Chuck James allowed only two hits in seven innings to top one of his career best starts for the Braves on Wednesday. James, who had only won two games since the beginning of August, was aided by a three run first inning and a lack of long balls hit by the Fish. Both Mark Teixeira and Andruw Jones went deep in the Braves 5-1 win. After completing their three game sweep over the Florida Marlins, the Braves look to be spoilers for the Milwaukee Brewers who come into Thursday's game just one behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. Watch Jeff Bennett take the mound for the first time for the Braves at 7:35 PM/est on SS.
Games behind NY Mets in NL East: 5.5
Games above .500: 6
NL Wild Card Leader: San Diego Padres
Braves Notes: Boston may have Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Stephen King as fans but they don't have Elton John! Watch him talk baseball here...Forget about the pennant races, Chipper Jones and Edgar Renteria are in a tight battle with the Colorado Rockies Matt Holliday for the NL batting title...The Braves purchased 27 year old Jeff Bennett's contract after the AAA-Richmond Braves lost on Tuesday...Octavio Dotel who has been on the DL for six weeks with a tricep strain may be activated today.
Baseball Update:
AL Standings
NL Standings
Baseball Notes: The Toronto Blues Jays busted up a 2-1 tie with a Russ Adams' grand slam off of Johnathan Papelbon in the eighth inning to beat the Red Sox 6-1...Meanwhile, in the Bronx, the Yankees escaped the ninth inning with a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles to bring them within a 1.5 of the Sox in the AL East. It was Andy Pettitte's 200th win...Over in the NL the Mets and Cubs got some breathing room with their respective wins. The Mets broke up a five game slide with a 8-4 win over the Nationals, while the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2...The Braves weren't the only team to bring out the broom on Wednesday, the Cleveland Indians 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers gave C.C. Sabathia his 18th win of the season and the Angels 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays cut the magic number down to three...Injury news, the Cardinals' Mark Mulder will have shoulder surgery at the end of the season. Luckily they don't have to worry about those pesky post season games, Jason Giambi's MRI on his foot came back negative while the Brewers sent Ben Sheets back to Milwaukee to have an MRI on his hamstring...And finally, one of PIMC's favorite young players, Curtis Granderson is featured in the new issue of Sports Illustrated this week, so pick it up.
NASCAR Update:
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. may run 7 races in the Busch series next season in the number 5 car. A driver for the 88 car currently being driven by Brad Keselowski has not been named. Junior's Busch team and the five car will be merging next season.
Marcos Ambrose declined Robby Gordon's offer to drive the #77 car for Robby Gordon Motorsports at Dover this weekend. Ambrose instead chose to concentrate on his Busch ride this weekend while his wife is expecting their second child who is due on Sunday. Ambrose said he'll do whatever he can to be at the delivery. Maybe this kid should learn from Gordon's daughter who showed up early enough to allow her dad to race. Robby Gordon's offer stemmed from a little incident in Montreal this past August.
Busch Series points leader Carl Edwards will make his 100th start in the Nascar's second tier series this weekend.
Popo in my crib news:
Former NASCAR Truck Series driver Aaron Fike appeared in court on Wednesday but did not enter a plea on his possession of heroin and possession of drug abuse instruments charges stemming from his July 7th arrest at an amusement park. His female companion, Cassandra Davidson pleaded guilty to the same charges on August 24th with a sentencing date set for October 11th. A trail date for Fike has not been set. Watch out Aaron, because the popo are on your tail!
News & Notes: Terrell Owens was fined $7,500 for his fake video taping touchdown celebration on Sunday. It wasn't as good as the dog pound leap, but I think it was worth the fine...In other Texas football news, the Houston Texans will be without star receiver Andre Johnson in their game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Johnson is recovering from a sprained knee...Talk about sore losers, Notre Dame has refused to release quarterback Demetrius Jones from his scholarship. This does not stop him from playing at Northern Illinois next season, but it does prevent him from getting a free ride to play there. Jones left the Irish after two games earlier this season...Andrei Kirilenko has a blog and he's not afraid to use it to express his distaste for his employer the Utah Jazz. He wrote "I want to quit Utah." But the Jazz told him, we can't quit you so you're staying!...Danny Ferry and Mike Brown got new looks to their brand new offices. Ferry's office was painted up in Carolina blue and Brown's had a tween look with hot pink walls. Ferry attended Duke...Chelsea Soccer Club and Jose Mourinho have agreed to part ways after "Mourinho led the Blues to twice as many English league titles than any other manager in the club's history". I guess times really are tough for managers...And finally, it's strickly BYOB for University of Colorado basketball games this season after the University announced it will not be selling beers that the games. But don't worry, beer will still be available for private groups. Wouldn't want to upset the boosters!
Random Quote: "I'll have pink ribbons for you all when you leave so nobody feels left out." - Mike Brown's reaction to his new office. (source)
Check this out: This morning I was watching CMT and apparently it was transformed into Carrie Music Television, broadcasting her new video for "So Small." If you haven't seen it yet click here.
It's been fun blogging with you,
Kate
Kate
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