Nats (Gonzalez 6-2) @ Braves (McCarthy 5-2), Sat 6-2, 4:10pm

I bought a broom for tomorrow.

A pretty much uneventful day in Braves land for June 2nd over the years....


1891
Reds' right-hander Charley Radbourn earns his 300th victory, beating the Beaneaters at Boston's South End Grounds, 10-8. 'Old Hoss,' who will finish 484 of the 497 games he starts, will end his 11-year career this season with 309 victories.

1928
Les Bell collects 15 total bases, blasting three home runs and a triple at Braves Field. The Cincinnati third baseman's offensive output isn't enough when Boston bows to the Reds, 20-12.

1935
Braves outfielder Babe Ruth announces his retirement from baseball. The 40 year-old former Yankees slugger wanted to retire three weeks sooner, but team owner Emil Fuchs persuaded him to continue to play because Boston hadn't played in every National League park.

And even pretty quiet around MLB....maybe we can create some highlights tonight...


1994
Tom and Ben Grieve, both outfielders, become the first father-son combination to both be chosen in the first round of the amateur draft when the A's select Ben as the team's first-round pick (2nd overall). Tom, presently the general manager of the Rangers, was chosen sixth overall by the Senators in 1966.


1995
The Expos pick Serra High School (San Mateo, CA) standout Tom Brady in the 18th round, the 507th player selected overall, in baseball's amateur draft. The tall, athletic 17 year-old catcher with a powerful left-handed swing and a rocket arm elects to play football at the University of Michigan, before making his record-setting seven Super Bowl appearances as the quarterback for the NFL Patriots.


2003
In one of the minor league's strangest giveaways, the first 500 fans attending Ted Williams Night at the Bisbee-Douglas Copper Kings game receive popsicles. Many are critical of the event, believing the promotion mocks the recently cryogenically frozen Red Sox Hall of Fame outfielder (Another nice minor league story, but my favorite is still the potato game in Williamsport, PA)

C’mon littlebeast, do it, Harper is all the way up to 41st in WAR, he’s well worth spending eleventy billion dollars on! Look at how great he’s made the Gnats all these yearz!

Today's lineup:
Ender Inciarte (CF)
Ozzie Albies (2B)
Freddie Freeman (1B)
Nick Markakis (RF)
Tyler Flowers (C)
Johan Camargo (3B)
Charlie Culberson (LF)
Dansby Swanson (SS)
Brandon McCarthy (P)

Mike Soroka will make another rehab start

Mike Soroka will require another rehab start after his first was a success.

Soroka started for Single-A Rome on Friday, going 3 2/3 perfect innings and striking out three. He threw 45 pitches (28 strikes).

“The reports were really good,” manager Brian Snitker said. “He said he felt great. Stuff was clean, crisp. Reports were real good. So we’ll just get him ready, see how he feels today and go from there.”

Snitker pointed out the 20-year-old was briefly reunited with former pitching coach Dan Meyer, who instructs the pitchers in Rome. Soroka has credited Meyer, among others, for his development as a potential frontline starter, and especially for his increasing strikeout totals.

“That’s really when I took off and starting having a lot of fun pitching,” Soroka said in April. “You look at just the amount of fun I’ve had out there, and like I said, it’s just so much easier to have confidence when you are having fun and you understand that all four pitches that you throw are strikeout pitches if you use them right. That goes a long way as well.”

Soroka will make another rehab start to get him stretched out before rejoining the rotation.

It will likely come Wednesday for Triple-A Gwinnett. That would put Soroka on schedule to start for the Braves in one of the two home games against the Mets June 12 or 13.

Soroka has made three major-league starts this season, striking out 15 and walking six across 14-2/3 innings. He’s earned a 3.68 ERA.

www.ajc.com/sports/baseball/mike-soroka-will-make-another-rehab-start/0ZPSchj5bxK6AHhHjjzbFI/

*** WEATHER UPDATE*** 3:05 PM EDT 2 Jun 2018
Just a low chance of showers later this afternoon and evening for the metro area north of I20 but can't rule out a brief pop up type shower with a rumble of thunder given the air mass and instability indices. Activity in the metro area and points north will be generally isolated except for mountainous areas where orthographic lift could help generate a couple of stronger/longer lasting showers and thunderstorms that drift to the S/SE and eventually dissipate. Most activity should remain south of I20 and farther to the south where scattered showers are expected as atmospheric dynamics there are much more favorable. Should a shower sneak in, it should be brief and likely < .1"-.2". Today's game time frame (4-7 PM) will be hot and humid with temps in the mid to upper 80's. Heat induces will be in the low 90's and wind WNW 5-10 MPH ( that's roughly out to left field if my orientation is correct). Tomorrow looks like a near repeat of today with slightly warmer temperatures and heat indices and also a slightly increase of an afternoon and/or evening shower or rumble of thunder. The ball should carry well today, especially center through left field, with the warm, humid air and a breeze blowing out to left.
-PA

GO BRAVES!