Are the Atlanta Braves Getting Over the Hump?

Well, it has been a difficult and trying few weeks for the Braves and their fans. With some tough losses to the Cincinnati Reds, it seems that the road woes are a monkey that the Braves can't seem to shake.

It's important to realize, however, that it's not necessarily the pitching or the offense that has lost these games. Rather, it seems that these struggles stem more from the small acts: Escobar's inability to lay down a bunt, or Chippers Jones' late-inning error against the Reds.

With a twenty-game, one-run losing streak on the road, it seems to most that the Braves have been missing that one big play so vital to winning these games. Is it possible this "big play" mentality is what is causing these losses?

When the Braves win, it's never due to huge innings; they play smart baseball and acquire steady runs that come trickling in over all nine innings. Is it possible that by trying to achieve too much, the Braves continue to come up short in one-run games?

Even in the 7-5 victory over the Marlins today, the Braves allowed the game to grow far closer than comfortable. Bad communication on a high fly-ball to Greg Norton (a utility infielder) allowed Jeremy Hermida to tag up and reach second. A booted grounder by Omar Infante allowed the go-ahead run to score uncontested. A badly played bouncer off the outfield wall by Gregor Blanco allowed base runners to advance further than they should have been able. These are all examples of just how poorly the Braves played in their win today.

Lady luck seemed to be on our side tonight, as it turns out the "big play" everyone's been looking for came off the bat of Yunel Escobar in the bottom of the tenth, as a two-run walk-off home run. Some people would look at this victory as getting over the hump, finally getting that one hit that we have so desperately needed.

The great teams rarely need these big plays to win, while the Braves seem to need it every night. Jeff Francoeur is the perfect example of this mentality. In a tie game with the bases loaded and a full count, he takes a wicked hack at what would have been ball four and the go ahead run. This is a classic case of trying to substitute playing smart with playing too hard.

Chipper Jones isn't hitting .409 because he tries to kill the ball every pitch, he's achieving this incredible average because he knows the game, he knows himself and his swing, and he knows when to swing for the fences and when to take a walk. If the Braves would simply do the fundamentals, lay down the fundamental bunts, and cut the fielding errors out of their game, these "big plays" would no longer be needed.

The Braves won 14 division titles by playing baseball the right way; developing talented players who did what was necessary and more, throughout every play of nine innings, to walk away with a 'W'. Home runs are a fickle friend, usually disappointing when they are most needed. It seems in the last few years the Braves have forgotten about the way baseball should be played, and have, along with many other players of the circus hitting era, jumped on the depressing bandwagon of walk-off home runs and big-play heroics.

Champions play the game right, play fundamental baseball, and big plays are a last resort. The Braves aren't losing because they can't make the big plays, they are losing because they depend on them.