ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Nationals at Braves

Scenes from the Andruw Show…

In the first inning, trailing 1-0, Andruw hit a three-run homer to give the Braves the lead. But in the third, he came up in the same situation, two on, one out, and hit into a double play. Then in the fifth, with the score tied at three, he came up with the bases loaded, one out, and singled in two to reach the final score. He also added a wickedly hit single leading off the eighth.

Horacio Ramirez… Well, this day/night thing may have some validity. He looked pretty terrible until about six PM local time, then started mowing the Natspos down. After giving up all three runs to Marlon Byrd (who wound up the triple short of the cycle) he pitched well in the sixth and seventh — long after I would have pulled him — and got the win.

Reitsma started the eighth, but was pulled with two on, one out, after striking out the last batter he faced, possibly because Vinny Castilla was on deck and is 5-12 against Reitsma in his career. Farnsworth picked off the runner at first, then retired Vinny, then pitched the ninth for the save.

Furcal sat out again. Langerhans led off and had a pair of doubles. The top four hitters were 6-13 with three walks and all five runs scored. The bottom five had one hit (by McCann) and two walks, one intentional.

Consider this the game thread for game two, Thomson versus Livan. If Livan’s ever going to win a regular season game in Turner Field, this is his matchup.