Braves Bats Back Campillo in Desert

Casey Kotchman owed this one to Jorge Campillo.

For all but one pitch of the first four innings tonight against the Diamondbacks, Jorge Campillo was in complete control. He'd hung one change-up to Stephen Drew, but he still had an 8-1 lead going to the bottom of the fifth. Fortunately, the runs he gave up in his final 2 1/3 innings of work held up because of some good bullpen work and some offense from the entire lineup, as Atlanta won 11-6.

Casey Kotchman had his first 3-hit game for the Braves boosting his average after a slow start. His 2-run single in the fifth fattened the margin and maybe helped Campillo forget the tough-luck loss he took in Anaheim in June when Kotchman's one-handed, off-balance 2-run homer was the difference in a complete game gem in which the Braves lost 2-0.

Martin Prado also had three hits for the Braves, all for extra bases, who were buoyed by the return of third baseman Chipper Jones from the DL. Prado's ground rule double in the second gave the Braves the lead, and his 2nd double extended the lead in the fifth.

Since the Diamondbacks are the "local" team here, I've gotten a chance to watch the Arizona telecast of the first two games of the series. Analyst, and former Major League first basemen Mark Grace was in the middle of a sentence in the top of the ninth when Chipper Jones connected on a 1-2 fastball. His reaction was one that Braves fans surely would've liked.

"  got all kinds of. . . *Crack*. . . Uhh, ohh. He's baaa-aaacckkk."

The funny thing watching the replay was not only that you didn't even see where it landed it went so far, but that Chipper looked like he didn't even get all of it. The home-run to center was estimated at 434 feet, and almost nailed the broadcasters of the Diamondbacks post-game show.

After the game, the Baseball Tonight analyst said half-jokingly "maybe he should take another crack at .400". Sure, Buster, that'd be nice, but even I don't think he's going to be able to raise his average another 30 points by the end of the season.

I do, however, believe that both he and McCann can still get to 30 HR and 100 RBI. It won't be easy for either of them, as Chipper's had fewer and fewer RBI opportunities in June and July. He'd need 11 HR and 43 RBI in 46 games to get there. McCann's been hotter lately, and might have a better chance at both, but still needs 10 HR and 35 RBI himself. McCann's chances at 100 RBI are better as long as the guys in front of him in the order (Blanco, Escobar, Jones) keep getting on in front of him, which they did tonight and have been lately.

The Braves needed to take the first couple games of this series in the desert because they face Dan Haren and Brandon Webb (combined record of 28-9) in the final two games of the series. Saturday's pitching matchup should be a good one with Jair Jurrjens on the hill. Sunday may be a day of many ground balls if sinkerballers Hampton and Webb are on their games.

For the 2nd night in a row at least, the offense gave the pitching enough of a lead to hold on and win. Right now, that's the best the Braves could ask for.