Braves sweep 3 from the Phillies
The Good: Yippee! The first sweep of the season and it’s in the Braves’ favor. … The starters are finally getting their just rewards. Mike Hampton logged 8+ innings for the third straight start and gave up only 2 runs. Tim Hudson struggled at times with his command but allowed only one run in 6 innings (hopefully he’ll have a lot more trying starts like this one 
). John Thomson was “lights out” after a long first inning, throwing 7 shutout innings and striking out 8 in the process. All three starters got the win they deserved this time around. … The offense came alive this homestand but it’s quickly becoming apparent that home is where the bat is this year. The Braves are batting .282 at home and only .214 on the road. Let’s see if the offense now reverts to their old habits on the road. … Chipper Jones keeps going and going… He scored 5 runs and drove in 3 in the series before leaving with a severely bruised foot in the first inning Sunday. X-rays were negative and he should be back soon. … The old-fielders, Brian Jordan and Raul Mondesi, each tallied 2 RBIs in 2 games and went 4-for-7 and 3-for-7 in the series respectively.
The Bad: Rafael Furcal went 1-for-11 in the series and is now batting .210 (not what you would like out of your lead-off hitter!). What else? Uh, it was really cold! 
The Ugly: Is Wilson Betemit the second coming of Chuck Knoblauch? He can’t field a routine ground ball without throwing it away. He just about committed his 3rd error in 5 partial games in the field this season. I just can’t believe this is the super-prospect I’ve been waiting to see the past 3 years. 
