14 Straight

Chipper Jones is currently listed as being in tonights lineup. I hope we don't pay for him playing now with him being out for an extended amount of time later.

The Braves have a 4 game winning streak going. With Hudson and Smoltz going against the Nationals in the next two days, it could easily be extended to 6 games. Long winning streaks, or lack there of, were one big reason for the Braves missing the playoffs last year. This could be one.

Other notes:

Chipper Jones' strained quad may keep him out of tonights lineup, but it's not a serious thing as of yet. I wouldn't mind him missing a few games now to keep him healthy throughout the season. Jeff Francoeur, say hello to the 3 hole. It will be yours in a couple seasons.

Refael Soriano will not be coming off the DL on Tuesday. That hurts, but a rejuvinated ATL bullpen may be able to shoulder the load.

Mike Gonzalez is supposed to be back in late may, now. I'm I the only one that's noticed the smooth progression of his return from the allstar break to late May?

We saw the answer to my question tonight, and I was very pleased. A solid showing by Bennet, nice bullpen work, and another huge game for Chipper Jones. He is hotter than hot right now. Defence was a bit sloppy, mainly on the part of Kelly Johnson, but even that wasn't nearly enough ot over come a 4 RBI 2HR game for Chipper.  The Braves could ride this streak straight to the top of the NL East. One thing that eluded the Braves last year was the extended hot streak. If they want to contend with or beat out the Mets a few 7-10 game streaks are a must. That team meeting Bobby Cox called seems to have had an effect. Amazing what 5 minutes can do.

(the Braves starting will be key in the Dodger's series)

It has been crazy the past few games. You have solid pitching and poor hitting, good starting and hitting but poor bullpen work, and great hitting and horrible pitching. Other than the Mets series, last night was really the first time the Braves put it all together. Lots of power, terrific start from Smoltz, and even a good showing from the 'pen. Can we keep it up, or will the Braves revert to being a team that can only master one phase per game? We will see. This is a series of uptmost importance coming up. I hate to say it so early, but if we can't get something going soon, the Braves season could be in danger. Jeff Bennet will be starting the series opener, and if he could give 6 innings that would be a boost. Smoltz only pitched 5 last night, but innings 6-9 were low stress innings, so I'm not too worried about it. Mark Teixeira, while cold, appeared to bust ou of his slump to one extent or another last night, and if he gets hot the 3-6 of Chipper, Tex, Francoeur, and McCann will be almost impossible to pitch against.

(the bullpen may have to pitch 2+ innings in each game vs the Dodgers)

I say I'll try to post more often on here, and what do I do? I go 6 days without an entry. Well, what's happened lately? Schafer got busted for HGH, the Braves are this close to being swept by the Rockies, and Rafael Soriano went on the DL. Good week, huh? I've been going back and forth with some people on here, not really about Schafer, but about HGH in general. There is a very good chance that HGH doesn't work, and while that makes Schafer even more of an idiot, it also means his talent is most likely genuine. While the Braves haven't had many players that are supected of juicing on their roster, one incident is not enough to condem Schafer to a career of trying to shake off a HGH induced shadow. As long as he handles this well, and is 100% clean, he can still be a star. The Braves' play vs the Rockies has been horrible. If we could play the outfield, we would've at least won a game out of the 3 we've played. Soriano is down wi