Five in a Row - Braves Pound Nationals

The Braves are clicking on all cylinders right now. Tim Hudson did not have his very best stuff last night, but was bailed out in the 1st inning by Jeff Francoeur's outfield assist at the plate and later Yunel Escobar doing the same in the 5th. The offense scored early and often on its way to an easy 7-3 win over the struggling Washington Nationals.

Matt Diaz looked like his old self last night with a 3-4 effort at the plate. Granted, it was against a left-handed pitcher, but he had much better at-bats regardless. For whatever reason, the entire offense looks more comfortable and relaxed at the plate right now. When things are clicking, they are clicking.

That might be the stupidest sentence in the history of the blog.

Did anyone see the worst call in the history of baseball in the first inning last night? Yunel Escobar put down a nice bunt and beat the throw by 10 feet - easily - only to be punched out. The call was so bad that there was more bewilderment than anger about it. I have never seen a call so easy missed so badly in an MLB game.

Don't look now, but the Braves are over .500 for the first time all season and only .5 game behind the Mets (we won't worry about the Marlins). Don't look now some more, but the Big Boys in the N.L. East look vulnerable this season. The Mets look old (Delgado, Alou, Pedro) and cannot claim a better starting staff than the Braves even with Johan Santana. The Phillies are riding Chase Utley's remarkable bat, but Jimmy Rollins is on the D.L. and Ryan Howard has turned into Dave Kingman with his penchant for swinging and missing. The Phils staff is not overly impressive either. The Braves, even with their injuries, might be the best team in the division. They are certainly playing like it right now.

Tonight - the Braves go for the sweep and John Smoltz goes for 3000 strikeouts. I'm predicting both. I also predict Mike Hampton will strain his groin watching the proceedings.