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Braves Clippings Saturday, May 21, 2016 Braves.com

Wisler, Freeman's 2 HRs lift Braves in Philly

By Mark Bowman and Stephen Pianovich / MLB.com | 12:33 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA -- and extended an unexpected power surge as they combined to record three home runs that backed Matt Wisler's strong start and helped the Braves claim Friday night's 7-1 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Freeman drilled a two- shot off Aaron Nola in the third inning and added another in the ninth inning against Brett Oberholtzer to complete the seventh multi-homer game of his career and his first multi-RBI game of the season. Markakis also hit a two-run shot in the seventh inning, during which Nola was dinged for three unearned runs. The Braves have hit nine home runs over their past five games, equalling what they had totaled over the 36 games played before Monday.

"That's good to see, Freddie getting hot, and Nick swung the bat really well tonight," Braves interim manager said. "Matt Wisler was really good. He had a little trouble at the beginning of the ballgame, but he settled in. It's fun watching him. He did a really good job."

The Braves have hit nine home runs over their past five games, equaling what they had totaled over the 36 games played before Monday. On the flip side, Nola had not allowed a homer since April 16, and Freeman's in the third inning was the first Nola gave up in 36 innings.

Wisler recovered from the command issues he experienced during the first inning and matched a season-high seven strikeouts while limiting the Phillies to one run over 6 2/3 innings. The Braves have now won three games during each of their past two road trips. They have gone 2-17 at home.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Souvenir providers: Each of the six homers Freeman had hit before Friday were solo shots. Markakis joined his team's power barrage when he went the other way with a two-out, two-run homer that followed Gordon Beckham's RBI single in the seventh inning. Markakis became the fourth Braves player to hit his first home run of the season this week.

"When you look in the room, there might not be a bunch of 20-25-home run hitters, but there's guys in there capable of doing what we did tonight, and that's good," Snitker said. "I told them the other day, if you keep grinding, things will start falling our way, too. You just got to handle that adversity."

Trouble at the corner: Phillies Maikel Franco made two errors, doubling his season total. Franco was charged with his first on the first play of the game as Braves leadoff man hit a shot down the third-base line. Franco made another gaffe in the seventh inning, allowing Mallex Smith to reach on a two-base error as his throw sailed into the stands. Smith came around to score to put Atlanta ahead, 3-1. Franco was almost charged with a third error in the eighth inning after he bobbled an Erick Aybar grounder, but Aybar was called out at first after a replay review.

"It was a tough moment, I want to make every play," Franco said. "Today just happened, it's part of the game. I'm going to try to forget it."

Quick recovery: After surrendering Ryan Howard's RBI groundout during a 21-pitch first inning, Wisler made some mechanical adjustments that helped him retire eight of the next nine batters he faced and pitch around a pair of singles in the fourth inning. The right-hander then retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced, exiting before the start of the eighth inning for the first time in four starts. He has posted a 1.80 ERA over these four starts.

"He's been pitching great all season long, especially these past few starts where he's been on top of his game," Freeman said. "It's been going well for him, so hopefully it keeps going well."

Rupp has two-hit night: Cameron Rupp provided two of the Phillies' six hits, going 2-for-4 with a . It was Rupp's first multi-hit game since April 19 (14 games), but the was stranded on second base in both the fourth and sixth innings. QUOTABLE "That's the highest I've seen a 39-year-old jump before." -- Freeman, on the celebratory hop A.J. Pierzynski completed after catching Andres Blanco's popup to end the game. The veteran catcher has had trouble catching popups throughout this season.

UPON FURTHER REVIEW The Braves won their first challenge of the season when a replay review awarded Smith an single in the third inning. Atlanta had been unsuccessful with each of its 10 previous challenges.

The Phillies won a challenge when a replay review overturned first-base umpire Gerry Davis' ruling that Aybar safely reached on what would have been Franco's third error of the night.

WHAT'S NEXT Braves: Williams Perez will attempt to recreate his recent success against Philadelphia when this three-game series resumes on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. ET. Perez limited the Phillies to two hits over eight innings on May 11.

Phillies: Philadelphia will look to even the series behind Adam Morgan. The left-hander's lone win of the season came against the Braves on May 10, when he allowed one run in seven strong innings.

Power on: Braves double HR total in 5 games

Club's ledger rises to 18 after Freeman smacks two and Markakis notches first of season

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | @mlbbowman | 12:06 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA -- Maybe it's purely coincidental that the Braves have matched their previous home run total since essentially turning Monday's batting-practice session at PNC Park into a modified home run derby. Or maybe the more aggressive approach taken during this week's batting- practice sessions has simply helped create some confidence for an offense that needed it, especially in the power department.

After halting their home run woes during this week's series in Pittsburgh, the Braves came to Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park on Friday and enjoyed their first three-homer game of the season in a 7-1 win. Freddie Freeman continued to be the consistent power source with his first two- homer game of the season, and Nick Markakis became the fourth Atlanta player to hit his first homer this week.

"I don't know if it's a coincidence," Freeman said. "I think it could all be more about your mental aspect going up to the plate. If you let loose and feel good going up to the plate, this game is mostly mental."

The Braves have doubled their season home run total since entering Monday with just nine home runs through their first 36 games. Freeman had accounted for six of those first nine homers, but he has tallied just two of the nine hit over the past five days. and Mallex Smith have both hit a pair, while Tyler Flowers, and Markakis have notched the others hit this week.

Even with their recent power barrage increasing their season homer total to 18, the Braves have still tallied 13 fewer home runs than the Phillies, who own 's second-lowest total.

Freeman's first home run -- a two-run shot in the third inning -- and Markakis' two-run homer in the seventh inning off Phillies starter Aaron Nola might have been aided by the friendly dimensions at Citizens Bank Park. But there were not any obvious cheapies tallied as the Braves hit six home runs over four games at PNC Park to equal the total they have hit in 19 games at , which is certainly not kind to hitters in the power alleys.

Maybe Monday's batting practice was simply an opportunity to blow off some steam for a team that was being burdened by the constant reminder that they were threatening records of home run futility set in some of the game's dead ball eras. Or maybe, it was simply an activity that altered a mindset and helped create the confidence that has grown as balls have cleared outfield walls with far more regularity this week.

"I think the ballparks are a bigger factor," Johnson said. "This is the first time we've been somewhere where in BP you build confidence and then feel it in the game. I think it's coincidence all in all, but not specifically to [Monday's BP session]. I'd say it's part of it, maybe, and getting some confidence."

Braves call up De La Cruz, option Gant

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | @mlbbowman | 12:11 AM ET

PHILADELPHIA -- When Mike Foltynewicz recorded just nine outs in Thursday night's 8-2 loss to the Pirates, he became the second Braves starting to complete fewer than four innings within a three-day span. Thus, there was a need to provide yet another Minor Leaguer a chance to serve as a long reliever in Atlanta's bullpen this weekend. The latest exchange of long relievers was completed on Friday, when was optioned back to Triple-A Gwinnett and Joel De La Cruz's contract was purchased from the same club. Gant threw 38 pitches over 1 1/3 innings of relief on Thursday and would have been unavailable to pitch in Friday's opener in Philadelphia.

When Bud Norris lowered his relief ERA to 1.32 with a scoreless eighth inning in Friday's 7-1 win over the Phillies, the Braves provided indication he will now move from long relief to a setup role. Thus, De La Cruz will likely serve as the long relief option until the Braves determine whether they would rather have Gant or one of Gwinnett's other current fill this role in the future.

De La Cruz has posted a 5.96 ERA over 22 2/3 innings (13 appearances) for Gwinnett this season. The 26-year-old was promoted to Atlanta for one day in April, but he has never pitched at the Major League level.

If the Braves were simply looking to fortify their bullpen with another reliever, they would have likely recalled Chris Withrow, who has surrendered three hits and issued two walks over 6 1/3 scoreless innings for Gwinnett this year. But the club made this move to simply provide a reliever capable of completing multiple innings if necessary.

Norris had been mentioned as a potential candidate to take the recently demoted Aaron Blair's rotation spot in Sunday's series finale. But Casey Kelly appears to be the more likely candidate to gain this start. Kelly has produced a 2.67 ERA over five starts for Gwinnett.

Morgan, Perez vying to replicate gems in Philly

By Stephen Pianovich / Special to MLB.com | May 20th, 2016

Both Adam Morgan and Williams Perez picked up wins for their respective teams when the Phillies and Braves met earlier in the month. They'll square off Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, with Atlanta looking to secure the series after a win in the opener.

Morgan, the Phillies' second-year lefty, allowed just one run over seven innings in a victory against Atlanta on May 10. Perez held Philadelphia to two hits and one run in eight frames as the Braves picked up a win the following night.

Both pitchers are hoping to shake off poor outings in their last appearances. Morgan surrendered seven runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Reds on Sunday, while Perez gave up six runs on nine hits in six innings against the Pirates on Monday.

Three things to know

• Perez will be making the start on his 25th birthday. The second-year Major Leaguer was born on May 21, 1991, in Acarigua, Venezuela.

• Saturday will mark Morgan's fifth start against the Braves in just 20 career Major League outings. In his first four starts against Atlanta, Morgan went 1-3 with a 3.24 ERA. He has no more than two starts against any other opponent.

• The Phillies need just one more win this month to match their win total from last May, when they went 11-18. The Phillies -- who were 18-25 on May 21 last season -- are 10-8 this month and still have 10 games left before the calendar flips.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves ride Wisler, three homers to victory over Phillies

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

PHILADELPHIA — With Aaron Nola pitching for the Phillies on Friday, the Braves were likely going to need a strong performance from their own promising young right-hander.

Matt Wisler delivered.

The Braves beat the Phillies 7-1 behind Wisler’s quality start and two home runs by Freddie Freeman and one by Nick Markakis. The Braves (11-30) evened the season series 2-2 against the Phillies (24-18).

Nola was one of the best rookie pitchers in the majors in 2015 and he’s been even better in 2016. In his past five starts before Friday Nola was 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA, including 30 scoreless innings in his last 33.

Nola (3-3) was good again against the Braves, who took advantage of a defensive miscue to score three runs in the seventh. Wisler was better.

Wisler (2-3) held the Phillies to one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings while striking out seven. He recovered from a shaky first inning to become the first Braves pitcher to earn two wins this season. “Matt Wisler was really, really good,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said. “He kind of had a little trouble in the very first (part) of the ballgame but then he kind of settled in. It was fun watching. He did a great job.”

Freeman’s two-run home in the third inning put the Braves ahead 2-1 and ended Nola’s run of 36 innings without allowing a homer. Markakis’ two- run homer, his first of the season, extend the lead to 5-1 in the seventh and Freeman added another two-run homer in the ninth against left- hander Brett Oberholtzer.

Wisler fell behind 1-0 on Ryan Howard’s RBI ground out in the first inning but retired eight of the next nine batters. He said he adjusted his mechanics after a conversation with catcher A.J. Pierzynski during the first inning.

“I felt like I was kind of throwing toward the on-deck circle a couple times but that’s what I needed to do to get the ball over the plate today,” Wisler said.

Wisler made two nice defensive plays to escape a jam in the fourth inning.

With runners at first and second and one out, Tyler Goeddel hit a ground ball that threatened to roll away from Wisler for an infield hit. Wisler sprinted to cut off the ball and stepped on first base for the second out. He made another athletic play to snag Nola’s ground ball for the third out.

The Braves added three runs against Nola in the seventh.

Mallex Smith, who led off the inning, reached second base on third baseman Maikel Franco’s wild throw. Smith went to third on Ender Inciarte’s ground out and scored when Gordon Beckham fought off Nola’s fastball for an RBI single.

Markakis homered with two outs. The three runs allowed by Nola in the inning were unearned.

Wisler has been ‘quick study’ for Braves

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The trade the Braves made with the Padres in April 2015 was a salary dump. To get the Padres to take struggling slugger Melvin Upton, the Braves had to send them elite closer Craig Kimbrel.

But the Braves also got pitching prospect Matt Wisler in the deal and that’s turned out to be the key part of the trade for the Braves. Wisler has developed into the most consistent of the young pitchers the Braves acquired over the past two years who’ve made starts of the big-league club.

Wisler, 23, finished his rookie season of 2015 strong and it’s carried over to this year. He held the Phillies to one run over 6 2/3 innings in the Braves’ 7-1 victory Friday to improve his ERA to 2.93, second to Julio Teheran (2.73) among Braves starters.

Wisler said he had some idea during spring training that he could be successful this season.

“I felt good,” he said. “I went through my struggles last year in August, rebounded in September. I felt good, my stuff felt good. I’ve still got a long ways to go. I’ve got a lot of stuff I can work on. I’m still not as sharp as where it could be right now. I will continue the process and go to work every day.”

Wisler has allowed three earned runs or less in six of eight starts. In his past four starts he’s posted a 1.80 ERA (six earned runs in 30 innings) with 20 strikeouts and six walks (one intentional).

The trade that included Wisler went through on the eve of opening day last year and he began the season at Triple-A Gwinnett. He made his big- league debut on June 19 and had good results through July before fading in August but ultimately finishing strong.

“When we got him, it’s like, ‘Wow, this kid is pretty good,’” said Braves interim manager Brian Snitker, who was the Gwinnett manager last season. “I really liked everything about him: the work ethic, the makeup the stuff. Shoot, I didn’t meet him until after spring training was over and he showed up the first day.

“It’s been a pleasure. He has picked it up, the things they’ve worked with him on all last year. It looks like he’s a quick study and is feeling pretty good about himself right now.”

Braves’ nine homers in past five games match total in first 36

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

At one point this season the Braves played 15 consecutive games without a home run. Now lately they are hitting them every day. Freddie Freeman hit a pair of two-run homers against the Phillies and Nick Markakis hit one as the Braves continued the power surge they started during a four-game series in Pittsburgh. After hitting just nine home runs over their first 36 games, the Braves have clubbed nine in their last five.

And they aren’t just being hit by Freeman, who leads the team with eight home runs. He had two homers against the Phillies on Friday but the other seven on the trip have been scattered among five players: Jeff Francoeur (two vs. Pirates), Mallex Smith (two vs. Pirates), Tyler Flowers (one vs. Pirates), Kelly Johnson (one vs. Pirates) and Nick Markakis (one vs. Phillies).

The Braves still are last in the majors in home runs by a wide margin (16 fewer than the Phillies entering Friday) but they welcome the power surge.

“You look in the room and there may not be 20-25 homers (from) a bunch of them, but there are guys in there capable of doing what we did tonight,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Like I told them the other day, keep grinding and things will start falling our way, too. You’ve just got to handle that adversity. There’s always good things on the back end of that.”

Freeman’s two-run home run in the third inning Friday put the Braves ahead for good and ended Phillies starter Arron Nola’s run of 36 innings without allowing a homer. Markakis added another two-run homer in the seventh, hit his first home run since Sept. 5. Freeman’s hit his second homer against Phillies left-hander Brent Oberholtzer in the ninth inning.

The Braves’ home run surge has coincided with some players taking more aggressive swings during batting practices. Before Friday’s game, Freeman said he was skeptical if that explains why the Braves were hitting more homers and he was still unsure after the game.

“I don’t know if it’s a coincidence,” Freeman said. “I guess it could be all in your mental aspect going up to the plate. If you are that loose and feel going up to the plate, this game is mostly mental. Me, personally, if I let loose and try to hit homers it doesn’t roll over very well because I will be jumpy.”

Braves finally win a replay challenge

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It wasn’t surprising when Braves manager Brian Snitker challenged the call after Mallex Smith was called out on a close play at first base on Friday against the Phillies. The shock came when Major League Baseball replay officials in New York overturned the call.

It was the first replay challenge won by the Braves’ favor in 11 tries this season, according to MLB’s database. The Braves lost all nine replay challenges made by former manager Fredi Gonzalez and lost the only challenge previously made by Snitker, on Wednesday at Pittsburgh.

During the third inning Friday Smith, the Braves’ fastest runner, hit a well-placed bunt down the first-base line. Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola fielded the ball and scooped it to first baseman Ryan Howard as Smith stepped on the bag.

Umpire Gerry Davis called Smith out—incorrectly, it turned out. Smith scored later in the inning when Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer.

Smith now has been involved in three plays on the base paths that the Braves challenged. He was called out when trying to steal third base at Boston on April 28 and also while going for a triple on May 1 at the Cubs. Smith was called safe on a play at second base during the same game at Boston but the call was overturned after the Red Sox challenged.

Braves’ Aybar back in lineup after chicken-bone scare

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Braves Erick Aybar was back in the lineup a day after he received medical attention for a chicken bone that lodged in his throat.

“It hurts a little bit, but I’m fine,” Aybar said through an interpreter before the Braves played the Phillies on Friday.

The incident happened as Aybar was eating lunch in the visitor’s clubhouse at PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Thursday. He was sedated for a procedure to remove the bone, but it had dislodged by then. Aybar returned to the ballpark, but didn’t play against the Pirates.

“I could breathe fine, it was just bothersome,” Aybar said. “It was more of an annoying type of thing in the throat. It wasn’t so much painful or a concern.”

Braves’ De La Cruz called up, Kelly could start Sunday

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves haven’t announced a starting pitcher for Sunday’s game against the Phillies, but right-hander Casey Kelly could get the call-up from Triple-A Gwinnett to take recently demoted Aaron Blair’s turn in the rotation.

Kelly has posted a 3.00 ERA in seven games (five starts) for Gwinnett. He made one appearance for the Braves this season on April 22 and allowed three hits and a run over three innings against the Mets.

The Braves promoted right-hander reliever Joel De La Cruz from Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday for what could turn out to be a short stay. De La Cruz was called up for long relief duty Friday against the Phillies after John Gant was sent down following a 38-pitch appearance Thursday.

The Braves could use De La Cruz if needed and thus leave current long reliever Bud Norris as a possibility to start Sunday.

“(Norris’) bullpen (session) was great today, so we added De La Cruz to hopefully give us some length if we need it tonight,” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said.

There is heavy rain in the Philadelphia forecast for Saturday. If the game is rained out, then Williams Perez most likely would have his scheduled Saturday start pushed back to Sunday.

Do ‘BP’ homers lead to more game homers for Braves?

By Michael Cunningham - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

PHILADELPHIA — There’s a philosophical debate of sorts among some Braves hitters about home runs. The real-world implications are playing out during batting practices and games.

On one side is first baseman Freddie Freeman, the team leader with six home runs entering Friday. He said he believes it’s counterproductive to think about hitting home runs or work on doing so during batting practice.

“It’s hard enough to hit a round ball with a round bat,” Freeman said before the Braves opened a weekend series against the Phillies. “To say we’re going to go up there and hit home runs, I think that gets you out of whack. Some of the guys in this clubhouse think if you practice it, it might happen.”

At that moment, Freeman smiled and motioned at Jeff Francoeur as the walked by in the clubhouse. Francoeur and Kelly Johnson each had power surges during the four-game series in Pittsburgh this week after they focused on hitting the ball with power during batting practice.

Francoeur ended a streak of 77 at-bats without a home run this season when he homered against Pirates lefty Jon Niese on Monday, and then he hit another one against lefty Jeff Locke on Thursday. Johnson hadn’t homered in 73 at-bats when he went deep against lefty Cory Luebke on Monday.

Was it cause (trying to homer in batting practice) and effect (actually homering in games) for Francoeur and Johnson?

“I don’t know that it’s that,” Francoeur said. “There hasn’t been much pull home runs and all of that. But I think we’ve taken the approach of driving the ball during ‘BP’ and working on the backspin and really try to hit it out to center field a lot.”

Francoeur’s and Johnson’s homers helped the power-deficient Braves produce their best period of home-run hitting this season. The Braves hit as many home runs (six) in the four-game series at Pittsburgh as they’ve hit all season in 19 games (647 at-bats) at Turner Field. Outfielder Mallex Smith hit two home runs Tuesday, and catcher Tyler Flowers hit one on Wednesday.

While Freeman said trying to hit home runs doesn’t work for him, he does believe the Braves have benefited from a different approach.

“I think we’ve been turning it a little loose in batting practice and getting more free and easy instead of just hitting a little line drive to left field or right field,” Freeman said. “I think you can just free up your swing a little bit, but I don’t think you can just try to hit a home run because it doesn’t work for me. If I try to hit a home run, I’m going to swing and miss, ground out. But if I just try to hit the ball hard up the middle that’s when you create the backspin, and it can go out if you catch it.”

Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said that with the offense struggling, it’s possible for hitters to try too hard to hit home runs. He said usually when players hit home runs they report their swings as a “perfect, effortless thing.”

“When you are struggling to win games and struggling to score runs, everybody wants to be the guy to get you off the mat,” Snitker said. “It becomes counterproductive to try harder instead of just relaxing and letting it flow. One guy gets it, relaxes the next guy and all of a sudden you’ve got a (home run) streak going.” The Braves left Pittsburgh with 15 home runs on the season, fewest among the 30 major league teams and well behind the Phillies (31). The Braves ranked last in runs scored despite ranking somewhat better in batting average (tied for 22nd) and on-base percentage (27th).

Francoeur said the Braves are capable of powering up.

“Driving the ball, I think that’s the key, especially in this day and age with how good pitching is,” Francoeur said. “I think you’ve seen, we go out and get 10 hits, but if they are eight singles it’s tough to win a ballgame. I think you saw some power from us in Pittsburgh, and hopefully that will continue. If we do that I think you’ll see us win a lot more games than we have.”

How Fredi G went from contract extension to fired in 10 months

By David O'Brien - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

PITTSBURGH — When the Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez late Monday after the team’s 28th loss in 37 games, it hardly surprised people around baseball or Braves followers. The question is, how did the Braves go from feeling compelled to give him a contract extension in July 2015 to firing him in May 2016?

After all, it wasn’t as if any pundit or knowledgeable baseball person outside the Braves organization picked this team to even flirt with a .500 record in 2016, and many predicted the Braves would lose 100 or more games.

There had been rampant speculation about Gonzalez’s job security for quite some time despite consensus low expectations for a team in the midst of rebuilding (Braves officials refused to call it a rebuild until recently).

In mid-May 2015, with the Braves were hovering around .500 — surpassing all expectations at the time — respected Fox Sports baseball writer reported that Gonzalez could be fired, in part because first-year president of baseball operations might want to hire his own manager.

But two months later the Braves announced contract extensions for Gonzalez and his coaches for 2016 with club options for 2017, their first season in a new ballpark being built in Cobb County. That contract announcement was made after the Braves had lost their final five games before the All- Star break to slip to 42-47.

Some found the timing of the contract extensions a bit odd. But the Braves didn’t want Gonzalez going through the rest of the season with lame- duck status and questions about his future hanging over the team.

“We didn’t give him a bullpen; obviously we traded Craig Kimbrel right at opening day,” Hart said after announcing the extensions. “It’s been really difficult to manage the bullpen, especially when we lost some guys with injuries, we lose some guys on PED (drug suspensions). All of a sudden we got real thin, real fast. And I think Fredi’s done as good a job as he can with the bullpen. … All along, you look up and you go, what do you expect in a manager? What do you want in a manager? I think Fredi’s demonstrated what we want to see.”

Ten months later, they fired Gonzalez and bench coach Carlos Tosca.

“You don’t like to even think about making these decisions,” Hart said Tuesday. “When I came over 18 months ago (to take over baseball operations), I wanted Fredi to be our manager and to give him a chance to be that guy. We extended him last year along with the staff, and I think as we got into spring training and opened the season and got off to the bad start, we wanted to keep providing opportunities and see if we could turn this thing around. And it obviously just didn’t look like it was going to happen.”

The Braves were 400-332 under Gonzalez from opening day 2011 through July 7, 2015, but had a 34-81 record since under Gonzalez while fielding a team with one of baseball’s lowest payrolls and an unabated string of trades and other roster moves.

Players shuttled between Triple-A and the majors as the Braves tried to find a competitive mix at the big-league level while the minor league system was being transformed from one of the worst to one of the best.

After ranking among the major league leaders in bullpen ERA for many years, most recently leading the majors with a 2.46 ERA in 2013, the Braves’ patchwork bullpen slipped to 11th in ERA in 2014, 29th (4.69) in 2015, and 27th (4.74) this season through Tuesday. Their starting rotation was 20th in ERA (4.27) in 2015 and 18th (4.68) this season through Tuesday.

The offense, after ranking 29th in runs in 2014 and last in runs (573) and home runs (100) in 2015, is last again in both categories through the first quarter of the 2016 season, with 11 home runs in 37 games before Gonzalez was fired. Through Tuesday the Braves had 13 home runs and a .609 OPS, while no other major league team had fewer than 30 homers or an OPS below .652.

So, why did Gonzalez take the fall now, when most industry insiders agree that no manager could have done much better with the current roster and an early schedule that was rated the toughest in baseball?

Braves officials said it came down to the fact that they had already decided to hire a new manager for the 2017 season in their new ballpark, with a bigger payroll and so many prospects and young players expected to be on the roster. Rather than have Gonzalez twist in the wind the rest of the season and questions about his status continue to be a distraction from what they insist can still be a decent season, team officials decided to fire him now.

“This was something painful for us,” Braves general manager John Coppolella said. “John (Hart) and I both care greatly about Fredi. … One point that John made that really hits home is that we made a choice that he wasn’t going to be our guy for 2017, so why would we not make the move now?”

Front-office officials panned some of Gonzalez’s strategic moves, including his bullpen usage and choice of pinch-hitters in some early losses this season. Coppolella could recite each of those instances without looking at notes.

So, before the season reached the quarter pole, the Braves fired him and his bench coach, moving Brian Snitker into the interim managerial role, switching Terry Pendleton from first-base coach to bench coach and Eddie Perez from bullpen coach to first-base coach.

Pendleton and Perez likely will get consideration for the job when the Braves hire a new manager after the season, as will outside candidates such as former Braves player Mark DeRosa, veteran manager Bud Black and others.

“It’s a very important hire for us,” Coppolella said. “We hope we can find somebody that’s here for a long time. We have a really good farm system; we’ve got a lot of young players. There are a lot of good things that Fredi did, but we feel like there are a lot of good days ahead for us.”

Now hear this: The Braves’ plan has not failed

By Mark Bradley - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Here’s how to fail Logic 101 — by making the following fallacious argument:

The Braves are having a terrible season; ergo, the Braves’ rebuild is doomed.

The first part is fact. These first 40-some games have been awful, from the historically lousy record to the arrest of Hector Olivera to the ungainly firing of an affable manager to Erick Aybar getting a chicken bone stuck in his throat. Can’t sugarcoat any of that. Won’t even try.

The conclusion, however, is akin to saying, “I’m having a bad day, so every day for the rest of my life will just as bad.” Times change. Not all days are dark. Not all seasons are hellish. What we’re seeing isn’t necessarily what we will see.

This wretched season will have little bearing on 2017 and beyond. If they’re smart, bad teams can get better. (Recent examples: Cubs, Mets, Astros.) Just because John Coppolella and John Hart fired Fredi Gonzalez doesn’t make them dunces or ogres. Did a manager whose teams had gone 106-168 since July 5, 2014 — that dates to the reign of Frank Wren — deserve tenure?

Gonzalez didn’t fit what the Two Johns have in mind. That can happen with rebuilding teams. (Fredi G. seemed to know it. He’s a pro.) The Cubs fired Rick Renteria after the 2014 season to make room for Joe Maddon, and look at them now. The rebuilding Astros fired Bo Porter — now the Braves’ third-base coach — earlier that year and made the 2015 playoffs under A.J. Hinch.

What the Two Johns envision is a bountiful farm system that will feature not just one wave of talent but — to use Coppolella’s description — “wave after wave.” What they want is a big-league club without a slew of crippling contracts. If the aim was to field a championship team in 2015 and/or 2016, they’ve whiffed. It wasn’t, and they haven’t.

In 20 months, Coppolella and Hart have taken a minor-league chain that ranked among the sport’s bottom five and rendered it No. 1 — and surely not just for this year. They hold the third overall pick in the June draft, and it has long been whispered that the Braves are poised to make hay when the international signing window opens July 2.

They turned free-agents-to-be and Justin Upton into a half-dozen useful players, one of whom (Shelby Miller) was offloaded for three more. They shed the contract of Melvin Upton Jr., which still seems a miracle. They bought the teenage pitcher Touki Toussaint from Arizona by assuming Bronson Arroyo’s contract, which they dumped on the Dodgers.

They agreed to pay and $14 million in 2016 because the Indians took on the $6.9 million owed this season and — this is important — the $9 million for 2017. (Why is that important? Because the Braves, being pragmatic, feel they’ll need that $9 million next season.) Know how many Braves, not counting those who haven’t hit arbitration, are under contract for 2017? Five.

In their long-range planning and execution, where have the Two Johns failed? They’ve exchanged old for young, expensive for cheap. They’ve built an arsenal of arms, the demand for which Coppolella calls “inelastic.” They’ve been creative, exploiting an injury loophole (with Arroyo) and going the NBA route of buying expiring contracts (Arroyo/Bourn/Swisher). They’ve been as aggressive as all get-out. They’ve done stuff that has never been done in baseball.

As Coppolella said in Jonah Keri’s must-hear podcast, there’s a reason more teams don’t undertake a full-blown restoration: Because’s it’s awful to watch; because knowing on an intellectual level that you’re doing what’s right doesn’t inoculate you against the visceral anguish of 10-30. But if you’re in charge of a professional team, aren’t you duty-bound to look beyond today? Isn’t part of being a professional the ability to treat the season at hand and the ultimate goal as separate entities?

Because the 2016 Braves are a failure doesn’t mean the plan has failed. Had Coppolella and Hart thrown everything into chasing down the Nats and the Mets this summer, they should be fired not for being 10-30 but for embarking on a fool’s errand. But they didn’t try to turn this year into something it could never be. They knew better.

The 2016 season is lost, but there will be other seasons. We around here have seen it. When last this club fired its manager — the date was June 22, 1990 — the outgoing Russ Nixon claimed interference from higher-ups and labeled TBS, which then owned the Braves, “a damn soap opera.” Sixteen months later, the Braves were in the World Series.

So how are the Phillies 24-17 and the Braves 10-30?

By Mark Bradley

The and the were expected to be the two worst teams in baseball. The hometown nine has held up its end, so to speak. The Braves are 10-30, tied with Minnesota at the bottom of the bigs. The Phillies are a game out of first place in the East and 13 1/2 games ahead of the Braves. How’d that happen?

Hitting-wise, there’s not much difference. The Braves have the fewest runs and homers among MLB teams; the Phillies have the second-fewest. Defense-wise, there’s a difference. The Braves rank last in DRS (defensive runs saved) at minus-35; the Phillies are 20th at minus-8. Pitching-wise, there’s a big difference.

The Phillies’ starters have an ERA of 3.72, ninth-best in baseball; the Braves’ starters have an ERA of 4.61, which is 18th-best. (Still better than you’d expect from a 10-30 team, though.) Acquired in the Ken Giles trade from Houston, the 23-year-old Vince Velasquez has been splendid, which is no shock to the Braves. They tried to land him in the Evan Gattis deal a year earlier. They got Mike Foltynewicz instead.

Aaron Nola, who’s 22 and who’ll start against the 23-year-old Matt Wisler in Philly tonight, has been nearly as good as Velasquez if you go by ERA and better if you swear by FIP (fielding independent pitching). The journeyman Jeremy Hellickson has done for Philly as the Braves hoped Bud Norris might do for them — eat innings, keep his team close and hand the game to the bullpen.

Speaking of which: Going by Baseball-Reference’s WAR (wins above replacement), the Phillies’ third-, fourth- and fifth-best pitchers have been Hector Neris (eighth-inning guy), Jeanmar Gomez (closer) and David Hernandez (seventh-inning guy). The Braves hoped they’d find a similar tandem in Arodys Vizcaino, Jason Grilli and Jim Johnson. Vizcaino has done his bit; the other two have been awful.

The Phillies have benefited from a softer schedule: Of their first 41 games, 16 have come against teams below .500. (Then again, they opened the season by getting swept by the Reds, who are 12-26 since.) Of the Braves’ first 40 games, only three have come against a sub-.500 team. (Hooray for Arizona!)

But here’s the biggest difference: When the Phillies have kept it close, they’ve tended to win. (There’s your bullpen.) They’re 14-3 in one-run games, 4-0 in extra innings. The Braves are 2-6 in both categories. If we go by run differential, the Phillies should be 17-24, which means they’ve outperformed by seven games. The Braves should be 11-29, meaning they’ve underperformed by one.

If the playoffs started today — wouldn’t it be a surprise if they did? — the Phillies would be the National League’s first wild-card team. Even so,FanGraphs’ projections give Philly only an 0.4 percent chance of reaching the postseason after a 162-game season. Indeed, FanGraphssees the Phillies being only a half-game better than the Braves from here on.

The Phillies are projected to finish a not-terrible-given-the-expectations 73-89; the Braves are projected to finish 59-103, which would leave them alone in 30th place, seven games behind the No. 29 Reds.

Moral of our story: If you’re a bad team — and the Phillies, their record notwithstanding, have been outscored by 28 runs — a flying start won’t make you good. It does, however, beat the heck out of being 10-30. Anything would beat 10-30. (Except, I guess, 9-31.)

Touki Toussaint turns around struggles

By Staff

After a rough start to his 2016 season, Braves prospect Touki Toussaint may have found a way out of Struggleville.

In his first three starts, Toussaint lost all three decisions, and his ERA was 12.66. Over his past four starts, Toussaint is 1-0 with an ERA of 2.57.

In the past four starts, Toussaint pitched 21 innings and allowed six earned runs and 12 hits. He walked nine and struck out 15. Except for the walks, the stats represented radical improvements in all categories. In his first three starts, he pitched 10 2/3 innings and allowed 15 earned runs and 19 hits. He walked nine and struck out five.

Overall, he is 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA. Hix next start is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday against Augusta in Rome

Toussaint, 19, was a first-round draft choice of the Diamondbacks in 2014. The Braves acquired him in a trade with Arizona on June 20, 2015. The Braves sent Phil Gosselin to Arizona for Bronson Arroyo and Toussaint. Arizona general manager Dave Stewart received biting criticism at the time for making the trade.

Toussaint, a 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander, is considered one of the Braves’ top young pitching prospects. He turns 20 on June 20.

Albies and Swanson — side-by-side

By Staff

Dansby Swanson had played 19 games for the Double-A through Thursday night. The Braves’ top overall prospect replaced Ozzie Albies, another prized prospect, at shortstop for the M-Braves after Albies was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Instead of comparing Albies and Swanson for the full season, which is a bit like apples and oranges, considering the difference in competition at Triple-A and Double-A, here is a look at Swanson at Mississippi against Albies’ first 19 games at Mississippi. (Albies played three additional games there before his promotion.)

As for their spots in the batting order, Albies hit leadoff in 17 of his 19 games. He batted second in the opening game of the season, and on another occasion entered as a pinch-hitter in the 9-hole and stayed in game at shortstop, getting another at-bat.

Swanson batted No. 2 in the first 18 games at Mississippi and batted in the 3-hole in his most recent game.

ALBIES Average: .333 (24-for-72) HRs: none RBIs: 4 Runs: 10 Total bases: 31 2Bs: 3 3Bs: 2 Walks: 7 Strikeouts: 12 Stolen-base attempts: 2-for-5 OBP: .408 OPS: .849

SWANSON Average: .292 (21-for-72) HRs: 3 RBIs: 11 Runs: 12 Total bases: 36 2Bs: 4 3Bs: 1 Walks: 9 Strikeouts: 7 Stolen-base attempts: 2-for-3 OBP: .386 OPS: .886

Garcia has 13-game hitting streak, no errors for Gwinnett

By Staff reports - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves sent Adonis Garcia to the Triple-A Gwinnett Braves so he could work on playing the outfield better.

He seems to be doing that.

Garcia has played 13 games and has not made an error. And offensively, he's doing what everyone already knew he can do -- hit the ball.

Garcia extended his hitting streak to 13 games Thursday night. He's hitting .347 for Gwinnett with four homers and 13 RBIs.

Chipper Jones on managing Braves: 'No comment'

By The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

On Atlanta's 680-AM The Fan this morning, had "no comment" when asked about his interest in being the Atlanta Braves manager.

The former Braves slugger appeared with Sandra Golden and Brian Finneran on their "Front Row" show. (Co-host Steak Shapiro was away in Vegas.)

Chipper said he has had conversations with his wife, Taylor, and gave her the same response, but has not ruled it out.

"We'll cross the bridge when it gets here," he offered.

Chipper who retired in 2012 after nearly two decades with the Braves, was named special adviser to the team this season.

He said he's happy with his semi-retirement and while he's been offered opportunities in the broadcast booth he's not interested in big changes.

"Don't want to muddy it up, right now," Chipper said.

Fired Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez joined the broadcast. He discussed the awkward circumstances surrounding his dismissal.

Chipper told Gonzalez he was proud how he handled the firing with dignity. He asked "skipper" about his immediate plans.

Gonzalez reiterated that he was at peace with the decision and expects to return to baseball as a coach, manager or even front office as soon as possible.

But he also offered how he would welcome being on a Chipper staff.

"We've discussed this before, I want to be your bullpen coach when you come up," Gonzalez told Chipper.

Chipper responded with laughter.

Chipper asked Gonzalez for his favorite stories from managing the Braves. Gonzalez said he was grateful for managing Chipper during the last two years of his career with the Braves.

He shared one story, of a Mother's Day game in Philadelphia when he was offered pink spikes. Gonzalez said he sported the pink shoes in the dugout and Chipper sat next to him and asked, "you think No. 6 would wear those shoes?" referencing Hall of Fame manager .

"I changed shoes and I never wore pink shoes again in my life," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez closed out the interview hoping to hear from Chipper ... soon.

"I'll be waiting for a phone call down the road, Chipper."

Would that call come within the next five years, Golden asked.

"I don't know, my crystal ball is broken," Chipper shyly responded.

Cobb chairman candidates paint Braves deal differently

By Dan Klepal - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Atlanta Braves’ move to Cobb County has been the centerpiece of this year’s race for chairman of the Cobb County Commission, with the $400 million public investment in the new stadium being painted differently by each of the three candidates.

With no Democrats in the race, the May 24 primary election will likely determine Cobb’s next chairman. The job pays $135,000 annually.

Incumbent Tim Lee portrays the Braves deal as an important part of the county’s rebound under his leadership from the Great Recession. Lee says he has more work to do in continuing to reduce property taxes, eliminating the controversial practice of transferring revenue to the county from the water department, and ensuring the county fulfills a voter referendum to spend $40 million on new parkland. “I’m not a politician, I’m a leader,” Lee said during a recent debate.

Retired Marine Col. Mike Boyce says the Braves deal is a primary example of the county leadership’s lack of transparency, and favoritism of vested business interests over citizens. He says that will change under his leadership by imposing new restrictions that require a referendum before the county takes on debt. Boyce says he would also revamp the budgeting process to be more inclusive for both commissioners and the public.

“If citizens can vote on a $40 million park bond, why can’t they vote on a $350 million stadium bond?” Boyce said.

And retired businessman Larry Savage, who has raised very little money and started his campaign late in the process, contends it was illegal for the county to issue $376 million in bonds for stadium construction without a referendum. It’s an argument Savage and two others lost at the Supreme Court. Savage said his leadership is necessary to restore Constitutional protections on tax issues.

“Just a promise to do better is not enough,” Savage said. “We need to get our Constitutional protections back in place.”

Kerwin Swint, chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Affairs at Kennesaw State University, is a close observer of county politics. Swint said the race is shaping up to be a delayed referendum on the stadium.

“It’s been the dominant issue … (and) will certainly be the single biggest issue voters will use to make up their mind,” Swint said of the stadium. “Lee wants them to consider is it a good thing; Boyce wants to focus on process — was it handled properly?.

“Boyce has done a good job of running his campaign based on an alternative in tax policy and spending on public projects. Tim Lee has a big story to sell called the Atlanta Braves. In general, incumbents have an advantage and Tim Lee certainly has a financial advantage. They’re going to have take it away from him.”

Gwinnett Daily Post

Wahlburgers restaurant one of new businesses at Atlanta Braves mixed-use project

By Keith Farner

A burger restaurant from the Wahlberg brothers, a retro bowling alley and Harley-Davidson are among eight mixed-use businesses coming to the Atlanta Braves’ project at SunTrust Park.

The area is called The Battery Atlanta and the businesses expected to be ready for opening day next year are Wahlburgers, a burger restaurant by Mark and Donnie Wahlberg and their sibling chef Paul Wahlberg; Kings Bowl; a restaurant called Live!; Goldbergs Bagel Company and Deli; Mountain High Outfitters, an outdoor specialty store; Sugarboo Designs, an art boutique; DressUp, a women’s fashion boutique; and a retail-only Harley-Davidson store.

Wahlburgers also has its own reality series on A&E, and actor Mark Wahlberg said the new location is a great way for the family to expand its brand.

“We think The Battery Atlanta will be the absolute destination around the Atlanta area with the new park and all the other things they’ll have in that development which is so exciting to me,” Wahlberg said. “For our family, it’s a great opportunity to be at The Battery Atlanta, so we’re thrilled.”

The Battery Atlanta previously announced restaurants including , CRÚ Food and Wine Bar, Tomahawk Taproom featuring Fox Bros. Bar- B-Q, El Felix from Chef Ford Fry and a steakhouse by Chef Linton Hopkins, the Coca-Cola , a music venue, and the Omni Hotel.

The Cordish Companies operates Live! venues at major ballparks across the country. At The Battery Atlanta, Cordish will develop a two-level sports and social club that will feature a 40-foot diagonal, high-definition LED screen as a back-drop for social games and activities throughout the venue that also will include PBR Bar and Grill, branded for the Professional Bull Riders Association.

“This blend of retailers and restaurants will help us create the 24/7, 365 day a year environment we’re aiming for at The Battery Atlanta,” Derek Schiller, a Braves president for business, said in a statement. “We’re very excited to have a bunch of firsts for this market, including Wahlburgers and Kings Bowl.”

Atlanta Business Chronicle

Wahlburgers among eight new tenants for The Battery Atlanta

Amy Wenk - Staff Writer - Atlanta Business Chronicle

A new-to-market burger concept from actors Mark and Donnie Wahlberg, and their chef brother Paul, is among eight new tenants the Atlanta Braves have announced for The Battery Atlanta.

Wahlburgers will come to the mixed-use development surrounding the team’s new Cobb County ballpark, SunTrust Park, the Braves said Friday.

“We think The Battery Atlanta will be the absolute destination around the Atlanta area with the new park and all the other things they’ll have in that development, which is so exciting to me,” Mark Wahlberg, actor and partner in Wahlburgers, said in an announcement. “For our family, it’s a great opportunity to be at The Battery Atlanta, so we’re thrilled.”

The Braves also announced other restaurant, retail and entertainment concepts:

· Kings Bowl, an upscale, retro bowling and entertainment destination;

· Live!, a custom dining and entertainment destination developed by The Cordish Companies and designed by Jeffrey Beers International. It will include a two-level Sports & Social Club, along with PBR Bar & Grill, named for the Professional Bull Riders Association;

· Goldbergs Bagel Company & Deli, a popular Atlanta spot for bagels and sandwiches;

· Mountain High Outfitters, an outdoor specialty store;

· Sugarboo Designs, an artsy boutique with household items and gifts;

· DressUp, a women’s fashion boutique; and

· Harley-Davidson, with a retail-only store.

“This blend of retailers and restaurants will help us create the 24/7, 365 day a year environment we’re aiming for at The Battery Atlanta,” said Derek Schiller, Braves president, business. “We’re very excited to have a bunch of firsts for this market, including Wahlburgers and Kings Bowl. Additionally, The Cordish Companies have been an industry leader in creating vibrant spaces that have set a new standard for entertainment in partnership with professional sports venues.”

The tenants are expected to be open by Opening Day 2017.

The Braves have partnered with Atlanta’s Fuqua Development on The Battery Atlanta.

The team in October announced its first round of restaurants: a new steakhouse from Chef Linton Hopkins, Superica from Chef Ford Fry, Antico Pizza Napoletana, CRÚ Food & Wine Bar, and a brewpub called The Tomahawk Tap Room that will feature Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q.

Eater Atlanta

The Wahlberg Bros Are Opening a Burger Joint at the Braves' New Ballpark

By Chris Fuhrmeister

Mark, Donnie, and Paul Wahlberg have already announced Atlanta expansion for their appropriately named Wahlburgers burger chain, and one of those restaurants is headed to Cobb County. Wahlburgers will take up residence at The Battery, the forthcoming entertainment district surrounding SunTrust Park, future home of the Atlanta Braves. Battery officials announced several new tenants for the development on Friday.

"We think The Battery Atlanta will be the absolute destination around the Atlanta area with the new park and all the other things they'll have in that development, which is so exciting to me," Mark Wahlberg, the current actor and former rapper known as Marky Mark, said in a prepared statement. "For our family, it's a great opportunity to be at The Battery Atlanta, so we're thrilled."

The Wahlbergs first announced plans to enter the Georgia market in March. The franchise agreement calls for six restaurants in the "greater Atlanta area" and Savannah, though the exact number for each city hasn't been revealed. Those who have never eaten at a Wahlburgers might know of the chain thanks to the Emmy-nominated reality television series of the same name. Wahlburgers chronicles the trio's restaurant ventures, and it's been renewed for at least two more seasons on A&E. In addition to Wahlburgers, Friday's announcement revealed plans for another Goldberg's Bagel Company & Deli outpost at The Battery. Shake Shack, another white-hot national burger chain, was previously rumored to be looking at the development. There's no word on whether this Wahlburgers location will affect those potential plans. Shake Shack operates a restaurant in , and another is in the works for Perimeter Mall.

Initial details for the project were revealed last October. The Battery will bring in an impressive roster of local culinary talent, including Ford Fry's The El Felix (initially announced as Superica), a steakhouse from Linton Hopkins, and Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q. The first openings should come online in time for the start of the 2017 Major League Baseball season, when the Braves will debut their new home.

WXIA-TV (NBC)

Chipper Jones: Braves manager offer would have to 'knock my socks off'

Alec McQuade, WXIA

Cue up the Dumb and Dumber GIFS. There's a chance.

Former Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones might consider managing baseball in the future, but he told Atlanta radio station 680 The Fan's "Front Row" show Friday he's content with his life right now.

Jones is happy with his current role with the Atlanta Braves and having plenty of time for family and golf.

He said it would take a price that would have to "knock my socks off" for him to consider becoming the next manager of the Braves.

"I have not been approached by anybody officially," Chipper said trying to put fans' speculation to bed.

The Future Hall of Famer didn't rule out taking up a manager position in the future. But, it wouldn't be solely up to him.

"That would have to be a decision me and the little lady would have to come to," Chipper said referring to his wife, Taylor Higgins.

"If she was okay with it, I would consider it," he said.

Higgins recently asked Jones if he wanted to be the Braves' next manager. He said he told her what he told the radio show:

"No comment."

Jones is currently a special assistant for the Braves. He goes to the ballpark a couple times a week to be a "third set of eyes" on the guys in the hitting cage.

He's also been acting as a scout for the organization traveling to local high schools. He said it's not the easiest task because he's so recognizable and can't fly under the radar.

The Atlanta Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez Monday after the team started a franchise-worst 9-28 through 37 games. Triple-A manager Brian Snitker will be the interim manager until the end of the season.

"He's the greatest," Jones said about Snitker.

The pair worked together in the early 90s when Snitker was a first base coach. Snitker has been with the Braves for nearly 40 seasons, and Jones said that proves how strong of a developmental coach Snitker is and his worth to the organization.

"I think this was a particular strong move."

Wahlberg brothers to open restaurant in The Battery Atlanta outside SunTrust Park

Alec McQuade, WXIA

The Atlanta Braves and The Battery Atlanta announced Friday the next concepts of restaurants and stores that will surround SunTrust Park, the Braves' future stadium.

The eight announced concepts are all going to be completed and set to open by opening day in April of 2017.

One of the concepts is a burger restaurant that comes from the Wahlberg brothers' A&E reality TV show. Celebrity brothers Mark and Donnie Wahlberg have a sibling, Paul, that is a chef. Their self-named restaurant chain is expanding quickly. "We think The Battery Atlanta will be the absolute destination around the Atlanta area with the new park and all the other things they'll have in that development which is so exciting to me," Mark Wahlberg said in Friday's release with the announcement.

The new additions to The Battery are:

 Wahlburgers, a burger restaurant

 Kings Bowl, an upscale bowling ally

 Live!, a restaurant

 Goldbergs Bagel Company & Deli

 Mountain High Outfitters, an outdoor store

 Sugarboo Designs, a boutique

 Harley-Davidson retail store

"This blend of retailers and restaurants will help us create the 24/7, 365 day a year environment we're aiming for at The Battery Atlanta," Braves President of Business Derek Schiller said.

Some of the stores and restaurants announced last year for The Battery include Antico Pizza, CRU Food and Wine Bar, Tomahawk Taproom featuring Fox Bros. BBQ, El Felix and a steak house concept by Chef Linton Hopkins.

WAGA-TV (FOX)

Chipper Jones is content but won't rule out managing Braves

By: Justin Felder

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - Not only was future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones is something of an unusual setting as guest host of a radio show, the star guest of the day was former Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. Jones, who played his final two MLB seasons for Gonzalez, played the role of co- interviewer.

"A little weird," said Jones. "Awkward, I guess you could say."

Jones was a guest host Friday for The Front Row on 680 the Fan. During Gonzalez' interview, Jones commended him for handling being let go with class and asked the man he still calls "Skipper" about his future plans and favorite memories as a manager.

"I loved the guy, I think put in the right situation he can still do a heck of a job managing a ball club," said Jones. "I don't think anybody really would've been put in this situation and handled it any better."

Jones is in his first year as a special assistant to baseball operations for the Braves. Some wonder if he'll be a manager one day himself; perhaps he'll be a candidate to replace Gonzalez. Jones says that's unlikely, but didn't shut the door completely.

"I would never say never," said Jones. "I'm in a very good place personally, I like my life the way it is now. Quite frankly, I haven't been asked or offered anything. I would say my doors would have to be blown off in order to consider it because I'm happy with the way things are going right now and I'm living life at my own speed. That being said, I lived out of a suitcase for 23 years playing this game and I'd have to get back into that mindset. That would be a difficult one for me to go back to, but I would never say never."

Jones added other candidates mentioned as possibilities for the Braves are all qualified, including current Atlanta coaches Eddie Perez and Terry Pendleton as well as former Brave and current MLB TV analyst Mark DeRosa.

Exclusive: A conversation with former Braves' manager Fredi Gonzalez

By: Ken Rodriguez

ATLANTA - Three days after being fired, FOX 5 Sports spoke with former Atlanta Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez, and some of his comments may be surprising.

“As a coach in any sport you always feel like you can win with any team that you get to coach,” Gonzalez said. And with that positive attitude, Gonzalez went about the business of managing a Braves baseball team everyone knew would have a difficult time accumulating wins.

Over the previous year and a half, the club unloaded salaries, veteran players and traded for prospects. Gonzalez was left with an impossible task.

The plan seemed to be to have Gonzalez and his staff nurture the young players through the difficult times, with an eye on opening the new stadium with a battle-tested group of guys ready to challenge for a pennant. Right?

The Braves started the season with a 9-game losing streak, and before long there was more losing going on than anyone in the Braves front office had planned on.

“It was getting worse and worse, and I think as the summer wore out you would've seen a side of me that would've probably scared you,” said Gonzalez.

All the while, a former National League Manager of the Year was left twisting in the wind. Five weeks in, Gonzalez was already feeling the effects of a nightmare season.

“At the beginning of the road trip I did something that was really out of character, and it scared me. I went back to the hotel room and said, 'this is not good.' And it all had to do with the way [we] were losing,” said Gonzalez.

He added, “I think as the summer would wind down, I would've been scared of what this could've done to me on a personal level.”

Associated Press

Freeman homers twice to lead Braves past Phillies 7-1

By AARON BRACY (Associated Press)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves' hitters are finally relaxing, and it has resulted in a bit of a power surge.

Freddie Freeman homered twice and drove in four runs and Nick Markakis also hit a home run to lead Atlanta to a 7-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillieson Friday night.

The Braves entered the game last in the majors by a wide margin with just 15 homers, but they have gone deep nine times in their last five games.

''They all want to do good, and everybody presses and wants to be the guy to get you off the mat,'' Atlanta interim manager Brian Snitker said. ''You get going like that and guys start swinging the bat and relaxing and doing what they're capable of doing.''

The Braves hit three homers in a game for the first time this season. Entering Friday, Philadelphia's 31 homers were second from the bottom in the big leagues.

''There are guys in there capable of what we did tonight,'' Snitker said. ''We just keep grinding and things will start falling our way, too.''

Freeman put the Braves ahead 2-1 in the third with a two-run shot off Aaron Nola (3-3). Freeman had been in a 5-for-29 skid before the at-bat. He also hit a two-run homer in the ninth, his eighth of the season, against left-hander Brett Oberholtzer for his seventh career multi-homer game.

The Braves slugger said the last thing he tries do to during an at-bat is clear the fence.

''All I'm trying to do is a hit a line drive to left field and put backspin on it,'' he said.

Matt Wisler (2-3) allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings to help the Braves to just their fourth win in 15 games.

''It's great to see the bats coming alive again,'' Wisler said. ''Offense is swinging the bat right now, which is great to see.''

Atlanta is 2-2 since firing manager Fredi Gonzalez following Monday's defeat at Pittsburgh.

Philadelphia third baseman Maikel Franco made a pair of errors, including a costly throwing miscue in the seventh that resulted in three unearned runs. He came in with two errors on the season.

''It's part of the game, so I just try to forget that day and try to come in tomorrow and do my best for my teammates,'' Franco said.

Nola gave up five runs - two earned - and seven hits in seven innings. He entered 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his last five starts, all of which the Phillies won.

The Braves went up 5-1 with three runs in the seventh. Franco overthrew first base to allow Mallex Smith to reach second on the two-base error, and Smith went to second on Ender Inciarte's groundout to second. Gordon Beckham singled to short over the drawn-in infield to plate Smith before Markakis broke the inning open with his first homer of the season, an opposite-field, two-run shot.

Philadelphia scored its run on Ryan Howard's first-inning groundout.

''Not a real good night,'' Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

SURPRISING PHILLIES

The surprising Phillies, who are in rebuild mode after losing 99 games last season, fell two games back of the Nationals for first place in the NL East. They dropped to 13-9 against the NL East. Philadelphia entered with the sixth-best winning percentage in baseball at .585, largely due to its success in close games. The Phillies are 14-3 in one-run games and have won each of their last 15 games by three runs or fewer.

HIT IT THAT WAY

Howard was struck in the left thigh by a foul ball off the bat of Franco in the sixth inning. Howard shook it off and both Howard and Franco got a laugh when Howard pointed to the outfield, ostensibly telling Franco to hit it out there.

CELEBRATION TIME

Braves C A.J. Pierzynski leaped in the air after making the final out by catching a popup in foul territory. The celebration was more indicative of a playoff win, but Pierzynski merely was celebrating making the catch. The veteran has three errors this season and has dropped several popups.

''That's the highest I've seen a 39-year-old jump before,'' Freeman joked.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Braves: SS Erick Aybar returned to the lineup after sitting out Thursday's game at Pittsburgh because he swallowed a chicken bone in a pregame meal that required hospitalization and sedation for removal. Aybar went 1 for 3 with a walk.

Phillies: CF Odubel Herrera returned to the lineup after sitting out Wednesday's game with a sore finger. Herrera went 0 for 3.

UP NEXT

Braves RHP Williams Perez (1-1, 4.78) opposes Phillies LHP Adam Morgan (1-1, 6.41) on Saturday.

Braves-Phillies Preview

By JON PALMIERI (STATS Editor)

With just 25 starts as a major leaguer, Williams Perez hasn't had much time to develop any kind of dominance over a single opponent.

The Philadelphia Phillies may be thinking otherwise.

Perez seeks a fourth consecutive winning start against the Phillies on Saturday with a chance to give the Atlanta Braves a rare series victory.

The four starts Perez has made against Philadelphia are his most versus any team. The right-hander struggled in the first matchup in July but has gone 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA in the next three, allowing 14 hits in 20 2/3 innings while waking one and striking out 17.

The best of those performances came May 11, when he yielded one run and two hits over eight innings in a 5-1 victory just hours after he was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett. Perez (1-1, 4.78 ERA) retired the first 12 batters and faced only one batter over the minimum.

He was unable to carry that success into his most recent outing, giving up six runs and nine hits over six innings Monday in an 8-5 loss at Pittsburgh.

"I thought (Perez) pitched well," Fredi Gonzalez, who learned he was fired as manager after the game, told MLB's official website. "He's a contact guy. They made contact against him."

Freddie Freeman made the best kind of contact Friday with a pair of two-run homers to back Matt Wisler's strong start, leading Atlanta to a series- opening 7-1 win. Nick Markakis added his first home run to give the Braves (11-30) a season-high three.

''All I'm trying to do is hit a line drive to left field and put backspin on it,'' said Freeman, batting .483 with four homers and 11 RBIs during an eight- game hitting streak against the Phillies (24-18).

Atlanta has gone deep nine times in five games after totaling seven homers in the previous 35. ''They all want to do good, and everybody presses and wants to be the guy to get you off the mat,'' interim manager Brian Snitker said. ''You get going like that and guys start swinging the bat and relaxing and doing what they're capable of doing.''

A victory in either of the next two days would give the Braves their second series win and first since a three-game sweep at Miami from April 15-17. They no longer hold baseball's worst record, surpassing Minnesota by one game.

Philadelphia dropped to 4-3 on a nine-game homestand with its sixth loss in the past eight meetings with the Braves.

"Not a real good night,'' said manager Pete Mackanin, whose team made two errors and went 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Also coming off a disappointing outing is Adam Morgan (1-1, 6.41), who was tagged for seven runs and eight hits over 3 2/3 innings in a 9-4 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday. That followed an outstanding start five days earlier in a 3-2 victory over his hometown Braves.

Morgan, who grew up in Marietta, Georgia, went seven innings and surrendered one run and four hits.

The left-hander is 1-3 with a 3.24 ERA in four starts against the Braves.