Another great day!

After losing last night 3-1, the Braves came back today and won 9-5. Greg Maddux got win #10 of the season and #250 of his career. He wasn’t too sharp by his own standards — six innings, two runs — but that just shows how high his standards are. Brian Jordan hit two homers and Rafael Furcal scored three runs. Better yet, Furcal drew two walks, a part of his game that’s been missing.

This afternoon the Braves signed Ken Caminiti to a contract. It’s league minimum, which is good. Caminiti has been a terrific player the last few years when he’s been in the lineup. That hasn’t been too often, and this year his performance has slipped — that’s why he was released by the Rangers. He still has more power than anyone on the roster but the Joneses. It appears that the Braves will play him mostly at first base (DHing in the upcoming three-game series in Boston), not move Chipper to left field as had been rumored. That’s probably good, since Brogna has been far worse than Surhoff the last two months, and Wes Helms maybe worse than Brogna if such a thing can be imagined. Caminiti has never played first base in a regular season game, though. It remains to be seen who will make way for Caminiti; I would release Brogna, personally, but then I never would have signed him in the first place.

Matt Darkside had an interesting couple of days and is no longer a Brave. Tuesday, he came into the blowout (as indicated below) to give up his patented two meaningless runs. Afterwards, he broke his hand throwing his glove into his locker. (I’m not quite sure how he managed that.) He went on the DL the next day, his place taken by a lefty, Trey Moore, an ex-Expo. Then today, Whiteside was released from the DL to make room for Caminiti. (I had thought you couldn’t release a player from the DL; I wonder if he has a grievance. He should have been released anyway.) Moore came in today with a seven-run lead and immediately gave up three runs while getting only one out (a nifty 81.00 ERA!), showing he’s ready, willing, and able to carry on the Darkside legacy.