Always Braves! A Braves Franchise (MLB 14)

[IXI DECAY IXI]

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- Game one of the three game series in Miami pitted a rematch between two young guns in Alex Wood and Jose Fernandez. Jose Fernandez won round 1 on April 22 in Atlanta as he earned a win with his 6 innings of shutout baseball allowing 2 hits and striking out 3.

Round two would pretty much look the same as Fernandez pitched 6 innings once again allowing only 3 hits and striking out 8. Wood didn't pitch bad as he allowed 1 run on 7 hits and striking out 5.

The Braves were only able to muster up 4 hits in the contest but one of the hits did go to Andrelton Simmons as he increased his hitting streak to 15 games.

The Braves have now lost back to back games for the first time since the opening series in Milwaukee where they lost the last two games of the series to the Brewers.

Game two will feature Henderson Alvarez (1-3, 3.23) against Aaron Harang (3-3, 3.06).

Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins
Apr 29, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (16-10)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Miami (11-15)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	1	7	0
W: Fernandez (5-1) L: Wood (3-3) S: Cishek (7)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			ATL	MIA
MIA	2	Bogusevic doubled to right. Hechavarria scores.	0	1

[IXI DECAY IXI]

MIAMI, FLORIDA -- The final game of April was a struggle for the Braves offense all game long. The only spark of offense came from the two Upton brothers. B.J. was able to finally get his average over the .200 mark with a 2/4 day. Justin Upton connected for a two run homerun in the top half of the 9th inning to give the Braves a late 2 run lead.

Aaron Harang and Henderson Alvarez were both dominate in todays game but neither starter would get a decision. Alvarez threw 7 innings giving up only 3 hits and striking out 8. Harang also completed 7 innings allowing 6 hits and striking out 2. Jordan Walden earned his second win on the season after completing a scoreless 8th inning. Craig Kimbrel earned his 10 save of the season as he struck out the side for the first time this season in the bottom of the 9th.

David Hale (5-0, 1.19) will face Tom Koehler (0-2, 4.18) in the final game of the three game series.

Atlanta Braves at Miami Marlins
Apr 30, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Atlanta (17-10)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	4	1
Miami (11-16)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
W: Walden (2-0) L: Capps (1-2) S: Kimbrel (10)

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			ATL	MIA
ATL	9	Upton homered to right. Upton scores.	2	0

[IXI DECAY IXI]

The Braves finished the month of April with a record of 17-10 and currently sit atop the NL East by a half game. While the Braves pitching has by far been the best in the majors, the offense has struggled greatly.

The Braves finished the month of April with a team average of .241 which ranks 25th in the majors. The Braves will surely have to see some offensive surges in May if they hope to stay atop in the East. It's not likely that the pitching will continue at the pace they have been.

Freddie Freeman was one of the Braves only bright spots offensively. Freeman finished April with a .360 average, 7 homeruns, and 20 RBI's. Other than Freeman, the Braves have 4 players in their starting 8 that are hitting lower than .211 (Upton, Upton, Johnson, Uggla).

The month of May will see the Braves only have two off days and will include series against the Giants twice, Cardinals twice, Brewers, and the Red Sox, so it's not going to be an easy month for Atlanta.

MLB Standings - Updated: May 1, 2014
AL EAST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Red Sox	18	10	-	137	123
Orioles	15	12	2.5	125	107
Rays	15	14	3.5	121	114
Yankees	13	14	4.5	116	106
Blue Jays	13	14	4.5	113	125
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Indians	16	13	-	119	114
White Sox	14	15	2.0	117	116
Royals	13	14	2.0	102	105
Twins	11	15	3.5	100	113
Tigers	9	17	5.5	75	118
AL WEST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Athletics	19	10	-	137	102
Mariners	16	11	2.0	129	111
Angels	14	13	4.0	132	119
Rangers	13	15	5.5	121	158
NL EAST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Braves	17	10	-	90	61
Nationals	17	11	0.5	126	75
Phillies	15	13	2.5	111	128
Marlins	11	16	6.0	80	106
Mets	9	18	8.0	83	121
NL CENTRAL	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Pirates	17	11	-	125	117
Cardinals	16	13	1.5	130	121
Cubs	13	14	3.5	128	109
Brewers	13	15	4.0	129	136
Reds	10	18	7.0	81	111
NL WEST	W	L	GB	RS	RA
Padres	17	12	-	119	96
Rockies	16	13	1.0	101	100
Giants	14	14	2.5	112	106
Diamondbacks	13	18	5.0	125	146
Dodgers	10	18	6.5	114	131

[IXI DECAY IXI]

I'm going to be trying a new formula/layout. I'm going to continue to play every single game but it's very hard and time consuming to give a quality recap for every game. I'm currently designing a layout for a weekly recap sort of things that will just update for every week in the franchise.

[IXI DECAY IXI]

[IXI DECAY IXI]

[JoeyKirby]

Love what you do with your graphics, especially the prospect watch (which is a very cool feature). I'll be following this for sure, keep up the good work, doing a great job!

[IXI DECAY IXI]

Quote: Originally Posted by JoeyKirby

Love what you do with your graphics, especially the prospect watch (which is a very cool feature). I'll be following this for sure, keep up the good work, doing a great job!

Thank you sir for the kind words. I'm definitely enjoying the new layout. It streamlines the updating process and will allow me to add more content.