Cubs shut out Braves in Atlanta's first loss

Last night's 2-0 shutout was a bitter defeat for the Braves in the style of many of the Braves' losses over the past couple of seasons: solid pitching backed by an offense that could get runners on base but couldn't drive them in. (The Braves stranded 12 baserunners on Thursday night).

Tyler Colvin's solo homerun in the top of the second put the Cubs ahead for good. In the fourth inning, Marlon Byrd's second homerun of the year plated the game's final run.

The loss was especially frustrating because - despite the homeruns - Tommy Hanson (5 1/3 IP, 7 K, 3 BB, 4 H) outpitched Randy Wells (6 IP, 1 K, 2 BB).

The Braves nearly won the game in the bottom of the ninth when Eric Hinske took a Carlos Marmol pitch to deep center with Nate McLouth and Yunel Escobar on base. The ball was well-struck but ultimately hauled in by Marlon Byrd for the second out of the ninth inning. Melky Cabrera unceremoniously struck out to end the game.

Lastly, you probably inferred this next bit of news from the fact that I mentioned that the Braves played a baseball game yesterday, but here goes: Chipper Jones injured his oblique and is expected to miss 2-3 days.

Jason Heyward fever drowns out Lowe's awfulness

On any other day, Derek Lowe's dreadful outing (6 IP, 3 BB, 2 K, 5 ER) would have had Braves fans everywhere in a miserable mood on Opening Day. But April 5, 2010 was not your average opening day. It was Jason Heyward Day.

Heyward's first inning three-run homerun off of Carlos Zambrano in his first MLB plate appearance is already the stuff of legend. The towering shot to right center traveled 433 feet, registering as "Plenty" on HitTracker's scale of Plenty, Just Enough, and Lucky. Watch the homerun here.

Heyward's blast was part of the Braves' 16-5 rout of the Chicago Cubs, led (along with Heyward's 4 RBI) by a 2-run single and a 3-run double by Yunel Escobar. Escobar and Heyward accounted for 5 of the 6 runs plated in the Braves' big first inning, in which they regained the lead for good after Derek Lowe gave up a three-run homer to Marlon Byrd in the top of the first.

The Braves are off on Tuesday but resume action at Turner Field on Wednesday when Jair Jurrjens will face off against Ryan Dempster.

Prado, Escobar banged up

Martin Prado was hit on the ankle by an errant ball during pre-game warm-ups and was scratched from the line-up. Kelly Johnson made the start at second.

The Braves' middle infield was dealt another blow when Yunel Escobar was struck on the wrist with a Rick Vanden Hurk pitch in the bottom of the second. Diory Hernandez replaced Escobar at shortstop.

Despite the injuries, the Braves have the early lead thanks to a two-run double by Casey Kotchman in the bottom of the second.