Atlanta Braves vs. Houston Astros Series Recap

Against a team that's been as bad as the Astros, one would expect a much better team to sweep them, especially away from Houston where they had only 10 wins entering the series. Although the Braves didn't sweep, they won two of three to continue their amazing string of wins; they've won 10 of 12 and are 16-7 since the Break.

Paul Maholm made his Braves debut in this series and actually pitched pretty well, except for a couple of pitches that Justin Maxwell crushed to account for all of Houston's runs Saturday. Maxwell continues to be a thorn to the Braves: in 27 games against Atlanta, he is 14-48 (.292) with five home runs among his eight extra-base hits, 7-11 this year.

Kris Medlen's good work as a starter continued. He's now thrown 10.1 innings, allowing just two runs and striking out nine. He didn't get the win Sunday, but the offense rallied for three in the sixth after he had left the game.

Chipper Jones added four more hits, three more runs scored and three RBI to his already hall-of-fame totals in the series. His run scored Sunday was the 1,600th run scored of his career, tying him for 47th all-time. In addition, He is seven hits away from 2,700.

Michael Bourn was hitting .311 on July 15. In 20 games since then, he's hitting just .179 (15-84) and had just one hit in the series. Dan Uggla, as we all know, has been slumping longer than that, hitting a paltry .127 (21-165) since his four-hit game June 5. However, he has single hits in six of his last eight games with eight RBI to keep his batting average above the Mendoza line. His numbers are still ugly (.209 avg., .702 OPS), but his recent production is encouraging. By no means is it ideal, but it's a step in the right direction.

Martin Prado was 4-10 in the series with one RBI. He was involved in a shouting match with Astros starter Armando Galarraga on Friday in the sixth inning. According to Galarraga, Prado "thought I was telling something to him, but I was talking to Corporan. I couldn't see the signs." The quarrel was brief and no punches were thrown.

Tim Hudson reached a personal milestone, earning his 100th win as a Braves pitcher in Friday's game. He is now just eight wins away from 200 for his career.

Say goodbye to the Astros. We probably won't see them for a while once they move to the AL next year.

NEXT SERIES:

The Braves head out on the road to Philadelphia to start a six-game road trip.