While it may be too early to say that the Braves could go 162-0, it isn’t too early to say that the 2009 season has gotten off to a solid start for the Atlanta Braves. For a team that has missed the playoffs the last three years, Opening Day 2009 could not have gone any better. Three-time all-star catcher Brian McCann got things going early with a two-out, two-run home run in the first inning to stake new ace Derek Lowe to a lead. Jeff Francoeur showed that the new stance is working early as he homered on the first pitch of the second inning and just two batters later, Jordan Schafer crushed a drive to deep center for a home run in his first major league at-bat.
Meanwhile, Lowe retired the first seven batters and 17 of the first 18 he faced while allowing just one hit through the first 5.2 innings. Lowe’s final line was 8 innings, three strikeouts and zero runs on two hits. Mike Gonzalez gave up a run but struck out Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez to end the game with two runners aboard. The Braves took the season opener 4-1 and have raced out to an early division lead, .5 games ahead of Florida, Washington and New York and a one game lead over Philly.
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