Atlanta Braves vs. Los Angeles Dodgers – Box Score – April 20, 2011 – ESPN.

How to tell your offense sucks: Jon Garland throws a complete-game four-hitter against you. Yet again, the Braves essentially were never in this one. Yet again, the only Brave to have a good game at the plate was Nate McLouth, who was 2-3 with a double, the team’s only extra-base hit, and scored their only run. Yet again, we have become the Pirates.

After the usual scoreless top of the first, the Dodgers got two runs in the bottom of the inning off of Derek Lowe. Lowe has been the Braves’ best starter this year, but working on three days’ rest simply didn’t have it last night, and gave up three more runs in the second to put the game essentially out of reach for a team that has scored more than four runs five times this season. Lowe allowed nine hits in three innings; while he did strike out five, he was not generally fooling them, allowing a lot of hard hit balls.

Martin Prado‘s sac fly in the third to score McLouth was the Braves’ only RBI. Cristhian Martinez capped the scoring allowing a homer in the fourth. Jairo Asencio, if that is what we’re calling him now, pitched three strong innings of mopupball, and Eric O’Flaherty pitched the eighth.

Jason Heyward is in a deep slump, and was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Chipper Jones was also 0-4 and saw all of seven pitches.

I’m going to let this serve as the game thread for today’s afternoon affair.