Christmas Day is my favorite day of the year. My birthday probably comes in at a close second. Not too far behind that...Opening Day (or in this case, Opening Night).
My beloved Braves opened against division rivals and World Champions, the Philadelphia Phillies. I'll try not to bore you with too much baseball...I'll just give you the highlights.
First inning, Chipper singles, then McCann homers to give the Braves a 2-run lead.
Second inning, Francouer homers on the first pitch he sees. Rookie Jordan Schafer homers in his first at-bat of his major league career. It is now 4-0, Braves.
Things are looking really nice at this point.
Fast forward through six more innings of pitching gold by first year Brave Derek Lowe, and we hit the end of the eighth. I'm still hanging in there (albeit a little tired). Cohen, on the other hand, fell asleep around the 4th inning.
For the ninth inning, the Braves apparently decided that pitch-counts must be more important than the inspirational exhilaration of an Opening Night, complete game, 2-hit shutout. They pulled Lowe out, despite his dominating performance. Maybe they wanted to show the world that they have faith in their bullpen for 2009. Either way, it almost didn't work out for my guys. Mike Gonzalez sure made it interesting enough, giving up a run and four hits before finally striking out two in a row to win the game.
Overall, if tonight was any indication, then redemption is on the menu for the Braves this season. They looked like a team on a mission, and I think, all bias aside (well, mostly aside), the Braves have a viable chance of making it to the post-season for the first time since 2005.
Let's do it again tomorrow! And almost every day until October is over!
And, go Braves.
I got sucked in and watched through the 3rd inning. Then every time I heard cheering or booing I'd have to run into the living room and ask Chris what happened. Such a good game. I have faith in the Braves this season.
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