Rainy Night in Georgia

Game 84, July 4, Coolray Field, Lawrenceville, Georgia

Gwinnett Braves 11, Durham Bulls 3

Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Game 85, July 5, Coolray Field

Durham Bulls 3, Gwinnett Braves 1

Wrap, Box, Gwinnett Daily Post

Season: 46-49; Last 10: 5-5

Alex Torres was doing his usual thing of letting the leadoff hitter on base (walk, walk, walk, single for innings 2, 3, 4, and 5) and yet only one run had gotten across for Gwinnett when the skies opened up down in Georgia in the bottom of the 6th. Uncharacteristically, Torres had gotten the leadoff batter out in that inning. 

In the meantime Desmond Jennings, Robinson Chirinos, and Leslie Anderson had hit bases-empty home runs. That was enough for the Bulls to win it and for Torres to improve to 5-6 on the year. 

This Braves-Bulls rivalry looks to continue for the rest of the year. They are back in a tie for first place in the division. In another instance of this year's weird scheduling it turns out the that they have seven more games to play, all at the DBAP, four games at the end of July and two at the end of August. I'm betting that they will still be arguing over the South division title.

Interesting stuff on the web:

• Given my background, I tend to look for connections between soldiering and baseball. Here's one about a guy who's played minor league ball and is now serving in Iraq.
• What were you doing when you were 16 years old? Probably not signing a professional baseball contract as this young man just did with the Rays.

Chart of the Day — ERA

Tonight we get our first look at new guy Matt Torra, who is coming to the Bulls with a AAA ERA of 6.07 in 15 starts. Hate to say it, but that's not too promising. Obviously the Rays (or one of their scouts) saw something and we are going to get a chance to see it as well.

This chart is sorted by innings pitched, so the usual cautions about small sample size for the players at the bottom of the chart apply. Note that the caution applies both to players who are having troubles (Buente and Cormier) and those doing OK (McGee and Gomes).

The Bulls seem comfortable with a 13 pitcher/11 position player setup this year, so I'll slip Mr. Torra in the next time I update this chart.

click on chart for larger view