This is what the Braves expect from their offense every
game.
There was Brian McCann going 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and even a rare
stolen base.
There was Dan Uggla going 3-for-5 with three RBI, including the game winners.
There was Michael Bourn with two hits, a triple and two runs scored.
And there were the Braves, scoring a season-high 10 runs on a season-high 14
hits.
They hit two doubles, two home runs and a triple. They batted around in a
six-run fifth inning. ... And they did all of this with Chipper Jones sitting on
the bench with a swollen left knee.
This was the first game this season where the Braves hit like they think they
can. They needed all 10 of those runs to knock off the Milwaukee Brewers 10-8
on Friday, because the vaunted bullpen failed to protect a three-run lead.
These Braves hitters didn't resemble the bunch that was held to four hits in a
season-opening 1-0 loss to the New York Mets, or the one that scored two runs
on seven hits in the second game.
They came out with confidence and a desire to prove they don't need Jones in
the lineup to spark the offense.
The Braves struck early with a run in the first. They had
the huge fifth. And they scored late, with Uggla driving in two runs in the
eighth after the Brewers had fought back to tie it at 8-8 in the seventh.
"We haven't been in a slugfest in quite a long time," McCann said.
"Some guys put together some really good at-bats and made their pitchers
work. This is kind of foreign territory for this team, the last
year-and-a-half, two years. That eighth inning was huge."
The Braves haven't had the success lately that they had in the 1990s and
earlier this century, but they're built along the same lines. Even though
McCann and Uggla are established big league sluggers, as is Jones, when he's
healthy, this franchise still places more emphasis on pitching and developing
arms in the minors.
It's more likely the Braves will be involved in low-scoring pitcher's duels
than a slugfest. McCann said, it's even more rare when the Braves score 10 runs
in a game.
They did that only six times in 2011, and were averaging only 3.7 runs a game
entering Friday. It also was the first time since Aug. 25, 2011, that the
Braves have scored at least eight runs.
Two days later, Hurricane Irene pounded New York, postponing two games, a
momentum breaker from which the Braves never recovered.
On Friday, they were facing a left-hander in Randy Wolf. Lefties have been
known to neutralize the Braves' left-handed heavy lineup.
In addition to McCann and Bourn, Freddie Freeman and Jason Heyward also hit
left-handed, but the Braves were unfazed on Friday.
"Overall, we swung the bats really, really well," Braves manager
Fredi Gonzalez said.
McCann was particularly effective. He doubled in Bourn in the first, singled in
the third, hit a three-run home run in the fifth and singled again in the
sixth. Falling a triple short of the cycle, McCann instead stole second.
It took a diving stab from Milwaukee second baseman Rickie Weeks in the eighth
to prevent McCann's first five-hit game. Instead, it was his eighth career
four-hit performance.
"(McCann) steps up in big situations," Uggla said. "He'll put
the team on his back when he needs to. They had to make a great play to get him
out. It's fun to watch him when he's like that. He takes a lot of pride in
being the kind of player that he is. He showed it (Friday)."
Even part-time left fielder Matt Diaz contributed, hitting his first home run
since Aug. 29, 2010, a two-run shot in the sixth-run fifth.
"The odds were in his favor," Uggla said.
The Braves have the potential to have a strong offense, and games like these
are why GM Frank Wren didn't leverage the team's top prospects to bring in
another hitter. Wren believes rebounds by McCann, Uggla, Heyward and Martin
Prado, and having Bourn around for an entire year, will be enough.
Obviously, the Braves won't score 10 runs every game, but their bats are
trending. They've scored 22 runs the past three games — all wins — after
scoring 10 in the first four — all losses.
That's a trend they believe will continue.
