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A boost for the Braves? Atlanta hopes Smoltz return can shake slump
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com About this time of year, roughly a quarter of the way into the season, a lot of teams are looking for something -- anything -- to turn them from also-rans into in-the-runnings. For the Atlanta Braves, that something is John Smoltz. The 1996 National League Cy Young winner, coming off of elbow surgery that wiped out his entire 2000 season, is scheduled Thursday to make his first start since the 1999 postseason. It's a highly anticipated event in Atlanta and one the struggling Braves hope will prod the team from its early season funk. "There's a little apprehension," Smoltz admitted Tuesday, "but I don't think there's a doubt I can be successful." The Braves' problem really hasn't been pitching as much as it's been hitting. The defending NL East champs went into Tuesday's game with the fewest runs scored of any team in baseball (136), a miserable .239 batting average and a baseball-worst .199 average with runners in scoring position. A return to form from Smoltz (157-113 lifetime, with a 3.35 ERA) may not help those numbers much. But it could do wonders for the Braves' battered psyche. With starter Kevin Millwood sidelined due to shoulder problems, an effective Smoltz would, theoretically, at least keep the Braves' pitching from going south while the team waits for its hitters to start hitting. Smoltz is expected to throw no more than 80 to 90 pitches Thursday, a night he already is calling the most "anxiety-ridden" start of his career. "I think there's going to be times when the old self is going to be trying ... to fire the ball in there," he said. "I just need to limit my damage: quick innings, quality innings." If Smoltz can do that, the Braves finally may get back in the running.
Big trouble in the Big AppleThe New York Mets are a mess. And no one knows that better than the Mets themselves. They broke a six-game losing streak Tuesday night with a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres. But they've lost six of their last seven, they're still eight game under .500, injuries to key players (Al Leiter, Jay Payton, Benny Agbayani) are crippling them and now there are signs that the wear and tear of it all is starting to show on the once-happy family. According to several New York area newspapers, many Mets players were teed off at closer Armando Benitez's childish temper tantrum in San Francisco on Friday night after giving up the winning hit. Others are unhappy with Timo Perez for not showing up for extra batting practice. Meanwhile, general manager Steve Phillips says no immediate help is forthcoming via trades -- though Phillips continues to make calls around the league. Phillips and manager Bobby Valentine recently signed three-year extension to their contracts, so don't look for any changes there, either. What it all means is, if the Mets are going to make a run in the NL East any time soon, these Mets are going to have to do it. Come back, JuniorHow badly do the Cincinnati Reds miss injured slugger Ken Griffey Jr.? Well, Griffey might have helped avoid this whole skid thing the Reds are on. They haven't won two straight this month, they are 3-10 since climbing into a tie for first place on May 1 and they are now four games under .500. How could Griffey have helped? By doing what the Reds aren't doing. Going long. The Reds have not been able to go deep with any regularity without Griffey in the lineup. Sure, they got one homer Tuesday night (from Kelly Stinnett), but it was the only run in a 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. That puts them four home runs ahead of the most anemic homer-hitting team in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles (30-26). First baseman and cleanup man Sean Casey, an admitted gap hitter, leads the team with six homers, two this month. On the other hand, the month of May has been Griffey's best for going deep. He has 92 of his 438 career homers in May.
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Baseball is facing a very serious problem with the arbitrator's ruling on rehiring nine umpires. They were just starting to get things together with a consistent strike zone, etc. Now they will be forced to integrate a bunch of malcontents who will shun their own crewmembers. They need to fight this in court and win! 
