A victory in the books."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Talking Chop User’s GuideTalking Chop PodcastAround the NL EastBaseball Analysis PrimerBraves secure first Spring Training win behind Freddie Freeman Drew Hutchison Jersey , Cristian PacheNew,24commentsA victory in the books. ESTShareTweetShareShareBraves secure first Spring Training win behind Freddie Freeman, Cristian PacheMark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsThe Atlanta Braves began their Spring Training journey over the weekend with games (and losses) against the Mets and Astros. Though a few key cogs were in the lineup for those contests, the club held its home opener on Monday afternoon against the Washington Nationals and, to commemorate that occasion, Brian Snitker rolled out a lineup that at least vaguely resembles a group that could be used for regular season deployment. Nine innings later, the Braves secured their first Grapefruit League victory and there were plenty of things to monitor throughout the afternoon. As noted above, Max Fried got the start for Atlanta on the mound and the left-hander ran into some early trouble. He allowed the first two base-runners of the game to reach and, moments later, both advanced on a double steal. The game’s first run scored on a passed ball and, while Fried escaped without further damage, he needed an unassisted double play on a line-out in order to do so. On the Braves side, the early sledding was rough against Nationals starter Patrick Corbin. Atlanta opened with three ground-outs in the first inning against a pitcher that is, of course, a high-end option and only a two-out double from Johan Camargo in the second provided anything in realm of optimism in the first three frames. More optimistically, Fried bounced back to induce three ground-outs in a 1-2-3 second inning. The Braves did find themselves in a 3-0 hole as the bottom of the fourth arrived but, mercifully, there were fireworks to come. Former Braves draftee J.J. Hoover opened the inning with seven consecutive errant pitches, walking Ozzie Albies and falling into a hole against Freddie Freeman. On cue, Freeman deposited a pitch over the right-center field wall later in the at-bat and Atlanta was suddenly within a 3-2 margin. There was more damage to come, though Larry Bowa Jersey , and it came in earnest. Ronald Acu帽a kept things going with a single to left and the duo of Tyler Flowers and Camargo walked on a total of eight pitches. That loaded the bases for Charlie Culberson, who tied the game with an RBI force out. After a quiet fifth frame, the Braves put some distance between themselves and the Nats in the sixth inning and they did so with two outs. Pedro Florimon singled to start the rally and he was joined on base by Ray-Patrick Didder, who drew a walk. Then, Austin Riley struck out to presumably end the inning but the high-level prospect was able to reach when the ball caromed away from the catcher. From there, Ryan LaMarre drew a bases loaded walk to give the Braves their first lead at 4-3 and that set up a big swing from Cristian Pache. The talented outfield prospect stroked a bases-clearing double and, in an instant, Atlanta held a 7-3 advantage. In the seventh, Griffin Benson and Drew Waters led off with singles and Alex Jackson brought them to the plate with a double before the Nats picked up a single out. That marked the final dent in the scoreboard for Atlanta on this fine afternoon but nine runs proved to be enough, even with the Nats scoring in the final frame to bring the final score to 9-4. On the pitching side, Fried managed to navigate two innings while allowing only one run. Elsewhere, Sam Freeman breezed through a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth and youngster Ian Anderson posted a scoreless frame in the fifth while issuing only one walk. In addition, veteran Jesse Biddle pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.Offensively, Freeman struck the first major blow with his two-run blast and both Camargo and Acu帽a contributed base hits. Albies reached out on a walk and scored, with Riley acting as the lone negative with three strikeouts in as many plate appearances. On the prospect front, Pache’s bases-clearing double was memorable and the duo of Waters and Jackson combined to provide insurance in the seventh. The Braves will return to action on Tuesday afternoon with another home game and, this time around, Atlanta’s opponent will be the New York Mets. Stay tuned. Real life is too much, getting over our mindset, thank you fallettinme be mice elf, and other bullets."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Chicago Cubs recapsChicago Cubs minor leaguesChicago Cubs essaysChicago Cubs game threadsWrigley Field renovationsFull archiveLibrary Bleed Cubbie Blue Community GuidelinesCurrent time in ChicagoBCB Specials & Site InfoWinter 2019 music threadsCubs StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Cubs newsYahoo Cubs team pageYahoo Cubs reportYahoo Cubs depth chartYahoo Cubs transactionsYahoo Cubs photosOdds Shop About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub 鉁旵ub TracksCub Tracks goes back to being simpleNew Jim Bunning Jersey ,31commentsReal life is too much, getting over our mindset, thank you fallettinme be mice elf, and other bullets. CSTShareTweetShareShareCub Tracks goes back to being simpleHulk smashJoe Camporeale-USA TODAY SportsCubs played two yesterday. They play again today. The following words result from those games and the people and systems that enable them. We have actual baseball again, you know.I read all this stuff and then massage it until the narrative emerges from the medium, at which point I attempt to nail it down. Which hammer I use determines how it all works out. Today I used a small ball-peen hammer. The content reflects that delicate blunt instrument.Yeah, we got jokes. But, given that I became an editor to make a long story short, I’ll take my own advice and cut to the chaser.Remember, the opinions shared in the articles quoted on this page are not necessarily those of Cub Tracks, Bleed Cubbie Blue, or SB Nation, and are here presented without further comment. Here’s today’s Cubs News and Notes. As always * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome).Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Dodgers’ 11th-hour pursuit of Bryce Harper should have Cubs worried about their championship window closing. ““Sometimes real life is simply too much,” ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez tweeted.”Larry Hawley (WGN-TV): Joe Maddon praises Cubs’ focus, ‘openness’ during spring training. “...they’re so easy to interact with right now and that’s the part I’m really enjoying,” said Maddon. Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): 5 takeaways from Cubs spring training: Jon Lester scoffs at proposed changes; David Bote could return Wednesday after beaning. “I think we need to get over the whole mindset of changing the pace of play, as opposed to the product on the field,” Lester said.Rick Morrissey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs, Kris Bryant are looking for motivation in all the wrong places. “One person’s motivation is another person’s rolled eyes.”Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Cubs are pulling out all the stops — including some old hitting drills of Joe Maddon’s — to resurrect their offense. “These guys are good Jim Thome Jersey ,” Maddon said. “KB has been an MVP already. Javy almost was one, (Rizzo) should be in the (MVP) running every year. Albert Almora, Kyle Schwarber and all these other guys are ascending.”Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Veteran Lester focused on maintaining success. “He wants to make every start and keep throwing until Cubs manager Joe Maddon pries the ball from his fingers.” Jesse Rogers has more about this subject. So does Tim Stebbins.Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Yu Darvish feeling much better this year, velocity is strong, pitch mix could change. “...I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect big things this year from the talented righty.”Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): Letters from camp: Darvish gets into the swing of things while Addison Russell missteps. “I’m working on my arm swing,” Darvish said. “I’m always late, so I’m trying to be quicker.”Gordon Wittenmyer (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Cubs’ Tyler Chatwood doesn’t want to be traded even as only path to starting job. “My job is just to go out there and pitch and show these guys I’m back to what I was and feeling good, and then make the decision tough on them,” Chatwood said.Evan Altman (Cubs Insider): Maddon simulating 115 MPH pitches to promote ‘Opportunity Hitting’. “This is actually something the skipper did as a hitting instructor in the Angels organization 30 years ago...”Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs taking cautious approach with Bote. “Bote projects to open the season as a utility man for the Cubs.”Dan Santaromita (NBC Sports Chicago*): Suspended Russell makes spring training debut. “It felt great, to get the clay underneath my cleats,” Russell said.Chris Cwik (Big League Stew*): Bryant vents about service-time manipulation: ‘It’s awful’. Proceeds from the premises first seen in a Sahadev Sharma article {$}. “I feel like the common-sense approach to this whole thing is that both sides sees that it needs to change,” Bryant said.Mark Gonzales (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Kyle Schwarber returns to his old squatty batting stance: ‘I’ve just got to get back to being myself’. “I’m going to go back to being simple. Squat, put the foot down and go hit.” Bruce Miles has more words on this subject.Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Almora gives Cubs options at top of lineup. “That’s just going to be based on opportunity,” Maddon said of Almora’s playing time. Cubs birthdays: Pete Alexander (HoF), Harry Weaver, Joe Graves, Don Lee, Mark DeRosa, Jose Reyes, Hector Rondon.Food for thought: