Category: Markakis

Braves Clinch the Eastern Division For the 3rd Straight Year!!

The Braves started off this series with the Miami Marlins with a close 5-4 victory, and last night the Braves pulled off another victory. But this one was EVEN BETTER… winning 11-1, the Atlanta Braves clinched the National League East for the third straight year. They have also made major league history, when they picked up their 20th Division Title.

GAME WRAP:

Bryce Wilson pitched tonight for the Braves and surprised us all with five scoreless innings and five strikeouts. Considering all of the struggles that the Braves’ rotation has gone through this 2020 season — first losing Soroka for the season, then losing Max Fried for a two weeks. Not to mention… Cole Hamels, who started the season on the IL for the Braves and made one start against the Orioles then went back on the IL and is most likely out for the postseason — our team has proven that we have the perserverance to play hard and win.

The Braves’ bats also came alive tonight! Marcell Ozuna – what a player! He got things started for the Braves tonight with a solo-home run in the first inning. He also sent a bomb out of the park in the eighth inning. He now leads the NL in home runs and RBIs. The Braves hit a total of five home runs tonight. Two by Ozuna, one by Ozzie Albies, one by Dansby Swanson, and one by MVP candidate Freddie Freeman!

Considering everything with COVID in 2020, this clinching celebration was different. But is wasn’t just different due to COVID. The Braves went into this season with a different mindset than the last couple of postseason runs. They went into Spring Training 2020 with the mindset of, “we are going to clinch the division this year and make it further into the post-season.”

Last year’s post-season run was disappointing. The Braves made it to game five after blowing game four against the St. Louis Cardinals. They gave up 10 runs in the first inning and ended their postseason run with a loss of 13-1. BUT… the Atlanta Braves -right now- are quite possibly going to face their postseason rivals the Cardinals in the Division Series, and the Braves have a different ending in mind than last time!

What a night it was for the Atlanta Braves! Clinching the NL East for the third year in a row and gaining their 20th division title is flat out amazing! The most division titles in in major league history.

Braves 2020 roster perdictions

With Major League Baseball finally starting back, I’m going to share my 2020 lineup, starting rotation, and bench for the Atlanta Braves.

LINEUP:

  1. Ronald Acuña Jr.-RF
  2. Ozzie Albies -2B
  3. Freddie Freeman -1B
  4. Marcell Ozuna- LF
  5. Dansby Swanson -SS
  6. Nick Markakis -DH
  7. Johan Camargo -3B
  8. Travis d’Arnaud -C
  9. Ender Inciarte -CF

With the Designated Hitter coming to the National League I think it gives more depth to the team’s lineup and gives veteran players a chance to play everyday without having to play defense. I think that the braves will play Ozuna in left field to start off the season, and if his offensive numbers aren’t very good they might place him in the roll as Designated Hitter and give someone like Nick Markakis or Adam Duvall a chance to play Left Field.

STARTING ROTATION:

  1. Mike Soroka
  2. Cole Hamels
  3. Max Fried
  4. Mike Foltynewicz
  5. Sean Newcomb

While Felix Hernandez showed great potential in the beginning of Spring Training before the baseball season was postponed, I still think that the Braves will go with Newcomb because he stepped up in his roll in the bullpen last season and improved his walk-to-strikeout ratio. I also believe that, given the time that it has taken baseball to come back, Cole Hamels’ shoulder will be fully healed and he will be ready to pitch for the Braves in 2020.

BENCH:

  1. Charlie Culberson
  2. Adam Duvall
  3. Austin Riley
  4. Adeiny Hechavarria

With the 2020, 60 game season staring off with a 30 man roster, I think the Braves will put Austin Riley on the bench. However, when the roster goes down to a 28 man roster I think he will not be on the bench after that. I definitely think that Hechavarria will be on the bench given his defensive abilities.

At the end of the day, even if my predictions aren’t correct, Braves baseball is back! Even though the games are fanless, and there is no high fiving, the most important thing to celebrate in the MLB is that there will be baseball!

My Top Ten Braves Games of 2019

With the start of the regular baseball season postponed due to COVID-19 and there are currently no games being played, I thought that I would share my top ten games of 2019.

10. July 27th- Braves vs Phillies

Let’s face it, this games was fun to watch! Not only was it was a wild offensive win for the Braves, it was also a special return to the big leagues for Adam Duvall. With a final score of 15-7, the Braves bats were not shy of anything. They hit a total of four home runs by Ronald Acuña Jr., Ender Inciarte, Adam Duvall, and Ozzie Albies who hit a gran slam in the third. Max Fried was pitching for the Braves, and he went a total of 5.1 innings, giving up 5 runs and three walks.

9. June 14th- Braves vs Phillies

This game was suspenseful. With the Phillies taking advantage of Max Fried, they jumped out on the Braves with a 5-1 lead in five innings, hitting two home runs (by Bryce Harper and Scott Kingery). It didn’t look good for the Braves, but the players never gave up. With their late inning magic, the Braves managed to score two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings. Then in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Braves still down 8-6, Dansby Swanson leads off with a single, followed by a walk to Markakis, then a RBI double out of Riley. It was the up to Brian McCann. After two quick swinging strikes from McCann, he got one in the bottom-of-the-zone and didn’t miss it. Gapping the ball between the Phillies outfielders, McCann led the Braves to a 9-8 victory with a two run single. This game just shows how much perseverance the Braves have — no matter the situation, they never give up!

8. August 7-Braves vs Twins

With the Braves coming off of a big offensive win the night before against the Twins, they carried their momentum to this game. Winning 12-7, the Braves showed major offensive talent hitting a total of four home runs, two of which were hit by Ozzie Albies (my favorite player)! Max Fried once again showed dominance on the mound, striking out ten Twins hitters — seven of which came against the first nine batters he faced keeping the Twins hitless through five innings. The Braves bats really came alive in this game! Ozzie Albies and Charlie Culberson had four hits in five tries, and Freddie Freeman had three hits in five tries. This game shows how much power the Braves have.

7. April 7th -Braves vs Marlins

Wrapping us the Braves opening home stand of 2019, to me, this was the perfect game. Sean Newcomb was the staring pitcher for the Braves and pitched well through seven innings surrendering two runs and four hits to the Marlin batters. The Braves hit two home runs, one from Freddie Freeman (his first home run of 2019) and the other from Dansby Swanson. In the ninth inning the Braves were up 3-2 but, our closer Ardoys Vizcaíno gave up a home run to Marlins left-fielder Curtis Granderson, and we were tied. Then in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded nobody out, it was up to Dansby Swanson. Dansby getting ahead in the count, 2-0 got a pitch to hit and didn’t miss it. Hitting the ball into left field, Dansby walked the Braves off 4-3 with a RBI double.

6. August 18th- Braves vs Dodgers

After the Braves came off of a big win against the Dodgers’ pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu the night before, the Braves didn’t disappoint in this game. Falling behind 3-0 on a home run by Cody Bellinger in the first inning, things did not look good for the Braves. But being the relentless team that they are, the Braves scored one in the fourth thanks to Adeiny Hechavarria’s booming double off the right field wall to score Matt Joyce. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, bases lodaded, Rafael Ortega did something magical! In a 1-2 count he got all over a pitch right down the middle. This led to a grand slam off of Dustin May giving the Braves a 5-3 lead to help them win the game and the series against the Dodgers.

5. June 12th- Braves vs Pirates

This game was a long one. With Mike Soroka on the mound for the Braves, we saw something that rarely happens to him, he gave up five runs and ten hits. After a long rain delay, the Pirates got the lead in the ninth on a solo home run by Josh Bell. That left the game in the hands of Austin Riley who smashed a solo home run to center to tie the game. Going into extra innings, in the eleventh, after Ausitn Riley was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning for the Braves, Ozzie Albies hit a walk-off triple to center to give the Braves the win and sole possession of first place in the National League East! But, what might have been the very best part of that game (besides the win) was Ronald Acuña Jr. dousing Ozzie Albies twice in his interview!

4. August 2nd- Braves vs Reds

If you keep track of scores, you might be wondering why this is one of my to ten games given the fact that we lost 5-2. It was a special game for me, it was the first Atlanta Braves game that I went to. Although the Braves did loose, I got to witness two Atlanta Braves home runs. One by Austin Riley and the other by Ronald Acuña Jr. Acuña, whose homer went 463 ft! This game will forever have a special place in my love of baseball, not because of the home runs, but because it was the first game I ever got to experiece.

3. August 30th- Braves vs White Sox

This game is also a very special one for me, it was the second Atlanta Braves game that I got to go to! Max Fried was the pitcher for that game, and he performed fantastically. He struck out a season high eleven White Sox hitters, surrendering only four hits and a walk. While the Braves did have the lead the White Sox made a game of it. In the top of the seventh inning, Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer off of Luke Jackson making the game 6-5. But the Braves, with their late inning magic got a bigger lead and won 10-7. Ozzie Albies did fantastic in this game. He went 4-5 with two singles, two doubles, an RBI, and he scored twice.

2. September 20th- Braves vs Giants

Obviously this game is in my top ten… it’s the clinch! Not only was it the clinch, but it was a very well played game on the Braves part. Winning 6-0, the Braves hit two, two-run homers, one by Acuña and the other by Brian McCann. Not to mention Mike Foltynewicz pitched very well. This game is big for every Braves fan, because, if you remember, we were picked (despite how well we did in 2018) to finish fourth in the National Lueage East. We proved them wrong!

1. October 6th- Braves vs Cardinals

This game was epic. This game perfectly describes the Braves motto, “We are Relentless.” Not only was it a postseason game, it was an amazing come-from-behind win for the Braves. With Mike Soroka and Adam Wainwright on the mound for both teams, this game was a pitching duel. The Cardinals did take advantage of Soroka in the second, scoring one run, but that wasn’t enough to pull a win. In the top of the ninth inning the Braves had to face Cardinal closer, Carlos Martínez who barely escaped a blown save in game one. Josh Donaldson started the top of the ninth inning with a double, (he was replaced by Billy Hamilton), then after two strikeouts, the Cardinals intentionally walked Brian McCann. It was up to Dansby Swanson. And boy did he did come through! The first pitch Dansby Saw, a high heater, he slashed it into left field to score Hamilton. We were tied! But we weren’t done! It was Adam Duvall’s turn. He hit a two run double to score Ortega and Swanson. We won 3-1. This game is number one for me because it shows how relentless we are in any situation, and that we are better than everyone thinks.

I hope you enjoyed my top ten and are as excited as I am waiting for the return of baseball in 2020.