PHILLIES LOSE TO BRAVES IN FRONT OF SMALLEST CROWD IN CITIZENS BANK PARK HISTORY
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: What do you get when the two worst teams in the MLB face off on a Monday? A very small crowd of folks. Not much to cheer for from Monday’s game except for the Olivera’s homer – but that came in the 9th inning. In the 9th inning of a 5-2 game where the home team is losing, probably only 5,000 people saw the home run live. We saw it though!
"The Atlanta Braves ended their 12-game losing streak, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 Monday night behind the hitting of Hector Olivera and the pitching of Williams Perez.The smallest crowd in the 12-year history of Citizens Bank Park – 15,125 – saw the Braves stop their worst skid since 1988.Atlanta also had lost 13 in a row on the road since defeating the Phillies on Aug. 2."
If Braves lose 100 games, they’ll make history
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: An amazing stat from Mark Bradley, as he said it took him hours of research to find the answer to a question he was asked. The Braves are bad, we’re all realizing this, and can probably be beaten by any team in the MLB except for the team we played on Monday night. You never want your team to fail and it hurts that much more when they do. In reality, we all saw this coming with the offseason we had. The early glimpse of success was just a teaser for what’s to come in 2016 and 2017. Don’t jump off the bandwagon just yet, because I have a feeling we’ll look back on this season in the future and say “I still cheered for the Braves in 2015 when the team was woebegone.”
We’ve seen lousy Braves teams before. The 1988 edition started 0-10 and finished 54-106. The 1977 club lost 17 in a row, Loss No. 17 being skippered by Ted Turner, who’d just bought the team and who told manager Dave Bristol to take two weeks off. (Tons-of-fun commissioner Bowie Kuhn nixed the Ted-as-manager bit after one game.) The 2011 team went 9-18 in September and blew a playoff spot. The 2014 edition went 7-18 in September and got its general manager fired.
To their discredit, these Braves have positioned themselves to make a special memory. They could become the first team in baseball history to lose 100 games after being .500 more than halfway through a season.
We say again: The first team in baseball history.
Yepez Homer Highlights Gwinnett Win in Season Finale
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Gwinnett Braves finished their 2015 season one game out of a playoff spot. It would have been great to see at least one team within the Braves organization make the playoffs, but for what it’s worth they had a really good season. With the call-ups, send-downs, trades, acquisitions – it was insane to try to keep up with Gwinnett. Somehow Manager Brian Snitker was able to hold it all together.
"The Gwinnett Braves (77-67) finished the 2015 season with a 6-2 win over the Charlotte Knights (74-70) on Monday at Coolray Field. The victory included a season-high five double plays for the Gwinnett defense and Jose Yepez’s first home run since 2012.The G-Braves were eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday evening when the Norfolk Tides beat the Durham Bulls 8-4 to clinch the International League South Division. Still, Gwinnett finished with its best record since the 2011 club went 78-65. They ended the year 1.0 game behind the Tides in the standings after Norfolk lost 6-0 at Durham on Monday.Yepez’s homer, his first since July 14, 2012 at Louisville, traveled 396 feet to left field and ignited a three-run rally in the seventh. The inning also included two one-out walks from Charlotte right-handed starter Brad Penny that cost him when Cedric Hunter laced his second RBI single of the game to give him a team-high 77 RBIs for the season."
Olivera’s First Career Homer
Tomahawk Take Editor’s Note: Yes, it was in the 9th inning of a meaningless game where the Braves found themselves already up 5-2, but it was the first career home run for Hector Olivera. The two-run shot made the score 7-2 and helped the Braves win their 55th game of the season. Olivera hasn’t hit lights out throughout his first few MLB games, but this sure helps. The 30-year-old prospect from Cuba needs these MLB at-bats so he’s fully ready for the 2016 season.