Over the course of Bobby Cox’s career he has made a big deal about the importance of winning series. Many times it isn’t about an 8 or 9 game winning streak but consistently winnings series that can push a team up the standings.
Consistently losing series has the opposite effect. Currently the Braves lead is down to 3 games over the Phillies as they play Arizona tonight. The Phillies also strengthened for the stretch run today but acquiring Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros. The Braves dropped their second straight series with today’s 5-3 loss to the Nationals.
Derek Lowe got the start today for the Braves and continued his recent trend of mediocre starts. Lowe went 5 innings while allowing 4 runs before an afternoon thunderstorm ultimately chased him from the game. It isn’t really that Lowe is pitching terrible, but he hasn’t made it out of the 5th inning in five of his last six starts.
Mediocre isn’t acceptable when you aren’t getting timely hits and the Braves aren’t hitting with runners in scoring position right now nor are they driving the ball for extra bases. The Braves first three batters today of Martin Prado, Jason Heyward, and Chipper Jones combined to go 0-11 with a walk. Matt Diaz hit his 5th home run of the season, briefly tying the game at 2-2 in the fourth. Omar Infante (2-4) had the Braves other RBI with a single in the sixth.
The Braves couldn’t get any closer and Adam Dunn gave the Nationals some breathing room with an 8th inning home run off of Braves reliever Takashi Saito. Washington closer Matt Capps came on and nailed down the save in the ninth.
So with the Braves recent struggles and the Phillies making noise on the field and off by trading for Oswalt, do the Braves now have to answer? This is a very difficult time to be in Frank Wren’s shoes. He hasn’t appeared to be willing to shop any of the Braves prized pitching prospects but he may now feel that he has to.
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