Braves take 2 of 3 from the Nationals
The Good: Make sure you save some for the postseason Andruw! Andruw Jones is on fire, going 6-for-11 this series with 4 home runs (his 49 through Sunday’s game set a new Braves franchise record), 7 RBIs and 5 runs scored. How do you spell MVP? A-N-D-R-U-W! … Chipper Jones was 4-for-13, including a clutch 2-run homer with 2 outs in the 9th inning to win Sunday’s game. That saved the Braves from losing a game in which the bullpen blew a 4-run lead (yet another John Smoltz win erased by the blowpen). … Jorge Sosa hurled another gem, registering his 11th win of the season. He allowed 6 hits, struck out 3 and walked none while shutting out the Nationals over 8 innings. He would be 5th in the National League in ERA if he had enough innings under his belt. … The Braves’ magic number stands at 13. 
The Bad: Last year it was Chris Reitsma. Before that it was Mike Remlinger. This year its John Foster. Invariably Bobby Cox finds a hot reliever and uses him until his arm is about to fall off. Of course he didn’t have much choice, with Foster being the only halfway-decent left-handed pitcher in the bullpen all year. Through Sunday, Foster had made 56 major-league appearances this year (keep in mind all but 4 of those came after May 8th). Foster gave up 2 earned runs in 1/3 inning Saturday (with some help from Dan Kolb naturally) and 3 earned runs without retiring a batter Sunday. … Marcus Giles was 2-for-12 in the series. … It had to happen some time. Jeff Francoeur is coming back down to earth. He was 1-for-11 in the set but still sports a .325 season average.
The Ugly: As if Adam LaRoche’s offensive play has not been ugly enough, he took a hard-hit ground ball off the right side of his face Sunday afternoon. After absorbing the shot off of Nick Johnson’s bat LaRoche left the game. Team doctors have concluded it is not a serious injury and his status is listed as day-to-day. LaRoche said it best himself when he joked “it might help me get my head back where it belongs.” Amen! 
