The Braves lost their home opener to the Pirates in 12 innings, 12-11. Glavine managed a decent game (5IP, 7H, 1ER, 2BB, 3SO), but he needs to provide some quality starts to protect the middle of the bullpen. Glavine had a high pitch count (97 pitches), which probably contributed to Cox pulling the plug early. No point in pushing things two games into the season.
Cox threw the kitchen sink at the Pirates; 8 relievers tried to keep things under control, but Acosta was awful (.2IP, 3H, 4ER, 1BB, 1SO, 2HR). Boyer ended up being the goat, pitching the final two innings (2IP, 2H, 3ER, 1BB, 3SO, 1HR). I hope this is not a sign of things to come. Still early days, so reason to panic.
I am still not sold on Johnson as the leadoff hitter, but as I mentioned yesterday, options are very limited.
The Braves are off today, so everyone gets a rest from my Braves ramblings.
