Baltimore welcomes the Atlanta Braves for a weekend Inter-league series starting tonight at Camden Yards.
The O’s are 25-35 overall, and 17-15 at home.
The Braves are 29-30, and 14-13 on the road.

The pitching matchups are:
June 12th – Hanson vs Berken
June 13th – Kawakami vs Hill
June 14th – Lowe vs Bergesen

Hanson made his Major League Debut on June 8th… going 6 innings, allowing 6 hits, 6er, 3 homers, 1 bb, with 5 k’s. Hanson is one of the premier prospects in all of Baseball.

Kawakami was pursued by the O’s this off-season, before signing with Atlanta. For the year, he is 3-6, with a 4.62 era. In 64.1 innings, he has allowed 65 hits, 25 walks, with 51 k’s.

Lowe, who turned 36 on June 1st, is having a strong year in his first year in a Braves uniform. Lowe is 7-3, with a 3.44 era. In 83.2 innings he has allowed 74 hits, 25 walks, with 49 k’s.

After a successful first two outings for Berken, where he allowed 3 er in 12 innings, Berken was roughed up for 9 er in 3.1 innings against Oakland.
When the O’s needed to make a roster move to activate Uehara, Berken was able to stay with the O’s over Hernandez. Part of that was based on Berken’s age (26 in November) and the O’s needing to find out now exactly what they have.

Hill has had 5 starts for the O’s, and it has been hit or miss. In his three good starts, he has allowed 4 er, in 18.1 innings. In his two horrible starts he has allowed 9 er in 4 innings.
He is going to have to level out and prove he can be more consistent. He is going to have to show he can throw his fastball for strikes, and more importantly be willing to throw his fastball in the American League. At 87-88 mph, I sense some restraint from him to attack with his fastball. He has to do that, to keep hitters honest, so he can bury them with the curve. Using a 3rd pitch with more frequency would also be to his advantage.

Bergesen has allowed 4 er in his last 23 innings of work, and will be looking to further build of that Sunday.
Atlanta is still without Kotchman at 1st base, and Hudson from the rotation. Hudson is on the 60 day DL and hopeful of being back by August.

There is some positional talent for the Braves with C. Jones, McCann, McLouth, Francoeur, and Escobar. The bullpen is mediocre, though their lefty closer Mike Gonzalez has 35 k’s in just 27 innings.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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