The feast or famine Braves were at it again this afternoon. In honor of Cinco de Mayo, the Bravos feasted on Mets pitching scoring runs in bunches and getting Tim Hudson his 201st win.
The fiesta began in the bottom of the third when Justin Upton drove in Andrelton Simmons and Freddie Freeman doubled in Chris Johnson and Upton. Freeman then scored on a wild pitch.  Dan Uggla walked and BJ Upton reached on an infield single (some would call it an error.) Reed Johnson then plated Uggla.
The Mets answered with a two run shot from David Wright in the top of the forth. However, in the fifth, Reed Johnson drove in Evan Gattis and Uggla. Freeman then tacked on a solo shot to left in the sixth and the game appeared to be over.
But the eighth the Mets scored twice and loaded the bases. Marlon Byrd came up representing the tying run with Eric O’Flaherty on the mound. Many Braves fans were having flash backs to Friday night with Byrd took O’Flaherty deep. This time O’Flaherty struck Byrd out to end the threat.
El Oso Blanco just missed a home run in the eighth that resulted in a sac fly.
Brian McCann is slated to come off the DL tomorrow which is a good thing. It appears El Oso Blanco is going to lose some at bats which is a bad thing. Too bad the two sub .200 hitters will stay in the lineup.
Always nice to whip the Mets & Hudson was solid. But I’d like to thank the Flushing Crew for playing like a buncha bums in the field & behind the plate.
I’ll apply to Lucas Duda what Ralph Kiner once said about Dave Kingman: “He needs a map & a flashlight to play leftfield.”
BJ did hit that ball hard. Good at bat to tie up Wright
Really good feeling to hit a left hander that well.
Freddie is our only lefthanded threat when BMac and Juan aren’t in the lineup, really.
McCann’s return from the DL is bittersweet as I don’t really think McCann replacing Gattis will make much of a difference.
Anyone else hoping for a three way tie in AL East with one or two wild cards from other divisions?
@5 I actually the the extra rest will be good for Gattis. He’s been playing basically non stop since last year at a demanding position.
@2, My seats were in 102, 10 rows back of home so I had a great view of it – that ball was shot over to third and got on Wright in a heartbeat. I am not sure how I would have scored it, but that was no gimme.
Oh, and the sunday unis are awesome.
We’ve seen enough good things from Gattis over the past month to know we can shop BMac around the trade deadline if we choose to do so.
How much do we have to offer McCann to get a pick? Is that worth more than what can be obtained in a trade?
Leaving aside the clubhouse chemistry nightmare that trading our de facto team captain while simultaneously trying to win a pennant would create, what would you be hoping to get that would counteract essentially replacing McCann with more playing time for Gerald Laird?
I’m not sure what his value would be, but I’m positive we would offer a qualifying contract. Depends on injuries and needs at the deadline. I don’t really see us trying to trade him, but it could be entertained.
No chance they shop McCann, in my view. But I do think they’d shop a setup man. Judging by the kind of prices paid for Mike Adams, Koji Uehara, and others, we might get a decent return.
@4, you forgot Heyward. I know he had a brutal April, but he’s still a left handed threat.
I feel better now about AS leading off.
What’s the fully healthy lineup look like?
Simmons
Heyward
Justin
Freeman
Johnson
Bmac
Upton
Uggla
P?
He can’t bat Chris Johnson in the 8 spot. It’s either Simmons or Upton/Uggla
@16 I dunno, Johnson is falling back to earth pretty quickly.
@14 I intentionally left him out until he is, well, a threat, this year.
@10, 14, etc., question: what do y’all want the Braves to trade *for*? In terms of winning a title in 2013, not as a thought experiment in maximizing Liberty Media’s ROI.
How long does it usually take mlb.com to put up condensed games?
It can’t be bad having McCann back. We all know what he can do if he is healthy…and he is still only 29 years old. It will be good to have another bat in the lineup which doesn’t strikeout much. Fredi can also start thinking about giving Justin a day off.
I love Hudson.
Well, then, the condensed game is up now.
McCann has been dominating in his rehab games. Having him back is a great thing.
I love Evan Gattis as much as the next Braves fan, but can he make it to the All-Star Game before we declare him Johnny Beach?
Re: McCann.
It’ll be awful nice to have a new hitter in the lineup that doesn’t strike out at a crazy-high rate.
Gattis might play some left field too.
@23 The norm has changed. I guess striking out more than 120 times a year is no longer considered as a problem. I am not sure if I agree to it but that’s indeed the trend.
@23 “It’ll be awful nice to have a new hitter in the lineup that doesn’t strike out at a crazy-high rate.”
In addition to Andrelton.
Can Justin play right and Gattis play left until Heyward gets back? At Jason’s current rate of recovery it could be after the All Star Break before he gets back.
Yu Darvish seems to be settling in this season. Good grief.
@28 He may well be the one Asian pitcher who can justify the posting fee paid.
Hyun-Jin Ryu, today notwithstanding, is also pretty impressive. And I’m a Hisashi Iwakuma fan.
From what I’ve read, Fredi still plans on having Laird catch Teheran. That’s unfortunate. If that’s the case, when Heyward returns, Gattis will be lucky to get 1 start a week between 1b, C, and LF.
Gattis could play left field in Cincinnati, San Francisco would be hard.
Assuming McCann starts tonight, I think I’d let Success! start against Arroyo. With the junk he throws, El Oso Blanco may hurt himself trying to reach that short fence tonight.
After that, I’d love to see them try Gattis in LF.
Think Justin would balk at moving to RF every now and then?
(Wish we were heading to an AL park. Perfect time for the DH – if there’s ever a perfect time for a DH, that is.)
I’m not a fan of moving Justin to right. I think if the Braves were going to put Gattis in left and Upton in right, they would have done it some already.
Gattis will probably play first and catch.
Why is that, Smitty? He played right in Arizona, so he knows the right fields in the other NL ballparks.
Fredi has already stated that moving Justin over to RF for some games is a possibility.
We brought a guy over and asked him to play a new possition, which he is just getting comfortable with. (Granted, it isn’t a huge adjustment)
Plus, we are talking about a few games, it’s not like Heyward is going to be out a long period of time.
Justin is playing really well right now, no reason to change it up. If Heyward were to be out until like July, then yes.
Gattis can trot out to left to give Justin a day off, but let’s not change everything around just yet.
McCann can face the majority of RHPs, Gattis the LHPs. That helps Gattis get more ABs.
I think the best play is Gattis in LF, Justin in RF and McCann catching. Regardless of matchup or ballpark, this is what I would expect in Cincy.
Sounds like Heyward could be on a rehab assignment by the end of the week.
I would like to see a lineup like this:
Simmons
Success!
Freeman
Justin
McCann
Uggla
Fat Juan
BJ
Pitcher
@40 Great to hear he’s recovering quickly!
Schafer is a liability in the field, and unless he maintains a 20% walk rate – a dubious assumption – he’s a replacement level player. I’d prefer to see Gattis and McCann both in the lineup.
@42 I think that Walker was the hitting coach when Dunn came back too quickly & had his worse season.
Any prospect gurus know the scoop on Josh Elander? He’s 22 in Class A, so he’s old for his level, but there seems to be promise in his bat. He’s putting up a .318/.377/.573 slash line with 5HR and 9 doubles in 110 at-bats. Between him, Terdoslavich, and LaStella, there are at least a few hitters to look out for in the Minors. I’ve completely given up on Salcedo.
Schafer’s been putting together some really nice at-bats, and plate discipline isn’t quite as volatile as batting average. I think he’s becoming our Gregor Blanco — speed, some walks, not much average, not quite as much defense as you’d expect with the speed but I don’t think he’ll kill us out there. I never thought I’d say this but I really like him as a fourth outfielder right now.
Elander was drafted as a catcher, so I’m surprised to see that he’s been playing outfield this year per B-Ref. (Now I see from Baseball America that his catching skills were always dubious.) If he’s an OF, then he’s going to have to just kill the ball, and so that means that he’s a ways from being meaningful as a prospect. It’s nice to see him hitting, but he’s a college boy, and college boys should be able to hit in low-A. Double-A is the real test. If he can hit the ball there, then he might be a guy.
I’m also happy to see McCann back on the team. If fully healthy, he will be a big help. I’m hoping he has a big year. Also hoping the Braves find a way to keep him.
@44 You’re worried they are bringing him back too fast? Jason is younger than Dunn was, but I get that concern, and I don’t want him rushing back.
I think Walker is cautious. Yes, Dunn was older and just not in good shape. It depends how JH responds. He has played hurt before.
I suspect that we will see Gattis in LF, Upton in RF, and McCann at C the majority of the time until Heyward gets back.
The Braves have enough of a lineup without him to let Heyward come back slowly. What they really need to do is teach Brian McCann to play 2B.
I don’t really think that Jason Heyward should ever play again. After all, if he plays again, he might get injured. And if he comes back too fast from this thing that’s not really an injury but is a surgical wound that has a very specifice healing timetable, he might get injured. I just don’t want him to exert himself and have the possibility of getting injured. Therefore, I would feel a whole lot better if he just didn’t play again…ever.
@41: you wouldn’t flip Success and Andrelton in the batting order?
@53
I guess you could
@43
I thnk Schafer is a pretty good defender
Success has been alright this year, but I’d much rather have Gattis’ bat. I don’t see any negative from starting Justin in RF every once in a while. He’s played there his entire big league career, and players are hardly so emotionally fragile that they can’t handle starting at a different position on different days. Generally speaking, that’s probably been the norm for most every player until they reached the pros.
Game thread.
Surprise of the day: Otis Nixon is on crack.