ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Athletics at Braves

So damned typical. Braves get an early lead, and blow it. A reliever completely self-destructs. Oh, and it rained. It’s the season in a nutshell.

Tied in the sixth, Blaine Boyer made his major league debut. He wasn’t very impressive, allowing a run on two hits, and Andruw saved two more runs with a diving catch. But they were in the game. And then Adam Bernero had the worst inning of any Braves reliever this year, and that’s saying something. Six runs on five hits and a walk, capped with a three-run homer. He also allowed another homer and a double. It was atrocious and got away from the team so fast that even if Bobby had been aggressive with the bullpen it probably wouldn’t have done a lot of good.

Horacio Ramirez wasn’t very good either, allowing four runs on five hits and walking four. ERAs of the five pitchers the Braves used today: 5.20, 9.00, 5.40, 2.45 (Gryboski, who only allows inherited runs), 6.75 (Kolb, who was probably the best of the five today).

Andruw hit another two-run homer, which tied the game at 4 at the time. No Brave had multiple hits, but Julio had a hit and two walks. Marte had his second hit and scored a run.

Now off to Texas. This is awful. I can’t imagine how many runs the bullpen will allow in Arlington. Hudson will start the opener, and Jorge Sosa apparently will start the second game. Of course. He’s one of the only effective relievers they have, so they pull him just to make sure that Reitsma’s all alone out there.