Braves-Nationals: Pinch-Hit Homer Again Buoys Braves

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Soriano's inning was a rare bad one, as he's been great all year, but might benefit from a little rest soon. Bobby Cox, might consider using Manny Acosta and Logan a bit more to give the trio of Moylan, Gonzalez and Soriano a break on occasion.

That late inning trio has been overall excellent all-season. Moylan's ERA prior to tonight's outing had gotten below 4.00 for the first time all season.

Since starting the season giving up five runs in his first two appearances without recording an out, he's had an ERA under 3.00 each month since.

Exclude those two appearances in April, his ERA is under 3.00 for the season...same as Soriano and Gonzalez.

The Braves have a unique situation with two closers. As Joe Simpson mentioned on tonight's broadcast, Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez have been very good if not great, and don't let their egos get in the way of who gets the save on the stat sheet.

It's a rare resource to have a left-right combination of hard throwing arms in the bullpen who can close out games.

The Braves' now season-high five game win streak comes at the heels of Bobby Cox pushing a lot of the right buttons.

Martin Prado has slid nicely into the lineup in the No. 2 spot in the order playing second base. Yunel Escobar appears to be healthy, and taken a quick liking to batting fifth behind Brian McCann.

I'm curious though about one thing. When was the last time the Braves got pinch-hit homers on consecutive days?

I don't know, but it's probably happened before. But another more interesting trivia question is: has a team gotten pinch-hit homers from players on consecutive days, who had never hit a pinch-hit home run before?

I'm guessing that the Elias Sports Bureau might have that information somewhere, but I don't.

Nevertheless, the middle of the line-up got it done. Every starter except Jeff Francoeur got at least one hit, and the 2-6 hitters in the Braves lineup went a combined 11-for-20 with 5 BB, 6 RBI, 4 R, and 3 sacrifice bunts.

The Braves hope to ride the suddenly hot bats of Matt Diaz, Martin Prado and Yunel Escobar to another win on Saturday afternoon, as Tommy Hanson goes for his fifth straight win.

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