Atlanta Braves (7-11-3) at New York Yankees (8-9-2) March 16, 2014 U George M
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Atlanta Braves (7-11-3) at New York Yankees (8-9-2) March 16, 2014 u George M. Steinbrenner Field u Tampa, FL u WCNN (680/93.7) RHP Julio Teheran (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Masahiro Tanaka (0-0, 1.80) u RECENT MEMORY: The Braves suffered their second defeat in three days at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals, who topped Atlanta 6-2 yesterday at Lake Buena Vista after recording an 11-1 win on Thursday at Jupiter...RHP Gus Schlosser pitched 4.0 innings in his first start of the spring, surrendering three runs (two earned) on four hits and striking out five...Seven players combined to pound out eight Atlanta hits on the afternoon, with OF Jordan Schafer serving as the only Brave to tally a two-hit game, ending the contest 2-for-4 with his fourth RBI of the spring...NOT-SO RECENT MEMORY: Atlanta won 96 games in 2013 to claim its first NL East division title since 2005 and post its best record since an identical 96-66 mark in 2004...The Braves won the division by 10 games over the second-place Washington Nationals on their way to the second-best record in the NL...Atlanta was bounced from postseason play in the National League Division Series, falling to the Los Angeles Dodg- ers 3-games-to-1. u BRAVES VS. YANKEES: This afternoon’s meeting marks the first of two match ups between these two teams this spring, who will meet again just three days from now when the Yankees travel to Lake Buena Vista on March 19...Atlanta went 3-1 against New York in last year’s Grapefruit League action, dropping the opener before responding to win the final three games of the spring...The Braves and Yankees last met in the regular season in 2012, with New York winning the season series 4-games-to-2, and will not meet during the course of the 2014 regular season...The Yankees lead the all-time series 16-12. u THE ARMS INVOLVED: RHP Julio Teheran makes his fourth start of the spring and his first since tossing 4.0 perfect innings against the Phillies on March 11, when he struck out three...He has yet to allow a run to cross the plate in 2014, giving up only six hits in 9.0 innings over three starts, striking out eight and walking just one...RHP David Carpenter, LHP Atahualpa Severino and LHP Anthony Varvaro are scheduled to pitch in relief...All three are coming off of scoreless appearances their last time out...New York sends RHP Masahiro Tanaka to the mound for the third time this spring (second start) and the first time since March 6 at PHI...The recently-acquired Tanaka was obtained by the Yankees via the posting system from the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan, and has allowed one run in five innings this spring...LHP Matt Thornton, RHP Dellin Betances, RHP Shawn Kelley and LHP Fred Lewis are penciled in to follow Tanaka...LOOKING AHEAD: LHP Alex Wood gets the start for Atlanta tomorrow, when the Braves travel to Kissimmee to take on the Astros. u LISTEN UP: Today’s GFL contest against the Yankees is being broadcasted by WCNN 680 and 93.7, with Jim Powell and Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton on the call. u HEY WAY TO GO: OF Jason Heyward sits on six National League spring-training leaderboards through his first 14 games of the spring, ranking in the Top 10 of the NL in batting average (8th, .351), home runs (T-3rd, 3), slugging percentage (7th, .595), runs (T-1st, 10), hits (T-6th, 13) and total bases (8th, 22)...Heyward has hits in seven of his last eight games and is hitting .387 (12-for-31) in the month of March...DOUBLE UP: Atlanta has slugged 42 doubles on the spring, fourth-most in the NL and tops among NL teams in the Grapefruit League...INFs Chris Johnson and Ramiro Pena lead the team and are tied for third in the GFL with five doubles apiece. u A FEW MINOR ADDITIONS: Four players from minor league camp will make the trip to Tampa with the Braves today, as RHP David Bromberg (#77), RHP John Cornely (#78), RHP James Hoyt (#81) and RHP Andy Russell (#84) will be available out of the bullpen...20 total minor league players have loaned their services to the Major League squad this year. u ON THE MOVE: Atlanta trimmed its spring roster by 17 players Friday, optioning RHP Aaron Northcraft, RHP Wirfrin Obispo and LHP Carlos Perez to Triple-A Gwinnett and re-assigning 14 others...LHP Daniel Rodriguez and RHPs Lay Batista, J.R. Graham, Jason Hursh, Mark Lamm, Cody Martin, Yunesky Maya and Shae Simmons were all re-assigned to minor league camp, as were Cs Matt Kennelly, Braeden Schlehuber and Jose Yepez, INFs Mark Hamilton and Edward Salcedo and OF Matt Lipka...Batista, Obispo, Perez and Simmons were all moved following Friday’s game, while the remaining 13 moves happed before play Friday afternoon... WHO’S STILL HERE?: The Braves have 45 players remaining in camp, including eight non-roster invitees...22 of the 49 players are pitchers (seven LHP, 15 RHP), 11 are infielders, seven are outfielders and five are catchers. u ATLANTA LANDS SANTANA: The Braves and RHP Ervin Santana have agreed to a one-year contract for the 2014 season...Santana joins the Club after going 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA for the Kansas City Royals last season, tying for fourth in the American League with 23 “quality starts” and ranking eighth in the AL with a 1.14 WHIP...The Dominican-born Santana has a 105-90 record over nine Major League seasons, pitching to a 4.19 ERA in 268 appearances and logging at least 200 innings pitched in five of the last eight seasons...Originally signed by the Anaheim Angels in 2000, Santana has turned in one All-Star campaign (2008) and tossed one no-hitter, on July 27, 2011 at Cleveland while with the Angels...Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed...He will wear No. 30. u LET’S SPLIT UP: Wednesday served as the third of four split-squad match ups over the course of the spring for the Braves, who will seperate for the final time on March 21 (vs. DET/at BAL)...Atlanta moved to 2-2-2 in split squad games with a pair of victories Wednesday (3/2 - T vs. DET 0-0, L at HOU 7-4; 3/8 - T vs. MIA 6-6, L at WSH 8-2). u TAKE A WALK: For the second straight season, The Cindy Donald Dreams of Recovery Foundation and the Atlanta Braves will team up for Cindy’s Walks for Recovery, the unique fundraising program which debuted last spring...Through Cindy’s Walks for Recovery, Braves Country can help Marietta resident Cindy Donald accomplish her deam of making a lasting difference in the lives of those suffering from spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries by donating a dollar amount of their choosing for each base on balls drawn by a Braves batter during the 2014 season...Fans can visit www.walksforrecovery.com for more information. u WELCOME BACK RYAN: Former OF Ryan Klesko kicked off seven-day stop in camp last Monday and will remain with the club through today’s game...Man- ager Fredi Gonzalez and the Atlanta coaching staff will be assisted by six guest instructors throughout the course of spring training, including a pair of National Baseball Hall of Famers, as new inductee Tom Glavine will be around from March 21-25, and fellow Hall of Famer Phil Niekro is scheduled to make an appearance...Javy Lopez began camp with the Club and concluded his time in late February, while Gene Garber and Steve Avery departed Wednesday after arriving in camp on February 25 and February 27, respectively. SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE/RESULTS Time/ Probable Pitchers/ Date/Opp. Result Winner-Loser-Save Record Attendance Braves HRs Highlights Wed., 2/26 vs. DET+ L, 6-5 Hardy-Simmons, S.-Marte 0-1 5,509 None Uggla (2-for-2, RBI), Mejia (2-for-3, 2 2B), Garcia (2.0 IP, 2 K) Thur., 2/27 at DET+ L, 5-2 Krol-Obispo-Rondon 0-2 5,991 Heyward (1) Heyward (1-for-3, HR), Doumit (2-for-3, 3B, RBI, SB) Fri., 2/28 vs. HOU+ L, 7-5 Albers-Walden-Lo 0-3 4,592 Cunningham (1) Cunningham (2-for-2, HR, 1B, 2 R, BB, SB), Uggla (2 BB, 2 RBI) Sat., 3/1 at WSH+ L, 16-15 Rivero-Simmons, S-Ayala 0-4 5,584 None Teheran (2.0 IP, K), Schafer (3-for-3, R, RBI, BB) Sun., 3/2 vs. DET (SS)+ T, 0-0 None 0-4-1 6,622 None Wood (2.0 IP, 2K), Avilan (1.0 IP, K), Freeman (2-for-3) at HOU (SS) L, 7-4 Cosart-Hale-Bass 0-5-1 2,449 None Upton, B (1-for-3, 2B, RBI), La Stella (2-for-4, 2B, RBI) Mon., 3/3 vs. NYM+ L, 6-2 Reid-Severino-None 0-6-1 5,448 None Garcia (3.0 IP, 3 K), Doumit (1-for-1, BB) Tue., 3/4 vs. WSH+ W, 8-4 Hursh-Ayala-None 1-6-1 5,188 None Medlen (3.0 IP, H, BB, 3 K), Upton, J, (2-for-2) Wed., 3/5 at PHI+& T, 2-2 None 1-6-2 6,808 None Beachy (3.0 IP, BB, K), Upton, B.