The All-Star break couldn’t come at a better time for the Gwinnett Braves. Over the weekend they were swept by the Charlotte Knights. In all three games they allowed a big inning that they could not recover from.
Although the team had a disappointing series, there was a lot of exciting happenings at Coolray Field. On Friday, the crowd was entertained by the world famous San Diego Chicken and welcomed center fielder Nate McLouth in his first appearance since a concussion on June 9. The 6-year veteran hit the ball extremely hard and singled up the middle in his first at-bat. He was taken out after the 5th inning, just to be on the safe side. No one knows how long the rehab stint will last.
“That is up to Frank Wren, it’s day-to-day,” said manager Dave Brundage. “For being out for a month, I’d say Nate looked pretty healthy and hit the ball good.”
On Sunday, McLouth hit a home run to lead off the game. He ended the series going 4-for-11 with a stolen base and one RBI.
On Saturday Jason Heyward returned to Gwinnett to take batting practice in hopes of playing in the All-Star game in Anahiem on Tuesday. “I’m feeling good, it’s positive, more repetition more (batting practices) and I’m going in the right direction,” Heyward said to reporters afterwards. The Braves rookie has a strained thumb and will continue to recover, but will not play in the All-Star game.
The pitching against Charlotte left something to be desired, however the starters kept it together as long as they could in order to save the bullpen long innings.
“We’re trying to get to the All-Star break by not using our bullpen up,” Brundage said. “The big innings bit us right in the rear end and we fell out of rhythm.”
In all three games the G-Braves allowed an inning of at least three runs.
In order to have any improvement, they need to avoid the big inning. They’ll have a three-day rest, the team will be back at it against Buffalo to start an eight-game road trip on Thursday.
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