Another game tonight, thanks to Katy’s brother (John) scoring tickets from a family he worked for yesterday.  Scoring tickets doesn’t even cover it.  These tickets were 7 rows off the field, about three feet down the third base line, before the start of the visitor dugout.  I actually think they were the best seats I’ve ever had, even better than the tix to the Yankees game last year in NY.  They were really close to the action, AND not behind the net.  Stunning views.  One awesome part about being close was hearing the umpire bark at the Nats dugout as they were complaining about some of the pitches he was calling in favor of the Braves in the first inning.  Great stuff.

Game Notes:
The Braves were favorites going into the game, considering they were starting Tim Hudson and the Nats were starting Matt Chico, who apparently made the jump from AA this year.  Hudson performed as advertised and looks set to have an awesome year.  He had a no hitter in the fifth, and left after 7 innings, 3 hits, 7 k’s and no runs.  Great performance.  Chico was affectively wild for most of the game — consistently throwing the ball about 58 feet, but still getting out of trouble.  That is, until everything unraveled in the 5th inning and the Braves blew the game wide open.  Some other random thoughts from the game:

  • I’ve rarely seen a game when you can actually tell how much having a solid defensive team matters.  The Braves made tough plays look easy and the Nats made easy plays look tough.  Belliard dropped a fly ball, which really was Kearns’ fault, he had the better angle on the ball and needed to make the play.  “Da Meat Hook” dropped a throw from an infielder (Lopez?).  Generally, they looked lost.
  • Schneider is an awesome defensive catcher.  He really did a great job blocking all the balls thrown in the dirt.  And there were probably a dozen of them.
  • John Schuerholz?  Genius.  Well, at least this year.  His off-season moves look great already, the bullpen is awesome. 

Katy was pretty tired after working a long day and getting no naps in.  Stupid parasite drains all her energy!  So, we left in the bottom of the 8th (before the Braves scored another 4 runs).  We all had a great time at the game, Katy gave John the low down on calling Francoeur “Hot Shot” and how to heckle (Hot Shot hit a 2-run double and a 3-run home run, haha).

Final Score: Braves 8, Nationals 0.  Ouch.  My Braves record is now 2-0 and my Nats record 0-3.  I’m back at it Thursday night when Jason Bergmann faces John Smoltz.  I like it already.

Pics from tonight:

Braves vs. Nats, 04.10.07