Atlanta Braves news and links: Well, that was a lame weekend.

BRAVES NEWS

Yankees put the boots to the Braves in blowout win

What happens when a team with a good offense runs into a team who is struggling to do much of anything right? Well, 38 runs in three games happens, including 20 on Sunday as the Yankees absolutely crushed our Braves yesterday. The funny thing is that after the Yankees pulled away to an 8-2 lead, the Braves were able to cut the deficit to three after six innings, and we seemed to have a competitive game on our hands. Then the Yankees unleashed shock and awe on Ross Detwiler, Peter Moylan, and especially Jake Brigham. Poor, poor Jake Brigham. Brigham was charged with eight earned runs, and once the dust cleared, the Yankees eventually had 20 runs to their credit. What a nasty series this was.

Williams Perez goes to Gwinnett after poor performance on Friday

The reason why Brigham even had the opportunity to play on Sunday was because he was called up late Friday night to replace Williams Perez. Perez had his own painful adventure with the Yankees on Friday, and that bad performance ended up earning him a trip back to the suburbs.

Hector Olivera will be called up on Tuesday

Tomorrow is September 1st. That's the day that marks the first day of the final month of the pain and struggle that hs been the 2015 season for the Atlanta Braves, and that's also the day when the rosters expand. As such, this is probably the day in which prized Cuban prospect Hector Olivera will be called up. It's been a long time coming for Olivera, but it appears that the long wait for Olivera to reach the big leagues is finally coming to an end.

Braves taking patient approach with Bethancourt

It's been an interesting season for Christian Bethancourt. C-Beth earned the starting job back in Spring Training, but after he scuffled through the early part of the season, he was sent down to Gwinnett to polish his game. Now that he's back, he hasn't exactly set the world on fire, but the Braves coaching staff has seen improvement out of the young catcher in the early stages of his return. As such, the Braves have decided to be patient with Bethancourt, and it appears that Bethancourt himself understands that this is probably the best chance he has to prove that he truly is the catcher of the future for the Braves.

Despite the initial results since he was recalled — he was 1-for-13 before getting a pair of singles in his last at-bats in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Yankees – manager Fredi Gonzalez said he’s seen some signs of progress from Bethancourt.

"I’ve seen the swing shorten up a little," Gonzalez said. "I know the numbers don’t show it, but I’ve seen the swing shorten up in batting practice. And I’ve seen him be more consistent behind the plate. And that’s what Snit (Triple-A Gwinnett manager Brian Snitker) said. "But he’s only caught four games (since returning)."

"He seems more focused. He’s been doing his job a lot better.

Royals rejected offer for A.J. Pierzynski

Meanwhile, Bethancourt's "replacement" has been one of the unexpected bright spots for the Braves this season. Seriously, who had A.J. Pierzynski even coming close to 2.0 fWAR this season (he's currently at 1.7)? As a result, it appears that the Braves tried to sell high on Pierzynski. In one of those "blink and you missed it" moments that you get in articles like these, the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo reported that the Braves offered AJP to the Royals, who are currently in the market for a backup catcher. The Royals declined the offer, which means that Pierzynski will probably finish the season with the Braves, but hey, props to the Braves for at least trying to pull off what would've been one of the better "sell high" moves of the season.

Check out the minor league report

MLB NEWS

Cubs' Arrieta no-hits the Dodgers

If you've watched Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta pitch lately, then you knew that he was probably going to pitch a game like this eventually. With that being said, it was still one of the absolute best pitching performances of the season. Jake Arrieta was utterly dominant against the Dodgers on Sunday night, as he pitched baseball's sixth no-hitter of the year.

Most pitchers who throw no-hitters are dominant, so saying that sells Arrieta's performance short. He struck out 12, including the last three batters of the game (Justin Turner, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley), which is the most for any Cub who's ever thrown a no-hitter (previous record: 10, by Zambrano). His Game Score of 98 is the second-highest in Cubs history (Kerry Wood's 20-K game in 1998 scored 105, the highest for a nine-inning game in MLB history), and one of 48 games in major-league history that had a Game Score of 98 or higher.

Two baserunners. One was on an error by Starlin Castro on a ground ball hit by Enrique Hernandez in the third inning. Yes, it was definitely an error. But after a sacrifice bunt, Arrieta struck out Rollins to end the inning. Rollins walked with two out in the sixth, the only other baserunner.