The Braves managed to lose two of three to the Reds, after winning all three games the teams played in Cincinnati (the season opener and two games last week). That’s not all that surprising, since the Reds are OK on the road but horrible at home, and the Braves are one of the majors’ best road teams but average at home. John Burkett had probably his worst outing the year in a loss, but Kevin Millwood pitched very well to get the only win — six innings, two hits, five strikeouts, two unearned runs. He did have control problems again and walked five… Andruw Jones has been moved from the third spot in the order to fifth or sixth, with Chipper and Jordan moving up one spot each. Andruw had been struggling mightily the last month or so, in all phases of the game (even his defense had looked a little shaky at times) but has played better since moving down.

Former Brave Jermaine Dye was traded by the Royals, who picked up Colorado shortstop Neifi Perez in the transaction. (The Royals were robbed, but that’s not surprising since they’re an incredibly stupid organization.) The national media have reported that the Braves will pick up current Royal shortstop Rey Sanchez — even though the Braves have denied that they’re looking to replace Mark DeRosa — and the Royals will get Jason Marquis in exchange — even though he’s a far more valuable commodity than Sanchez and the Braves have said that he’s untouchable. This rumor is most likely garbage, and appears to have been more or less made up on the spot by ESPN’s Jayson Stark. John Scheurholz had this to say about acquiring Sanchez: “Don’t have to. The way (Mark DeRosa) is playing? No way. I don’t know what people are seeing that makes them think we have to address it.”

That being said, I think that there’s a possibility that the Braves will acquire Sanchez, though Marquis won’t be involved unless the Royals gave up another player. Sanchez is the best defensive shortstop in baseball, but is not much of a hitter. He’s hitting .307, but brings nothing else to the table — no power (12 career homers, none this year), not many walks (11 this year, versus 381 AB). He’s a pretty good baserunner and doesn’t strike out a lot, so there’s a place for him. But that place is on the bench, at least with a good club. He’s a useful reserve for a team with a good-hitting but shaky defensive shortstop (like Mark DeRosa!) but should not play regularly. He’s a rich man’s Rafael Belliard.