8.13.11 Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well how very nice.

Matt Fox wins! 5-0. AND I get my wish! A Mets-style start from Pawtucket!

As I am certain you have heard already, Matt Fox pitched a complete game shutout. Fox struck out seven, walked one, and gave up two hits. Hit one, a single by third baseman Wilkin Castillo in the fourth. Wait, wasn't Wilkin Castillo on the Bats? Yes, he was!

The second hit was by shortstop Brandon Hicks in the ninth. Fox's pitch count for the entire game was 99.

Starter for the Gwinnett Braves was Yohan Pino. Johan Santana. Yorvit Torrealba? Jhoulys Chacin! No, Yohan Flande. Mmmm, Flande. Flande maybe had control problems, as he gave up seven hits and four walks through five innings. Flande threw the exact same amount of pitches at Matt Fox (99) with radically different results. Matt Fox DIDN'T give up a home run to the DH. Matt Fox DIDN'T give up any extra base hits. Matt Fox DIDN'T give up five earned runs. MATT FOX DIDN'T GIVE UP. And you did, Yohan! WHY? YOU ONLY MOVED THE HEADSTONES! WHY!?

Scoreless relief was provided by Braves bullpenners Ben Swaggerty, JJ Hoover, and Dustin Richardson. Thank you, boys!

Two things:
1. Yes, Daniel Nava hit a solo home run. ZOMG did you know Nava was scouted out of the Indy leagues?! I'll do you one better! The R. Sox just picked up a reliever named TJ Hose out of the Can-Am League. Unfortunately, Hose is 47 years old. And he's originally from Brockton. He was gonna be a boxer like his old man, but too many blows to the dome rendered him an imbecile. Here's hoping he climbs his way up to Pawtucket!
2. Fox sez: "To do it under 100 pitches was a lot of fun. I told my mom that it was my first complete game or shutout since college. She drove up from Orlando and I was glad that she was able to watch me. She’s a teacher and she goes back to work tomorrow, so this is probably the last time she will see me pitch this year. It was nice to end her summer on a high." (UCF Today)
3. Al Daniel's shocking exposé of a sweltering, sultry, sweat-soaked matchup feat. Tyler Pastornicky's leg.
4. Braves reliever Ben Swaggerty was doing the double-A Royals thing and asked for his release, which the organization gave to him. I wonder what happened?

One more Gwinnett Braves game tonight! Brandon Duckworth will punch Erik Cordier in the mush, see? I figuratively cannot wait.