Atlanta Braves

Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson combined for six hits, three home runs, and seven RBI to lead the Braves past the Toronto Blue Jays 10-2 on Sunday afternoon.

The Braves looked to make the game a blowout early, as Kelly Johnson led off the game with an opposite field home run and McCann followed three batters later with a blast off of Toronto starter Scott Richmond.

I was surfing through B/R earlier and came across a Jeff Francoeur article written by fellow B/R contributor Ron Wagner.

Well in his article he states that the braves should give up on Jeff Francoeur, and i'm here to say otherwise.

Why give up on him now, sure he's having a bad year so far, he's hitting only .252 with 3 homers and 21 RBI's.

Jeff is having trouble with his swing, he switched from a closed stance after his rough season last year to an open stance this with hopes that it will improve his numbers.

Everyone (especially the talking heads in New York) seems to be yapping about how every tradeable player is going to end up with the Mets or Yankees in about 15 minutes, including Mark DeRosa.

Not so fast.

With Omar Infante being lost for two months with a broken metacarpal bone in his left hand, the Braves have a major hole for a utility player who can play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, hit lefties, and produce in Atlanta.

Enter ex-Brave Mark DeRosa.

Most great ball players have one thing in common: cool nicknames.

Alex Rodriguez is constantly referred to now as "A-Rod".

Chipper Jones is "Chip" or if you are from New York, "Larry".

Ivan Rodriguez is "Pudge".

Jair Jurrjens is "J.J.".

I could go on and on...

Yunel Escobar is what I believe, the next big thing when it comes to Braves position players.

I think with the production he is giving the Braves and their fans, it is time we give him a nickname.

This is my proposal, but I hope that you other fans can also give some ideas.

If you are a Braves fan, you know how much Omar Infante means to the Braves' chances in the NL East race for 2009.

I'm not talking about the Braves fan that occasionaly wears a t-shirt and knows who Chipper Jones is.  I'm talking about the Braves fans that KNOW the team.  You know who Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen are.  Likewise, you know what a hitting machine that Infante has been for the Braves all year long.

Finally, the disaster in the five hole is over.

But, to my dismay, this problem has moved to the bullpen.

My utter joy for a rookie finally getting his shot, however, outweighs a future ineffective reliever (at least until Reyes blows a game up).

Anyway, the surprise to some fans may be the fact that a certain 22-year-old phenom isn't getting the call.

Instead, it is a 23-year-old reliever-turned-starter phenom named Kris Medlen.

Many may remember his great spring, but his season down at Gwinnett has been even better.

I was six years old at the time and an avid Atlanta Braves fan. Our family always focused on living the 10 Commandments, but Granny had an 11th commandment:

"Thou shalt not root against the Braves."

You never rooted against Granny's Braves, especially in her presence. If you did, you suffered the consequences.

I can remember one day sitting on my grandfather's knee watching a game and he asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

MLB is reporting that Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann has been suspended 50 games for violation of the Joint Commission Policy on the Use of performing enhancing devices.

Although the exact nature of the violation has not been released, a source close to the situation revealed that McCann has been seen wearing glasses during recent games. The glasses were first seen in the May 8 game in Philadelphia. They were eventually confiscated by MLB, and extensive testing revealed that the glasses did indeed contain corrective lenses.