Braves Daily News Digest: 6/15

BRAVES NEWS

Despite Comeback, Braves Lose In Extras

The Braves eventually lost Saturday night's game against the Angels by the score of 11-6 after 13 innings, but the fact that the game got to 13 innings was a miracle in itself. Atlanta went into the 9th down 4 and managed to rough up Ernesto Frieri to tie the game at 5-5 going into extras. Unfortunately, some bad luck and another bullpen letdown resulted in Atlanta's comeback bid ultimately going in vain.

Heyward Misses No Time With Bruised Hand

When Jason Heyward was removed from Friday's game after being hit in the hand by a pitch from C.J. Wilson, it seemed pretty natural to believe that Heyward was about to suffer from some more bad injury luck. However, there was good news when the result of the HBP was "just" a contusion, and there was great news when Heyward reported that he felt no problems and was in the lineup for Saturday's wild game. So, no injury issues for Heyward. That's always pleasant news.

Fredi: "I Thought About" Hitting TLS 2nd In Lineup

With the Los Angeles Angels currently out of healthy left-handed relief pitchers, Fredi Gonzalez was looking to take advantage of that, and one of the ways that he figured he could turn that into a positive for the Braves was if he put rookie 2nd baseman Tommy La Stella in the 2nd slot in the lineup. Normally having 3 lefties at the top of the lineup is asking for trouble, but with the aforementioned situation that the Angels were in, it seemed like a good idea to Fredi. As we all know, it didn't happened, but it does appear that this could mean that TLS has definitely impressed his manager since his arrival to the bigs.

Could Double Signal Turnaround For Freeman?

It's no secret that Freddie Freeman has been slumping as of late, and the hard-working people over at the AJC have noticed that it's coincided with him starting 67 games this season, which is the most on the team. With that being said, the star 1st baseman for the Braves showed a sign of life in a crucial moment during last night's comeback, and that has most of the Braves (namely Andrelton Simmons) feeling real positive about Freeman's chances of busting out of the slump.

"It's good for us and big for him," Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons said. "He always comes up big in those situations. No matter how he's swinging the bat, we're confident when he is up there with the tying run on base. He did it again."

Manager/Father And Player/Son Bond Over Baseball Experiences

Braves 3B Chris Johnson is going to be busy for Father's Day with (hopefully productive) baseball stuff. He's a bit unique in that his father, Ron Johnson will also be busy with baseball stuff. That's because the elder Johnson is currently the manager of the Norfolk Tides in AAA. Despite the fact that baseball has kept them apart for long periods of time, they've still managed to have a strong Father-Son bond and still keep contact with each other, which they will no doubt do today on Father's Day.

LEAGUE WIDE NEWS

Prado Gets 1000th Hit In Massive Fashion

Although the Diamondbacks got beat 6-4 by the Los Angeles Dodgers last night, there was still a bit for Arizona to celebrate, or particularly our old friend Martin Prado. In the bottom of the 9th, Prado launched a 1-0 pitch from Kenley Jansen into the left field seats to cut the deficit to 2. The reason why it was a cause for celebration was because it was Prado's 1000th hit of his career. Here's a look at Prado's accomplishment in action:

Puig Flips Bat, Bat Nearly Strikes Back

Earlier in that Dodgers-Diamondbacks game, Cuban slugger and all-around excitement magnet Yasiel Puig took a routine walk during the 1st inning. Puig flipped the bat as he began his trot to 1st, which is routine as well since we're talking about Puig, here. What wasn't so routine was that the bat seemed to have a life of its own and nearly took out everybody at the plate, umpire included. The best part of this (other than the fact that nobody got hit) was that since this was in Dodger Stadium, Vin Scully had the call and as usual, it was majestic.

O.Co Coliseum Continues To Fall Apart

The Oakland A's dispatched of the New York Yankees last night to the tune of 5-1 to improve their record to 40-27, but since the dilapidated O.Co Coliseum was the site of the game, there was a 37% chance that something would happen with the stadium (I have absolutely no statistical backing for that number). Indeed, the game had to be delayed for around half an hour because a set of lights malfunctioned. Yep, the lights went out for a bit. I'm just waiting for a sinkhole to appear in right field one of these days.

Colorado Continues To Haunt San Francisco

On Friday night, the Rockies pulled off a come-from-behind victory in the top of the 9th at AT&T Park against the Giants. To do it once is pretty good. To do it twice within 48 hours is awesome, which is what the Rockies did on Saturday as they turned a 4-3 9th inning deficit into a 5-4 victory, and they were aided by a 2-run inside-the-park homer from Brandon Barnes. The Rockies have now won 4 straight (and 2 in a row against the NL-leading Giants), which all of a sudden makes me feel a whole lot better about the last 2 games of the Braves' visit to Denver.