ESPN – Braves vs. Padres Box Score, July 7 2007 – MLB

So, Jo-Jo Reyes didn’t exactly set the world on fire his first outing. I’m not too worried — I get nervous whenever a prospect pitches too well out of the gate. Exhibit A, Kyle Davies. Reyes looked good through three, making one mistake, a solo homer to Khalil Greene. In the fourth, he completely collapsed, allowing four runs and not retiring a man, turning a 3-1 lead into a 5-3 deficit.

He didn’t take the loss, though. The Vulture did his job, keeping the game in play (he allowed one inherited run). Andruw tripled in two runs in the seventh to tie it up. But that’s all they got, and Yates — who is completely worn out at this stage, suffering from the same overuse I’ve seen in too many middle relievers who pitched well for a couple of months — couldn’t do anything in the bottom of the inning. Paronto, unlike Villarreal, couldn’t contain the damage, though he wasn’t helped by a bad throw from Escobar (trying to get an unturnable double play) to Renteria, which ultimately allowed the Padres to score two more runs. With their bullpen, that’s the game. Only one of Yates’ three runs was “earned”, which is stupid; the man gave up a hit and two walks, where’s the error? Again, I hate the unearned run rule.

Francoeur hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Braves the lead. David Wells, as is his wont, bitched about balls and strikes which had led to the homer and got tossed. While this hurts the Padres, it really didn’t hurt them in this game, because you’re actually better off using a lot of relievers than one starter most of the time. The value of a middling starter, like Wells is at this stage, is that he saves your bullpen, not that he can outpitch it. Doug Brocail, who relieved Wells, pitched three innings, much better than Wells’ three-plus, and was in line for the win.

Once again, the Braves outhit their opponents in a loss, 10-8. However, Braves pitchers issued seven walks, which was the killer.