Atlanta Braves at Colorado Rockies: Series Recap

The Braves managed to take care of business over the weekend in Denver, leaving town with a three game sweep and an improved 18-11 record. The Braves offense produced a total of 29 runs over the three games to raise their season total to a Major League leading 162 runs, just under 5.6 per contest. Meanwhile, on Sunday, Brandon Beachy held the Rockies to under five runs for the first time since April 25th and at Coors Field for the first time since the 16th of that month. Atlanta is now half a game back of the Nationals for first place in the NL East and sit at seven games above five hundred for the first time this year.

The first two games of the series were wild ones. Each involved comebacks of at least five runs. Tim Hudson had a rough first inning on Friday night, and spotted the Rockies with a 5-0 lead early on. However, the Braves have made a habit out of overcoming large deficits and Friday was no exception. Eric Hinske had yet another four-hit night on his way to hitting the decisive two run shot in the top of the 11th inning to put the Braves up for good.

Saturday night it was Mike Minor that staked the Rockies to a 6-0 lead on his way to giving up a career-high eight runs in five innings. Jamie Moyer made sure that the Braves would have the necessary motivation to rally, though. The 49 year old pitcher accused Chipper of stealing signs at second base and relaying them to McCann at the plate. Replays showed that he did no such thing and even Rockies' shortstop Troy Tulowitski agreed with the veteran third baseman. Chipper was, of course livid about the false accusation, but Moyer added more fuel to the fire, when he came to bat and told Brian McCann that "stealing signs is how people get hurt." The pitcher is clearly becoming delusional in his old age, but behind five RBI from Chipper, the Braves hurt him with their bats as opposed to a fastball in the ribs, by rallying to win 13-9.

Freddie Freeman continued his hot hitting against Rockies pitching on Sunday to help lead the Braves to a 7-2 victory to complete the sweep. Brandon Beachy was spectacular during his start giving up just two runs, which came as a result of great hitting, rather than poor pitches. Freeman went 6-for-16 in the series, with a double, a triple, and two homers, racking up seven RBI over the weekend. For his career against the Rockies, Freddie is now hitting .435 with eight homers, four doubles, 18 RBI, and 12 runs scored in eleven games against Colorado. This is some pretty awesome stuff from Freddie, especially since Sunday's home run came in his second at-bat after getting plunked in the ribs during his first.

The Braves now head to Chicago to take on the Cubbies in the friendly confines. We can only hope that they keep their offensive momentum rolling.