Open Thread and Noc-A-Homa-Win-A-Lotta: Braves at Phillies (8/10)

Today's Starting Pitchers

C. James Braves vs.  C. Hamels Phillies 9-8 W-L 12-5 3.84 ERA 3.57 90 SO 148 53 BB 35 20 HR 24 vs. C. James -- vs. Braves

Game Time: 7:35pm on

Andruw who? Boy, did Willie Harris ever win that game for the Braves - averting what was almost another complete bullpen collapse. It seems like we've got everything clicking right now except for the pen (sans Moylan, who is dominating). Our offense scored seven runs again, including the first of what I hope are many back to back jacks by Chipper and Boomstick. Our defense was pretty awesome with Willie's catches and Tex at the "reverse hot corner." Starting pitching seems to be in the middle of a good run, but that bullpen has been the thing letting us down lately. We may have been celebrating our 9th or 10th straight victory if not for the bullpen.

But let's look at the positives - we once again took two of three from the Mets - the fourth time we've done that this year. We also won our third series in a row this month - that's how you slowly eat away at the Mets lead. We've got the bottom of the rotation facing the Phillies in the upcoming series - James, Corms, and Buddy - but even though they might be more prone to surrendering runs, perhaps our offense will score enough for us to win.

Don't forget to get your picks in before the game for Nok-A-Homa-Win-A-Lotta (click here to learn how to play and to view the leaderboard); the three categories are (1) Attendance, (2) Pick to Click, and (3) Above and Beyond Pick.