Braves Weekly Wrap-up

Teammates swarm Heyward after his walk-off steal

Teammates swarm Heyward after his walk-off steal

This week for the Braves went exceptionally well.  The week began with a 3-2 win in the series finale against the Washington Nationals.  Heyward began a hot streak that lasted all week with his two-run single in the 5^th that chased Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez from the game.  After the off day on Monday, the game against the Marlins on Tuesday was perhaps the best for the Braves as a team on the season.  Starter Tim Hudson threw a complete game shutout, limiting the Marlins to 8 baserunners over the course of the game.  Offensively, Dan Uggla and recently promoted shortstop Andrelton Simmons were the stars.  Uggla went 4-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.  Simmons ended up going 3-5 with 3 RBI.  The final score of the game was 11-0.  The next two games were also victories for the Braves, finishing a sweep of the Marlins.  In the second game, Heyward hit 2 HR, and Martin Prado had 3 RBI.  Michael Bourn had 2 HR and Heyward hit another in the win over Toronto on Friday.  The game went into extra innings, and the Braves won when a throwing error by Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia allowed Jason Heyward to score from third to win the game.  The week ended with the 6^th straight win for the Braves in a 5-2 effort over the Blue Jays.  The Braves look to sweep the Blue Jays in the series finale Sunday.

Lucas Sims in a game for Brookwood High School

Lucas Sims in a game for Brookwood High School

Off the field this week, the major league draft took place.  With their first pick in the draft, the Braves took a pitcher from Brookwood High School in Gwinnett County, Lucas Sims.  Even though the pre-draft comments from the Braves indicated that they would go for offense in the early portion of the draft, the selection of Sims was not a surprise.  He is an excellent prospect at only 18 years old, and the Braves have never been shy about drafting high school pitching prospects.  According to Keith Law of ESPN.com, Sims is currently rated as the Braves’ fourth best prospect behind Julio Teheran, Arodys Vizcaino, and Christian Bethancourt. With their next several picks, they took two catchers, two outfielders, and another pitcher



Smoltz acknowledges the crowd after his number retirement ceremony on Friday

The story of the week, however, was the retirement of John Smoltz’s number before Friday’s game against the Blue Jays.  Smoltz is an all-time great Brave and a unanimous first ballot MLB hall of famer.  Smoltz is the only pitcher in the history of baseball to have over 200 wins and 150 saves.  He became the 16^th member of the 3,000 strikeout club on April 22, 2008 by striking out Felipe Lopez with his patented splitter.  The most impressive thing about Smoltz was his career in the postseason.  When all was said and done, he finished with a postseason record of 15-4, an ERA of 2.67, and an 8.97 K/9.  He, along with Maddux and Glavine, was a part of arguably the greatest pitching rotation on one team in major league history.  He will definitely go down as one of the greats in major league history.