Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants Series Recap

After dropping the first two games of this four-game series against the Giants, the Braves rebounded nicely to take the next two and split the series. This could very well be the last series Chipper Jones plays in San Francisco. He managed only one hit in the three games in which he appeared and finishes his career against them with a .289 avg. and 23 home runs, four of the home runs at AT&T Park.

Tommy Hanson and Ben Sheets were the two pitchers presumed to be on the bubble once the Braves returned to a five-man rotation in September. Now that Sheets is on the DL with "shoulder inflammation", Hanson's spot appears to be safe for the time being, but neither he nor Sheets pitched particularly well in the series; Hanson allowed four runs on seven hits on Thursday while Sheets gave up four runs on nine hits in his start on Friday. Hopefully, the rest will help Sheets return to the form he had in his first three starts with the Braves. As for Hanson, he has one more start before the team's next off day. If he doesn't have a good outing, I'd suggest reinforcements from Gwinnett.

Mike Minor had another good start and was finally rewarded with some run support Saturday. He allowed only one run before getting Chad Durbin'd in the seventh when both inherited runners scored; Minor even helped himself with a walk and a double. The double was the third such hit among Minor's five major-league hits thus far. Minor faced Madison Bumgarner, who had been 8-1 with a 1.87 ERA at AT&T Park this year and hadn't given up a home run to a lefty at home all year until Jason Heyward changed that, mashing a three-run homer.

Speaking of Heyward, he continued to stay hot, hitting a home run in each of the three games he started in the series. He is 11-28 (.393) on the road trip with four homers. Freddie Freeman also had a good series: he was 5-17 in the series with three home runs as well, plus five RBI. Heyward, Freeman and Juan Francisco hit all seven home runs in the series; the Giants as a team have hit 20 at home all year.

Tim Hudson was spectacular. He allowed only one run in seven innings while striking out three in earning his 13th win of the season on Sunday. By the way, he also had two hits.

Dan Uggla and Brian McCann have been the two Braves struggling the most lately. Uggla was 1-8 with four walks while McCann had five hits, three of them in Sunday's game.

UP NEXT: The Padres at Petco Park.