You had to have a good feeling about winning the series and ending the west coast road trip on a positive note with Javier Vazquez on the mound, and in typical Javy fashion he was up to the challenge of giving the Braves a solid start when they needed one. He was as sharp on Sunday afternoon as he has been all year. Eight innings, only five hits, two walks, and seven strikeouts as Vazquez controlled the game.
The Braves got him enough offense early in the game, with Matt Diaz getting the scoring started with an opposite field homerun in the second inning. Single runs in the next two innings (when the Braves probably should have gotten more) put the team up by three before Vazquez allowed his first run in the bottom of the fourth.
We were all ready for another nail-biting ninth inning, until the Braves decided to break out the bats and score five times to pad the lead in the top of the ninth. It could have been more if Matt Kemp had not robbed Garret Anderson of what would have been a 2-run homerun.
It's great to see the Braves beat the best team in baseball (coming into this series) three out of four games and have a road trip in which they go 5-and-2. That's a sign that this team is finally gaining some confidence, and also putting together good offensive games with well pitched games.