NL East

According to the local television commercial, Braves Country is approximately 110,000 square miles (thanks MapQuest and Mrs. Starr from high school geometry).

So unless you're well within the area, it's possible that you may not be able to attend a home game this year at Turner Field, home of your Atlanta Braves.

Never fear! I've done it for you.

Last night against the Washington Nationals, Carlos Beltran broke out in a big way. He slugged two home runs against Tom Gorzelanny and scored a third run off of an error to help lead the New York Mets to victory. This is something the team, and fans, need to see more of during the duration of the season.

For the first six innings of today's game, it looked like it would come down to the last frame. Roy Oswalt and Brandon Beachy were plugging away, maneuvering in out of trouble through the early going.

However, in the top of the seventh the Philadelphia Phillies' offense finally cracked the code. 

Larry Wayne Jones has been playing for the Atlanta Braves since 1993.  Set to turn 39 on April 24th, the man you all know as "Chipper" is in his 18th season with the same club—that alone is noteworthy.

But on Friday, Jones added to his already impressive legacy by collecting a pair of hits to put his career total at 2,500.

I'm not one to get too excited or upset seven games into a 162-game season. So I'm about as ready to jump off the Ben Franklin Bridge after Friday night's 6-3 loss to the Braves, as I was ready to march down Broad Street after their 11-0 win over the Mets Thursday afternoon.

What more do you want from Chipper now? 

He now has the hits, he is a few RBI from 1,500, and he has the home runs. What makes these stats more special is that he is a switch hitter.

If, more like when, he reaches that 1,500 RBI mark, then he will be only the second switch hitter in baseball history to have that amount of RBI, as well as 2,500 hits.

Some people do not think he will get in because he doesn't have 3,000 hits, or he hasn't hit 500 HRs. But what he has done, I think, should easily get him in.

Phillies: 5-1, first in NL East

Braves: 3-4, fourth in NL East (2.5 games behind Phillies)

Phillies preview: The Phillies come into this early-season showdown with the Braves having won five of six to begin the season. The offense leads the National League with a .353 average and a .407 on base percentage.

As the Philadelphia Phillies roll into Atlanta for a three-game set against the Braves, they are set to see Tim Hudson on Friday night.  This is the Tim Hudson whose competitive advantage these days seems to rely on hitting the other team's players and attempting to shorten their season. 

He is especially prone to doing this when playing teams that compete in his division.  And since the Phillies have owned this division for the past four years, their players have the biggest bulls-eye for Hudson.

Heading into Milwaukee, I was feeling pretty good about the Atlanta Braves. Their pitching was phenomenal, their offense came off an 11-run game, and spirits for the team were high. 

They won a series on the road against a team that has given Atlanta fits in the past two years. It looked like the Braves would be able to open at home with a winning record due to their success against Milwaukee. 

The Phillies did what many "experts" well, expected Thursday by taking two out of three from the Mets. The Phillies showed great character and poise by rebounding from a dismal series opener in which one of their four aces, Cole Hamels threw a dud.Their offense was pretty offensive (not a good thing here) as well as they were shellacked seven to one.