Fried Hot Dogs, Cheese Grits, and Atlanta Braves Baseball

Woke up this morning in need of a little B & B...breakfast and baseball. Now that I've gotten a few bites in, let's talk about them Braves.

Friday night, Atlanta opened a 3 game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Derek Lowe on the mound. And, the 14 year veteran did something new...he pitched like he used to. Lowe struck out seven snakes in 5 innings and blanked the visiting squad in a short but effective start. Rookie reliever, Aroyds Vizcaino allowed 2 runs in the seventh, but that was the only noise Arizona could make against Braves pitching.

New Atlien, Michael Bourn started the scoring for Atlanta with a solo homerun in the first inning off DBack, Daniel Hudson. In the 3rd, All Star Brian McCann said "hello," with a 425 foot blast to right. The Braves would lead 3-0, until a rejuvenated Larry Jones stepped into the batter's box during the 6th. With 2 outs, Chipper connected on a solo shot to left field, giving the Braves a 4-0 lead.

Friday's 4-2 victory increases Atlanta's advantage to 7 games over Arizona in the Wild Card race and 7.5 over struggling San Francisco.

The Braves and Snakes square off again at 7:10 tonight. Brandon Beachy will take the mound for the home team. He is 5-2 with an ERA of 3.43 in 2011. Meanwhile, Arizona will call upon Louisiana native, Wade Miley. The 24 year old lefty will be making his Major League debut, after cruising to a 4-1 record with an ERA of 3.64 at the Triple A level.

Almost forgot to mention, this is Kennesaw State Alumni night at Turner Field. Ya'll get to "parade around the outfield," if you purchase tickets for the event.