Inside The N.L. East

Sporting News, The, June 19, 2000

Florida LF Cliff Floyd quietly is having an impressive season. He had hit safely in 12 of his past 13 games (through last Saturday) and improved his average 56 points since May 19. Floyd can hit for power (12 homers), drive in runs (41) and steal bases (13).

Who's NOT

Entering the week, Atlanta RHP Kevin Millwood had lost five of his last six decisions and had a 7.58 ERA in his last seven starts, The low point was his loss to Toronto on June 7 when he allowed 10 baserunners and nine earned runs in four innings.

CIRCLE THE CALENDAR

Will the Expos make a race out of it with the mighty Braves? Montreal won't get a shot at Atlanta until they are host to them for a two-game series June 27-28, but both teams will have a chance to get on a roll before then. From June 12-26, neither team meets a team at or above the .500 mark.

Keep an eye on

The Mets' leadoff spot. OF Melvin Mora is injury-prone, and OF/IF Joe McEwing is too inconsistent for that role. Enter rookie OF Jason Tyner. He hit .286 in his first five games in the leadoff spot after being called up from Class AAA Norfolk.

High and inside

It now appears a trade of RHP Andy Ashby is imminent because attempts by the Phillies to re-sign him have failed. Will this also mean staff ace Curt Schilling will re-demand a trade to a contender?

TSN's Wired World

The Phillies are relieved to have 3B Scott Rolen back. Without Rolen's protection, RF Bobby Abreu struggled with a steady diet of breaking balls, and the team was 7-7. For more on the Phillies visit:

sportingnews.com/baseball/teams/phillies

PROSPECT WATCH

Montreal OF Milton Bradley is hitting .294 with 14 RBIs and eight stolen bases at Class AAA Ottawa and appears close to the bigs. He hit .329 at Class AA in 1999 and has great bat speed, a strong arm, a flair for the dramatic and he can run the bases. His temperament--he once spit his gum at an umpire--is the question.

Atlanta

39-21: 1st

Sanders begins to improve; A. Jones does not need to

LF Reggie Sanders hopes a three-hit game June 7 was the start of a new season for him. The first two months were a disaster for Sanders, but his average was up to .176 entering this week, which doesn't seem like much, except it had been hovering in the .150 range for weeks.... CF Andrew Jones is putting together his best season, hitting .325 with 14 homers and 33 RBIs. Much of his success can be traced to his increased patience at the plate. He has cut down on his strikeouts and increased his walks, so the two totals are almost equal.... RHP Greg Maddux's four-run outing last Friday night wasn't up to his usual standard, but it helped restore some order to the rotation. The starters' recent ineffectiveness upped the staff's ERA to 4.06, the highest it has been this late in a season since 1990, when it was 5.30 after 59 games.

SCOUTING REPORT: LHP Tom Glavine straggled in his last three starts entering this week, allowing 14 earned runs in 19 innings, but he's not prepared to make any drastic changes. After looking at tape of his June 6 start against the Blue Jays, Glavine said nothing has changed from the first month of the season-when he won his first five decisions--except the results. "My approach is the same, my stuff is the same," Glavine said. "It's a situation where I'm making good pitches and either getting foul balls or a hit." Perhaps more disturbing than his lack of wins is Glavine's walk total. His walks have increased by one in each of his last four starts.

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME: In the days following the team's decision to send John Rocker to Class AAA Richmond, a portrait of the outspoken and brash reliever emerged from interviews with his teammates. Some players like him. Others despise him. All agree that "selfish" is a fitting way to describe him. Some players hope the team trades him. Others think he won't regain command of his 100 mph fastball. Overwhelmingly, the consensus is the Braves are a better team with Rocker. But many players are so tired of his act, they don't care if he ever comes back. --Bill Zack

TSNumber

3.33

The bullpen's ERA. It has quietly turned into one of the league's most effective groups, with much of the credit going to Mike Remlinger, Rudy Seanez and Kerry Ligtenberg.

BRAVES
                 AVG     G    AB    R    H   HR   RBI

Galarraga       .333    56   207   33   69   17    52
A. Jones        .325    60   228   45   74   14    33
Jordan          .308    45   172   36   53   11    36
Veras(#)        .308    55   198   31   61    2    21
(*)Furcal(#)    .306    53   160   34   49    0    12
C. Jones(#)     .303    57   208   38   63   13    44
Bonilla(#)      .302    45   116   16   35    3    15
Weiss(#)        .299    30    67   13   20    0     6
Lopez           .289    33   190   22   55    9    33
Lockhart( )     .233    34    60   11   14    2     8
Hubbard         .218    39    55    9   12    1     5
Joyner( )       .200    39    60    5   12    1     5
Sanders         .176    38   131   16   23    2     7
(*)Lunar        .167    12    24    2    4    0     3

                 OBP    SLG   SB   K    BB    E

Galarraga       .392   .638    2   48   13    5
A. Jones        .424   .561    7   36   34    0
Jordan          .358   .541    4   26   12    0
Veras(#)        .409   .379   17   28   31    5
(*)Furcal(#)    .397   .388   12   25   23   13
C. Jones(#)     .394   .558    4   22   34    5
Bonilla(#)      .396   .483    0   24   18    2
Weiss(#)        .385   .358    0   13   10    6
Lopez           .333   .484    0   34   11    2
Lockhart( )     .303   .433    1    4    6    1
Hubbard         .328   .345    0   11    8    0
Joyner( )       .279   .283    0    9    7    0
Sanders         .250   .267    6   31   12    0
(*)Lunar        .231   .167    0    5    1    1