Atlanta (40-43) at Chi Cubs (41-40)

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atl

Kawakami to face countryman Fukudome

Mark Bowman / MLB.com
Kenshin Kawakami had a chance to face off against Daisuke Matsuzaka earlier this year. But on Wednesday, he'll take on another fellow Japanese player in Kosuke Fukudome.
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Braves probable pitcher

Kenshin Kawakami

  • #11 RHP
  • (4-6) 4.46 ERA 66 SO
Making his first start after an eight-day layoff, Kawakami was unable to locate his pitches and got into trouble four of the five innings he was on the mound against Washington. He ran up a pitch count of 92 (56 strikes), only retiring 13 Nationals batters, while letting nine reach base. Manager Bobby Cox said that he likes Kawakami's stuff, but that the 34-year-old rookie gets himself into trouble too often due to wildness. Kawakami cost himself a chance at a win when he fielded a dribbler and made a throwing error trying to record an out at second base. Unable to get that out, he was pulled, and that baserunner tied the game when a new pitcher entered.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 4-6 4.46 82.2 34 66 .256
Season 4-6 4.46 82.2 34 66 .256
July 0-0 8.31 4.1 3 6 .300
Vs. Chi Cubs 0-0 3.86 7.0 1 2 .269

Series at a Glance

Standings - 07/08/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Atlanta Braves (NL East) 40 43 .482 4.0 21-21 19-22
Chicago Cubs (NL Central) 41 40 .506 3.0 25-15 16-25
Stats - 07/08/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
ATL .261 348 66 333 29 499 3.87 745.0 705 292 621
CHC .247 337 89 323 32 609 3.83 728.1 670 308 629
chc

Hart has chance at first big league start

Andrew Simon / MLB.com
Because of Ryan Dempster's right big toe, Kevin Hart will be at Wrigley Field, where he will make his first Major League start in the Cubs' tilt against the Atlanta Braves.
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Cubs probable pitcher

Kevin Hart

  • #22 RHP
  • (0-0) 1.59 ERA 1 SO
Hart will make his first Major League start on Wednesday in the series finale vs. the Braves. Hart is subbing for Ryan Dempster, who was placed on the 15-day DL because of an injured toe. Hart has given up one run on three hits and five walks over 5 2/3 innings in relief this season, and was 3-3 with a 3.10 ERA in 22 games, including six starts, at Triple-A Iowa this year. The right-hander had made his final six appearances at Iowa as a starter, and was 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA in that stretch.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 2-2 4.47 44.1 27 37 .280
Season 0-0 1.59 5.2 5 1 .167
July 0-0 0.00 2.0 1 1 .000
Vs. Atlanta 0-0 0.00 1.0 1 0 .000

Braves hitters vs Kevin Hart

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Blanco, Gregor - - - - - - - -
Canizares, Barbaro - - - - - - - -
Church, Ryan - - - - - 0 0 0
Conrad, Brooks - - - - .250 4 0 0
Diaz, Matt - - - - - - - -
Escobar, Yunel - - - - .333 3 0 0
Hernandez, Diory .000 1 0 0 .200 10 0 0
Infante, Omar - - - - - - - -
Johnson, Kelly - - - - - - - -
Jones, Brandon - - - - .143 7 0 0
Jones, Chipper - - - - - - - -
McCann, Brian - - - - .000 3 0 0
McLouth, Nate - - - - .200 5 0 0
Prado, Martin - - - - .500 2 0 1
Ross, David - - - - .000 1 0 0
Sammons, Clint - - - - .150 20 1 2
Schafer, Jordan - - - - .000 2 0 0

Cubs hitters vs Kenshin Kawakami

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Adduci, James - - - - - - - -
Baker, Jeff - - - - .000 2 0 0
Blanco, Andres .333 3 0 0 .333 3 0 0
Bradley, Milton .000 2 0 0 .000 4 0 0
Castillo, Welington - - - - - - - -
Colvin, Tyler - - - - - - - -
Fontenot, Mike .500 2 0 1 .500 2 0 1
Fox, Jake - - - - .000 2 0 0
Fukudome, Kosuke .333 3 0 0 .400 5 1 1
Fuld, Sam - - - - - - - -
Hill, Koyie - - - - .000 1 0 0
Hoffpauir, Micah - - - - .000 1 0 0
Lee, Derrek .333 3 0 1 .167 6 0 1
Miles, Aaron - - - - - - - -
Ramirez, Aramis - - - - .333 3 0 0
Soriano, Alfonso .250 4 1 1 .250 4 1 1
Soto, Geovany .000 2 0 0 .000 2 0 0
Theriot, Ryan .000 4 0 0 .286 7 0 0

Braves weather the storm for series win (41-43) (41-41)

Braves 4, Cubs 1

Kenshin for the win

Mark Bowman / MLB.com
Kenshin Kawakami worked with a slim lead after rain delayed the start of the matinee finale at Wrigley Field, his only blemish coming against countryman Kosuke Fukudome. Luckily, teammate Casey Kotchman hit his own solo shot to provide the margin of victory for a series edge.

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Series at a Glance

 

Hart of the matter

Andrew Simon / MLB.com
For the second successive game, the Cubs struggled on the offensive end while the pitching delivered. Right-hander Kevin Hart allowed just one run on four hits in his first Major League start, but was offered little support for his solid effort in the soggy series finale in Chicago.
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Braves 4, Cubs 1

Atlanta AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
McLouth, CF 5 2 2 0 0 0 4 .272
Prado, 3B 3 1 2 1 2 1 0 .324
Anderson, G, LF 4 0 1 0 1 1 3 .274
  Soriano, R, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
McCann, C 5 0 0 0 0 1 4 .300
Escobar, Y, SS 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .292
Kotchman, 1B 2 1 1 1 2 0 1 .275
Francoeur, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .243
Conrad, 2B 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .357
Kawakami, P 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 .120
  Moylan, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Gonzalez, M, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Blanco, G, PH-LF 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .190
Totals 33 4 8 2 7 5 18  

a-Struck out for Gonzalez, M in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: McLouth (16, Hart, K), Conrad (1, Guzman, A).
HR: Kotchman (4, 6th inning off Guzman, A, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: McLouth 3; Prado 2; Anderson, G; Escobar, Y; Kotchman 4; Conrad 2.
RBI: Prado (16), Kotchman (31).
2-out RBI: Prado.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: McCann; McLouth 3.
GIDP: Anderson, G; McCann.
Team RISP: 1-for-7.
Team LOB: 9.

FIELDING
DP: 3 (Prado-Conrad-Kotchman, Escobar, Y-Conrad-Kotchman 2).
 
Chi Cubs AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Fukudome, CF 3 1 1 1 1 0 1 .265
Theriot, SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 2 .291
Lee, D, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .279
Ramirez, A, 3B 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .346
Bradley, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .236
Fox, J, LF 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 .311
Baker, Je, 2B 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .111
  b-Fontenot, PH-2B 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .231
Hill, K, C 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 .240
Hart, K, P 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Hoffpauir, M, PH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .242
  Guzman, A, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  Marshall, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231
  Heilman, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  c-Johnson, Re, PH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .265
  Gregg, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 29 1 6 1 2 4 9  

a-Popped out for Hart, K in the 5th. b-Grounded into a double play for Baker, Je in the 7th. c-Hit a sacrifice bunt for Heilman in the 8th.

BATTING
HR: Fukudome (7, 6th inning off Kawakami, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Fukudome 4; Theriot 2; Ramirez, A; Fox, J; Hill, K.
RBI: Fukudome (27).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Bradley; Theriot.
S: Johnson, Re.
GIDP: Theriot; Lee, D; Fontenot.
Team RISP: 0-for-3.
Team LOB: 4.

FIELDING
E: Fox, J (2, fielding), Fukudome (1, fielding).
DP: 2 (Baker, Je-Theriot-Lee, D, Lee, D-Theriot-Baker, Je).
 
Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Kawakami (W, 5-6) 6.0 4 1 1 2 2 1 4.26
Moylan (H, 13) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.15
Gonzalez, M (H, 9) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.05
Soriano, R (S, 10) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.55
 
Chi Cubs IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Hart, K (L, 0-1) 5.0 4 1 1 5 3 0 1.69
Guzman, A 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 1 2.67
Marshall 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 4.12
Heilman 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.57
Gregg 1.0 2 2 0 0 1 0 3.43

WP: Gregg.
IBB: Conrad (by Hart, K).
Pitches-strikes: Kawakami 85-53, Moylan 9-8, Gonzalez, M 9-7, Soriano, R 15-9, Hart, K 89-46, Guzman, A 21-14, Marshall 16-9, Heilman 17-9, Gregg 21-13.
Groundouts-flyouts: Kawakami 9-7, Moylan 3-0, Gonzalez, M 2-1, Soriano, R 0-1, Hart, K 6-6, Guzman, A 0-2, Marshall 2-1, Heilman 0-3, Gregg 2-0.
Batters faced: Kawakami 22, Moylan 3, Gonzalez, M 4, Soriano, R 3, Hart, K 23, Guzman, A 4, Marshall 4, Heilman 4, Gregg 5.
Inherited runners-scored: Marshall 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jim Joyce. 1B: Bill Miller. 2B: Derryl Cousins. 3B: Todd Tichenor.
Weather: 63 degrees, overcast.
Wind: 3 mph, In from CF.
T: 2:50 (:42 delay).
Att: 40,531.
July 8, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner