It was slow, it was frustrating, then it was fun, it was exciting, it was excruciating, it was painful…..

The Braves, looking to take sole possession of first place, lost in the 13th and ended up taking a pounding from Mike Trout and Albert Pujols at Turner Field.

No question about it, as Freddi said in the post-game, 11-6 is much better than 5-0.

Gavin Floyd took on Garrett Richards for the Angels. Gavin was good through 5 but came untied in the 6th giving up successive homers to Trout and Pujols.

Richards essentially shut the Braves down, throwing shutout ball through 6 innings, allowing only 4 hits while pinging us for 10 strikeouts.

It was really dull for most of the game until Evan Gattis put the Braves on the board with a solo shot in the 8th. And then it all happened in the 9th….

The fun part: Floyd looked good before unravelling in the 6th. He ended up with 6 innings giving up 7 hits, 4 earned runs and striking out 4. Evan continues to produce with his solo shot in the 8th, his 15th and sporting a 14 game hit streak. The Braves battled back from a 5 run hole, scoring 4 in the 9th to tie the game 5-5 on a Freddie Freeman ground rule double. Josh Hamilton then put the Angels back ahead with a 10th inning single, scoring Pujols. The Bravos once again tied it up with an RBI single from JHey, scoring the Stellar.
JHey, Bupton, Gattis and LaStella all had 2+ hits, but it was Gattis with a 14-game hit streak starting to make us forget about Brian McCann.
BJ’s two run triple in the 9th. That was AWESOME.
Freddie, who has been in a deep hole, came up with a big hit just when he (and we) needed it most. Total of 31 combined hits, 17 runs — there was plenty of offense from both teams.

The sad part:
Another BJ error in the 8th cost a run. Justin robbed of what was surely a game winner in the 10th inning with the bases loaded. Watching….uhhm…. listening to the Angels score 5 runs on David Hale in the 13th.

The Really Pathetic:
Chris Johnson and Andrelton leading the league in GIDP. Johnson’s in the 11th and Andrelton’s in the 12th were disappointing just when I thought the Bravos were going to break it open. Jupton and Johnson were awful tonight going combined 0-12 with 3 strikeouts each. Justin almost redeemed himself when he was robbed in the 10th, but CJ? Really? You produce more outs than you have ABs?
Is there anything more disappointing than an inning ending, rally ending GIDP in extra innings? Okay, yes—having it happen twice!
In the end, the Braves battled back heroically, making it a fun game to watch from the 8th through the 13th. Our team takes a loss. We rank third in ERA at 3.18, but 28th in runs scored. FOX sports predicts a trade of either Floyd or Harang given that we need middle to late inning relief help. In the end we have to score more runs, but I’m not sure how or where you get another bat in the lineup. Would it be CJ who just signed a big extension? BJ who makes too much? Hmm… don’t know but we have to do better offensively.

I should probably add the fact that Mike Trout finished went 3 for 6 with the solo homer, a double, a walk, a stolen base and four RBIs, punctuating his performance with a 13th-inning double. He’s pretty much awesome.

BTW: I caught this one on the radio, which was a nice change. Took me back to the days of Ernie Johnson and Milo Hamilton on Braves Superstation 17.