Gästebuch » The Atlanta Braves and their manager

ATLANTA (AP) — had plenty of reasons to be unhappy even after completing their first four-game sweep of the Miami Marlins since 2006.Seeing slugging rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-steve-carlton-jersey , who had been on a home-run streak, hit by Jose Urena’s first pitch led to two melees on the field and more unrest in the clubhouse.Dansby Swanson filled the power void left by Acuna’s exit, hitting a two-run homer that led the Braves to a 5-2 win over Miami on Wednesday night.Acuna, who had hit leadoff homers in the last three games and homered in five straight games overall, didn’t get a chance to extend the streak. Urena plunked him on the left elbow with a fastball.The Braves said X-rays on the elbow were negative and results of further tests would be announced on Thursday.Benches and bullpens for both teams emptied onto the field twice after the pitch. No punches were thrown. Urena and Braves manager Brian Snitker were ejected.“He’s been swinging the ball incredibly well, obviously,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said of Acuna. “It just makes no sense. It was just completely classless on Jose Urena’s part.”Snitker, Freeman and other Braves players believe Urena intended to hit Acuna. Marlins manager Don Mattingly said the umpires also believed Urena tried to hit the Braves rookie, but Mattingly was upset his pitcher was not ejected until Snitker came on the field for the second time.“If you think he’s done it on purpose, then throw him out right away,” Mattingly said.Urena said he was only trying to throw the pitch inside.“I made the bad pitch,” Urena said. “I missed my spot inside on the corner the way I wanted to start with him. I tried to get inside to move him.”Paul Nauert, the third-base umpire and crew chief Paul DeJong Jersey , said the decision to eject Urena was delayed because “we wanted to make sure as a crew we were all on the same page. … When we got together as a crew, it was decided by the crew that yes, he should have been ejected. So that’s what we did.”An angry Snitker was near the front of the line of Braves players charging out of the dugout toward the mound. His emotions started to rise again following the game.“I’m not sure I’ve ever felt like that in a baseball uniform,” Snitker said, adding Acuna “didn’t deserve that. … I’ve had three hours to calm down and all of a sudden I’m not real good right now.”Acuna became the 11th batter to be hit by a pitch from Urena this season, tied for the most in the National League.Acuna left the game in the second inning. He took his position in left field and then walked off the field. Snitker said Acuna had cramping in his forearm when he left the game.Because he was forced from the game after being hit by the pitch in his only plate appearance, Acuna will be eligible to continue his three-game streak of leadoff homers in his next game.Kevin Gausman (7-9) allowed two runs in six innings. A.J. Minter pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12 opportunities.Elieser Hernandez, who replaced Urena, allowed two hits in three scoreless innings.The Braves trailed 2-0 before scoring three runs off left-hander Jarlin Garcia (1-2) in the fourth. Charlie Culberson, who doubled, scored from third on Ender Inciarte’s grounder to first base. After Tyler Flowers walked, Swanson cleared the center field wall with his 10th homer.Culberson had three hits, including two doubles. Inciarte lex Reyes Jersey , who had a run-scoring single in the sixth, drove in two runs.Starlin Castro led off Miami’s fourth with his 10th homer into the seats in right field.TRAINER’S ROOMBraves LHP Max Fried, on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain, will make a rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday — “quicker than we originally thought,” Snitker said. … LHP Sam Freeman (left shoulder inflammation) threw a scoreless inning for Gwinnett on Tuesday and is scheduled to throw again on Thursday.STREAKINGThe NL East-leading Braves remained two games ahead of Philadelphia. They have won five straight after completing their first four-game sweep of the Marlins since May 15-18, 2006 at Turner Field.The last-place Marlins have lost five straight and eight of nine.BIG LEAGUE DEBUTMiami left fielder Austin Dean, a 2012 fourth-round draft pick called up from Triple-A New Orleans before the game, was held without a hit in his major league debut.UP NEXTMarlins: Miami, off Thursday, opens a weekend series at slumping Washington on Friday night. RHP Dan Straily (4-5. 4.42) has a 3.86 ERA in two starts against the Nationals this season.Braves: RHP Julio Teheran (8-7, 4.33) will look to continue his success against the Rockies in Thursday night’s opener of a four-game series. Teheran is 5-1 with a 2.21 ERA in nine career starts against Colorado. Bob Levey/Getty ImagesAfter investigating allegations that the Houston Astros have been stealing signs during this year's postseason, Major League Baseball will not fine or penalize the Astros.MLB released a statement announcing the investigation has been closed, via Mark Feinsand of MLB.com:"Before the Postseason began Evan Longoria Jersey , a number of clubs called the Commissioner's Office about sign stealing and the inappropriate use of video equipment. The concerns expressed related to a number of Clubs, not any one specific Club. In response to these calls, the Commissioner's Office reinforced the existing rules with all playoff Clubs and undertook proactive measures, including instituting a new prohibition on the use of certain in-stadium cameras, increasing the presence of operations and security personnel from Major League Baseball at all Postseason games and instituting a program of monitoring Club video rooms."With respect to both incidents regarding a Houston Astros employee, security identified an issue, addressed it and turned the matter over to the Department of Investigations. A thorough investigation concluded that an Astros employee was monitoring the field to ensure that the opposing Club was not violating any rules. All Clubs remaining in the playoffs have been notified to refrain from these types of efforts and to direct complaints about any in-stadium rules violations to MLB staff for investigation and resolution. We consider the matter closed."Astros general manager JeffLuhnow told reporters this team was "playing defense," adding, via Daniel Gotera of KHOU-TV:Daniel Gotera DTGoteraKHOU#Astros GM Jeff Luhnow on allegations of his club stealing signs using technology: quot;I think what happens is when a team has success, there will be a lot of other people looking at them to see whats driving their successquot; eDPa73HhpgAs for the allegations, Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported: "The Boston Red Sox were warned that a man credentialed by the Houston Astros might try to steal signs or information from their dugout after the Cleveland Indians caught him taking pictures of their dugout with a cellphone camera during Game 3 of the American League Division Series."However, Alex Speier and Andrew Mahoney of the Boston Globe reported that MLB's investigation discovered the Astros employee in question was trying to determine if the Red Sox "were using dugout video monitors to steal signs from the Astros" and wasn't stealing signs and relaying them to the dugout.Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski did not believe the employee's alleged actions factored into the Astros' Game 1 win againstBoston, per Brian Costa of the Wall Street Journal: "It was caught early in the game. It did not cost us anything."According to Passan's report http://www.raysfanproshop.com/authentic-dustin-mcgowan-jersey , the Los Angeles Dodgers suspected the Astros of stealing signs during last season's World Series, and the Oakland Athletics believed the Astros were stealing signs this season.He also outlined that opposing players have believed actions taken by the Astros in the dugout in the past, such as banging on trash cans or clapping before pitches, is a form of relaying stolen signs to the batter.While teams decry having their own signs stolen, it technically isn't against MLB rules."Sign-stealing is not an uncommon practice and there in fact is not a rule against it," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in 2017, per Speier and Mahoney.It isn't ideal for the team having their signs stolen, however, and Boston manager Alex Cora commented on the recent reports of sign stealing and the precautions the team takes throughout the season."I'm always concerned about that throughout the season," he told reporters. "So I mean we do a good job changing sequences and paying attention to details. And we don't get caught up on the whole paranoia thing of the signs. We try to slow it down. If we feel there's something going on we switch signs."