They have scored two or fewer runs nine times this year and four of those have come against the NL East. Their only two shutouts have been at the hands of the Phillies and Mets.

Moving forward, the Braves need to win more games against the NL East. This will not be an easy thing to accomplish. The NL East has the NL’s best pitching. The Nationals, Mets and Phillies are tough teams. The Miami Marlins are a talented club as well. These teams figure to give the Braves all they want throughout the year. However, the Braves need to figure out ways to be successful against the teams that know them best. This will only help their chances of making the playoffs and winning their division.

He pitched 8 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 1 BB and striking out 3. He was very efficient as he made it that deep while only throwing 95 pitches. He was not as wild as he was in his first outing. This is the type of pitching performance the Braves got from him before the All Star break last season. This is the type of pitching that they will need to be convinced that he can offer the team moving forward.

In his two starts, he has pitched 15 innings and allowed 3 ER, 4 BB and striking out 7. He has a 1.80 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.

Let’s hope he continues to make progress and gain confidence. The Braves could use his veteran presence in the rotation, as long as he is pitching like he has shown he is capable in the past.

However, his display in the Braves’ win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday is nothing short of paranoia and possibly signs of his age. He accused Braves’ third baseman, Chipper Jones, of stealing signs and relaying them to the Braves’ hitters. Here is a link which he and Chipper have a verbal altercation:

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120506&content_id=30554100&vkey=news_atl&c_id=atl

The incident came with the Braves trailing the Rockies 6-2 in the fifth inning. Chipper had hit an RBI double and was at second base talking with Rockies’ shortstop, Troy Tulowitzki. Here is what Tulowitzki said:

“All I can tell you is that me and Chipper was just talking,” Tulowitzki said. “I didn’t get the sense that he was relaying anything. No one knows the truth. You can look at it from both sides. From Moyer’s side, he’s going to say, ‘Yeah, he was giving location.’ But for me, he wasn’t doing anything.”

Moyer went on to allow three more runs before being taken out of the game. Moyer’s accusation against Chipper not only got him angry, but it also jump-started the Braves’ offense. They scored 11 runs after the altercation. Chipper said the Braves used it as motivation:

“That was all on Jamie Moyer,” Jones said. “He woke a sleeping giant tonight. He started chirping and it went all downhill from there. He accused me of relaying a sign down 6-2 with a 3-0 count to Brian McCann. I have never relayed a sign to anyone while I’m on second base.”

Chipper also questioned whether the Braves needed to steal signs against Moyer in the first place, via David O’Brien:

More #Braves Chipper on Moyer “I mean, dude, we don’t need signs, especially for him. I mean, my goodness, every pitch is 78. Come on.”

Chipper is very candid with the media. He will not back down against Moyer or anyone else. Truthfully, for Moyer to accuse Chipper is nothing more than classless on his part. To be honest, you can add this as another reason why I don’t like him.

Chipper was right: he did awaken a sleeping giant. Chipper was 2-3 with 4 RBIs for the rest of the game, following the accusation from Moyer. Maybe Moyer will learn his lesson before throwing around accusations next time.

Chipper responded by going 6 for 11 with a stat line of .545/.583/.909 for an OPS of 1.492. He hit his 5th home run and drove in seven runs to up his total to 21 for the year. Overall, he is hitting .318/.370/.576 for an OPS of .946 on the year. Chipper has been the second most valuable offensive player on the Braves’ team this year with a WAR of 1.0.

Meanwhile, Prado is hitting .273/.350/.408 for an OPS of .758. He has hit 2 home runs and driven in 16 runs on the year. Prado has a WAR of 0.6 on the season.

It would be difficult to predict what Chipper Jones would do in the 2 hole of the lineup every game he is available to play. However, the impact that he has consistently had this season would be a huge lift to the Atlanta Braves’ already stout offense.

Michael Bourn is the real reason why Gonzalez should consider making this move. He is on a tear right now. He is hitting .331/.394/.403 atop the Braves’ lineup. He is getting on base in almost 2 out of every 5 at bats. The scoring opportunities that this brings the Braves’ offense is immense. Chipper leads the team, among starters, in OPS. His value with the bat in the two hole with Bourn’s speed and high OBP would only increase the offense’s production. There is no guarantee that he will continue to notch an OBP of almost .400. He has a career OBP of .339, though he has not had an OBP lower than .341 in the past three full seasons. With this being his contract year, there is a good chance he could best his career best OBP of .354.

Prado’s flu may have been a gift for Gonzalez as he witnessed Chipper’s greatness and potential in the two hole for the rest of the year. If he wants what is best for the lineup, then he should make this change moving forward.

The Braves rallied from that 5-0 deficit to win Game 1. They followed that impressive feat by rallying from a 6-0 deficit and another 5 run deficit to defeat the Rockies in Game 2. They did not need a rally to finish off the sweep as they knocked around the Rockies again.

The Braves’ offense was impressive in the series. They scored 29 runs in the series as they hit .347/.416/.603 against the Rockies. The Braves’ starting pitching for the first two games was shaky at best. Mike Minor and Tim Hudson gave up 15 runs in the first two games combined. The Braves’ bullpen only allowed 2 earned runs in 11.2 IP in the series. Brandon Beachy pitched outstanding in the final game of the series allowing 2 runs in 6.1 IP while striking out 5.

The Braves are headed to Chicago to take on the Chicago Cubs for three games starting tomorrow. They will hope to continue their success with their bats against the Cubs, while get more consistency out of their starters.

A Walk-off, two-run homerun in the bottom of the 11th inning!

Enjoy the remarkable Chipper Jones here!

I love that man! He is amazing.

At the end of the night, the Phillies were victorious and the Braves were left licking their wounds and talking about missed opportunities. When it was all said and done, the game followed a script that has become the norm between the Braves and the Phillies.

The Phillies took advantage of the opportunities they had when they needed them. The Braves had numerous opportunities, but could not break through. Last night was no different. The two biggest hits of the game came from Hunter Pence. He hit a two-out “double” in the 4th inning against Brandon Beachy, which was a slow rolling grounder through the Braves’ defensive alignment coupled with Matt Diaz slowly going after the ball. He scored on the next play. He hit another ball through the right side to score the Phillies’ fourth run and put the game away. Neither was hit hard; both were hit to the right place and very effective.

When it was crunch time, the Phillies got to Jonny Venters, who had been ridiculously good this year. The Phillies have enjoyed a lot of success against Venters in his career. Venters has a 4.03 ERA and a .270 BAA against the Phillies, the third highest among NL teams. He also has a .353 BABIP against the Phillies, the fourth highest. The correlation between Venters’ struggles against the Phillies are evident with looking at his K rate. The teams that put the ball in play and do not strike out against him are the teams that have given him the most trouble. The Phillies have a K/9 rate of 8.5, which is the fourth lowest against NL teams.

In many ways, the struggles of Venters against the Phillies are parallel to the struggles that the Braves have had against the Phillies as a whole. The Braves have lost eight consecutive games against the Phillies dating back to last season. They went 6-12 against them last year and are 7-18 since September of 2010.

In order for the Atlanta Braves to win the division, they will have to beat the Phillies. The road to the playoffs in the NL East goes through Philadelphia, until a team in the NL East changes that. Brandon Beachy put it in perspective before the season started when asked if the Phillies were still the team to beat:

“Yeah, they’ve won it what, five years in a row now, something like that?” he said. “So until someone knocks them off, they’re the defending champs in this division and the first and foremost team we have to beat.”

The Braves are still searching for a way to beat this team, “first and foremost.”

This was the worst case scenario for Jurrjens. Jurrjens has handled it with class so far. He knows this is an opportunity to clear his head and a chance to regain his form that has helped him become a reliable, when healthy, starter for the Braves.

He pitched 7 innings today allowing four hits, one run, three walks and striking out four. He was a little wild, as evidenced by the walks. It was nice to see him notch strike outs, though.

This was a great start on this journey for Jurrjens. This is exactly the type of successful outing that can help him regain confidence in his pitches and hopefully regain some of the success he has experienced with the Braves. I am certain that the Braves were happy to see him pitch deep and be successful today. The Braves could definitely use his experience later on in the year. But, he has to be more like the Jurrjens that pitched today than what they have experienced this season.