Jimmy Rollins just re-upped for three more years with the Philadelphia Phillies. That alone was hardly an Earth-shattering move. But it was one of significance to the Atlanta Braves.

Thanks to their epic September free fall, the Braves finished second to the Phillies in the National League East, which has been widely documented. What has gone largely overlooked is that the Braves finished closer to fourth place (12 games ahead of the New York Mets) than to first (13 behind the Phillies).

The third-place team, the Washington Nationals, should be stronger with Stephen Strasburg coming back from arm surgery and right fielder Jayson Werth possibly coming back from oblivion.

And the fifth-place team, the now-Miami Marlins, served notice that they don’t intend to remain at the bottom. The Marlins’ makeover, to coincide with their plush new ballpark, began with acquiring manager Ozzie Guillen from the Chicago White Sox. That move alone means nothing without players. But the significance was that Guillen knew the Marlins were committed to spending money to win. Sure enough, the Marlins signed shortstop Jose Reyes, starting pitcher Mark Buehrle and closer Heath Bell. Suddenly, a team that was just 10 wins short of a winning season has to be considered a threat to at least contend for the NL wildcard.

The Mets, despite losing Reyes, figure to be stronger after overhauling their bullpen. Then there’s the aforementioned Phillies. As if winning 102 games and running away with their fifth consecutive division title weren’t enough, the Phillies signed one of the game’s dominant closers in Jonathan Papelbon. Oh, and they won 102 games with Roy Oswalt, their No. 4 starting pitcher (that’s another story) spending a chunk of the season on the disabled list and second baseman Chase Utley playing hurt.

And the Braves?

To date, their big offseason acquisition has been the signing of Robert Fish, a hard-throwing lefty. Maybe Fish will turn out to be another Eric O’Flaherty. Or maybe he’ll be a left-handed Chris Reitsma. Even if he’s Jonny Venters, Fish likely won’t have a great impact on the Braves’ bullpen because, well, because O’Flaherty and Venters will get most of the work.

The Braves entered the offseason with two glaring needs: another strong right-handed bat for the outfield and more offense at shortstop.

Unless they make a move, the Braves will address those needs with a retread (Matt Diaz) in left field and a rookie (Tyler Pastornicky) at shortstop.

Maybe they’re not done shopping. Maybe Frank Wren, the Braves general manager, is merely bluffing when he says this team, as constituted, can overtake the Phillies.

The Braves don’t have the deep pockets to compete with other big spenders. But they do have an asset — actually, a collection of assets — that even the richest teams in baseball covet. They have a treasure trove of pitchers. Young pitchers. Young dominant pitchers who could become All-Stars for a decade.

Randall Delgado. Julio Teheran. Arodyz Vizcaino. Mike Minor. All projected to be top-of-the-rotation starters. This is in addition to Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Brandon Beachy and Kris Medlen, all established big-league starters. Medlen is the old man of the bunch. He just turned 26. That doesn’t include former Glenwood, CVCC and Auburn star Tim Hudson, who’s still going strong at 36.

The bullpen, as noted, is equally loaded. O’Flaherty, Venters and Craig Kimbrel are baseball’s best bullpen trio. Cristhian Martinez and Anthony Varvaro would be stars on most other teams.

One of baseball’s truisms is that you never can have too much pitching. An arm can go out on one pitch.

But it’s also true that you have to score runs to win, and the Braves’ lineup has too many holes to keep pace with the Phillies.

It’s time for Wren to dig into that treasure trove of pitching and deal for a legitimate right-handed bat in left field. If not, this time next year, they might be looking up at more teams than the Phillies.

– Guerry Clegg is an independent correspondent. You can write to him at sports@ledger-enquirer.com

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves are bringing back infielder Wes Helms, signing him to a minor league deal less than a week after he was released by the Florida Marlins.

The Braves said Wednesday that Helms will report to Triple-A Gwinnett this weekend and likely join the Braves when the rosters are expanded Sept. 1 to provide another right-handed bat off the bench.

The Marlins released Helms last Saturday. He was hitting just .191 with six RBI.

The 35-year-old is returning to his original team, playing with the Braves from 1998-2002.

Also, Atlanta activated right-hander Jair Jurrjens from the disabled list to start against the San Francisco Giants.

Right-hander Randall Delgado, who pitched six hitless innings Tuesday, was optioned to Gwinnett. Full Story

Rockies acquire prospect Pomeranz, deal final

When the Rockies sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians July 30, they received a solid return of prospects, with left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz and right-handed pitcher Alex White being the two major names.

Pomeranz, 22, couldn’t immediately be announced, as he wasn’t eligible to be traded until this week due to only being a year out of the draft [he was the Indians' 2010 first-rounder].

So he wasn’t pitching in game action as he waited around for the formality to come to fruition.

Finally, the deal went through this week and Pomeranz took the mound for Double-A Tulsa in his Rockies organizational debut. He certainly didn’t perform like a pitcher who hadn’t thrown in game action in over two weeks. chise afloat.

Phillies catcher Ruiz sidelined with injury

If you saw the Phillies starting lineup for the game against the Diamondbacks and didn’t know why catcher Carlos Ruiz wasn’t included, consider yourself lucky.

But since I had to read it, I’ll make all the men reading out there cringe right along with me. Ruiz is out of the lineup with a left testicle contusion (Todd Zolecki via Twitter).

Um, ouch. And then some.

The man they call “Chooch” is listed day to day. He was struck in the area by a Roy Halladay pitch Tuesday night, but stayed in for the rest of the game. He was examined by doctors before being left out of the lineup.

Dodgers CFO comments on McCourt

WILMINGTON, Del. — The chief financial officer for the Los Angeles Dodgers says the organization made no payments or loans to team owner Frank McCourt in the two years before the club’s bankruptcy filing.

Peter Wilhelm also said Wednesday that McCourt contributed $23.5 million to the Dodgers in the 90 days prior to the bankruptcy.

Testifying at a creditors meeting, Wilhelm said the cash flow crunch that prompted the bankruptcy filing was not a surprise because the organization had known for some time that it would have to find tens of millions of dollars for deferred compensation contributions and other needs.

The Dodgers sought bankruptcy protection in Delaware in June, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled franchise afloat.

Marlins’ Choate has elbow checked

DENVER — Left-handed reliever Randy Choate has been sent to Miami by the Marlins to have his elbow examined by team doctors.

Choate has told team officials he felt tightness in the elbow after his last outing on Monday night. He faced one batter in the ninth inning and gave up a three-run homer to Jason Giambi in what became a 7-4 loss.

Manager Jack McKeon, speaking before the series finale at Colorado, said Choate was expected to undergo an MRI as part of the medical evaluation.

Choate is 1-1 with a 1.82 ERA in 54 appearances this season.

Phillies call up RHP Schwimer

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies have called up right-hander Michael Schwimer from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace All-Star third baseman Placido Polanco on the roster.

Schwimer joined the Phillies before the NL East leaders played Arizona. Polanco was placed on the DL after Tuesday night’s loss. He has a sports hernia.

Schwimer was 9-1 with 10 saves and a 1.88 ERA in 46 appearances for Lehigh Valley, and made the International League All-Star team. To make room for Schwimer on the 40-man roster, pitcher Joe Blanton was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Polanco is hitting .275 with four home runs and 40 RBI in 89 games. He previously missed 19 games with a back injury.

Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 31 games and Tim Hudson pitched into the eighth inning, leading the Atlanta Braves over the Florida Marlins 6-2 Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.

Uggla’s two-run single in the first inning tied Rico Carty for the second-longest hitting streak in franchise history. Tommy Holmes hit in 37 straight for the Boston Braves in 1945.

Uggla went 3 for 5. It was his ninth multihit game during the longest hitting streak in the majors this season. He is batting .224 overall this year.

Logan Morrison hit his 17th home run for the Marlins, who have lost seven straight.

Eric Hinske also drove in two runs for the Braves, who have won six of seven and are a season-best 20 games over .500.

Hudson (12-7) allowed two runs in 7 1-3 innings and struck out seven. The Marlins scored twice off him in the eighth.

Jonny Venters relieved in the ninth, coming in to strike out Brett Hayes with the bases loaded to record his fourth save in six chances.

Anibal Sanchez (6-6) stretched his winless streak to 11 games dating to June 10 with his shortest outing in nearly three years. He allowed five runs in 1 2-3 innings.

Atlanta, which is 9-3 against the Marlins this season, scored three times in the second for a 5-0 lead. Hudson hit an RBI single and Hinske had a two-run double.

NOTES: The longest hitting streak by a second baseman in big league history is 35 games, shared by Chase Utley (Phillies, 2006) and Luis Castillo (Marlins, 2002). … Braves SS Alex Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the seventh. … It was the shortest outing for Sanchez since September 8, 2008, at Philadelphia when he pitched 1 2-3 innings and allowed five runs. … Braves 20-year old RHP Arodys Vizcaino made his major league debut in the ninth. He got two outs and walked two. … Both teams are off on Thursday. The Braves will begin a 10-game homestand on Friday while the Marlins will host the Giants for a three-game series.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Brett Hayes congratulates Leo Nunez (right) of the Florida Marlins after their 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on July 31, 2011 in Atlanta.

By Joe Capozzi

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

ATLANTA — The Marlins seemed to defy the laws of mathematics Sunday in their 3-1 win over the Braves.

Ricky Nolasco gave up 12 hits in less than seven innings. Emilio Bonifacio connected for his third home run in 1,168 career at-bats. It somehow added up to the final tally during a 17-10 July after a disastrous 5-23 June.

“If you allow 12 hits and still win, you’re all right. He was tough,’ manager Jack McKeon said after Nolasco helped the Marlins improve to 4-2 on their road trip.

Nolasco, who allowed the first batter to reach base in six of the seven innings he started, became the first Marlins pitcher since Livan Hernandez in 1999 to allow one run on at least 12 hits and still win.

“It happened,’ he said. “Don’t know how, but it did.’

On a 90-degree day at Turner Field, Nolasco survived Atlanta’s double-digit hit attack because he was able to pitch out of trouble and, more important, didn’t issue any walks.

“I kept getting singled to death. Everything just fell in the holes,’ he said after going 6 2/3 innings. “I’d rather give up 12 hits and no walks and than eight hits and four walks every time. If they’re going to go keep hitting ground balls and finding their way through in the infield, I’ll take my chances with that.’

Nolasco’s most impressive inning was in the sixth, after Atlanta’s first two batters singled to put runners at the corners. Nolasco got Alex Gonzalez to pop out to second. Then, he struck out both J.C. Boscan and pinch-hitter Chipper Jones, who was 15-for-35 (.429) in his career against Nolasco.

“I knew Fredi (Gonzalez, Atlanta’s manager) was going to pull that one out of his sleeve just because the history Chipper has had with me,’ Nolasco said. “I looked over when I was head in the count (against Boscan) and I had seen (Julio) Lugo (on-deck) and I said, ‘There’s no way he’s there. I guarantee Chipper’s gonna come up if I strike this guy out here.’ And as soon as I struck him out, I saw (Jones) walking up the steps.

“It was fun. It was good adrenaline builder. I’m just glad I was able to get him. For once.’

Nolasco’s day got off to an ominous start. Rookie Jose Constanza hit his first pitch of the game for a double in the first inning. He advanced to third on Martin Prado’s single and scored when Freddie Freeman bounced into a double play.

It turned out to be the only Atlanta run, even though the Braves threatened all afternoon.

In the fourth inning, the Braves had runners at first and third with one out but couldn’t score. Nolasco struck out Boscan and got pitcher Tommy Hanson to bounce out.

With a two-run lead, Nolasco put himself in a tough spot in the fifth inning when he fielded Constanza’s bunt and threw the ball past first base and into right field.

Constanza tried to advance to third but was gunned down by Omar Infante.

Catcher Brett Hayes also made a quick reaction and made a diving snag of a short pop up when Hanson tried to bunt with two on in the second inning.

Hanley Ramirez manufactured Florida’s first run when he led off the second inning with a walk. He stole second, tagged up on a fly out and scored on Mike Stanton’s single.

With slumping Logan Morrison on the bench for the day, Greg Dobbs got another start and doubled in the third inning to score Infante with Florida’s second run.

Bonifacio hooked his second homer of the year inside the right field foul pole in fifth inning. It was his just his second career home run to leave the park, including a shot in Cincinnati on May 1. (His first career homer was an inside-the-park grand slam on opening day 2009.)

“He’s got the power,’ McKeon said, laughing with sarcasm. “I’d just as soon see him go back and bunt.’

The Marlins are two-thirds of the way through the season as they head to New York to open a three-game series Monday against the Mets.

“We’re still in a position where we’re battling clubs that are far more superior and right now they’re ahead of us,’ McKeon said.

“We’ve got our hands full but it’s nice to be 17-10 (in July). Hopefully we’ll go 17-10 (in August) and we’ll be all right. It’s not an easy task. It’s an uphill battle.’

The Atlanta Braves’ biggest offseason addition is finally coming up with big hits.

Dan Uggla belted a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, Brandon Beachy combined with two relievers on a three-hitter and Atlanta beat Florida 5-0 on Friday night to end the Marlins’ five-game winning streak.

Uggla extended his hitting streak to 20 games and leads Atlanta with 19 homers. He entered July with a .176 batting average but is up to .206 after going 1 for 4 against Florida.

“It really felt good,” Uggla said. “I tried not to put too much on it other than it put us ahead and put us in position to win.”

The Braves acquired Uggla, a native of Columbia, from Florida over the winter, sending left-hander Mike Dunn and infielder Omar Infante to the Marlins.

The Braves remained five games behind NL East-leading Philadelphia, which beat Pittsburgh 10-3 and acquired All-Star right fielder Hunter Pence from Houston.

“They’re good. They’re making every move you can make to go for it,” Uggla said of the Phillies.

“They’re a good team, but we are, too, and there are a lot of other good teams that are going to make the playoffs.”

Emilio Bonifacio’s 26-game hitting streak, the second-longest in Marlins history, came to an end. After two strikeouts, Bonifacio was thrown out trying to bunt his way on, then grounded out to third in the eighth.

Marlins Manager Jack McKeon said he thought Bonifacio was thinking about the streak early in the game.

“I talked to him. I said ‘Hey, start a new streak,’ ” McKeon said. “He went up there trying to get that hit that first time. Hey, stay with your game. … The first time I really felt that he really thought about it.”

Beachy (4-2) yielded two hits, walked three and struck out six in 71/3 innings. He pitched into the eighth for the first time in his career.

“Outstanding performance,” Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He went up and down the strike zone, down and in.

”He was dominant today.“

Eric O’Flaherty recorded the final two outs in the eighth and Scott Linebrink pitched around Gaby Sanchez’s one-out double in the ninth, striking out Logan Morrison to end the game.

Jose Constanza, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, had a run-scoring single against Dunn in the eighth for his first hit in the major leagues. Constanza scored from third on Freddie Freeman’s fly ball to left.

Clay Hensley (1-3) matched Beachy before fading quickly in the seventh. Hensley gave up three runs and five hits in seven innings.

by

Charles Odum, Associated Press

Atlanta Braves

ATLANTA — While Freddie Freeman continues to add to his Rookie of the Year credentials, the Braves’ biggest offseason addition, Dan Uggla, is finally coming up with big hits, too.

Uggla belted a tiebreaking three-run homer in the seventh inning, and Brandon Beachy combined with two relievers on a three-hitter to help the Braves beat Florida 5-0 on Friday night in the series opener.

Freeman went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI while raising his batting average to .295 and raising his RBI total to 52.

The Braves’ victory ended the Marlins’ five-game winning streak.

Uggla extended his hitting streak to 20 games and leads Atlanta with 19 homers. He entered July with a .176 batting average but is up to .206 after going 1-for-4 on Friday.

“It really felt good,” Uggla said.

“I tried not to put too much on it other than it put us ahead and put us in position to win.”

The Braves acquired Uggla from Florida over the winter, sending left-hander Mike Dunn and infielder Omar Infante to the Marlins.

The Braves remained five games behind the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies, who beat Pittsburgh 10-3 on Friday and also acquired All-Star right fielder Hunter Pence from Houston.

“They’re good. They’re making every move you can make to go for it,” Uggla said of the Phillies. “They’re a good team, but we are, too, and there are a lot of other good teams that are going to make the playoffs.”

Emilio Bonifacio’s 26-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 night.

It was the second-longest in Marlins history.

Beachy (4-2) yielded two hits, walked three and struck out six in 7 1-3 innings. He pitched into the eighth for the first time in his career.

“Outstanding performance,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He went up and down the strike zone, down and in. He was dominant today.”

Eric O’Flaherty recorded the final two outs in the eighth and Scott Linebrink pitched around Gaby Sanchez’s one-out double in the ninth, striking out Logan Morrison to end the game.

Jose Constanza, recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game, had a run-scoring single against Dunn in the eighth for his first hit in the major leagues.

Constanza scored from third on Freeman’s fly ball to left.

Uggla connected on an 0-1 pitch from Hensley, raising his right fist in the air as the ball cleared the wall in center.

NOTE: Uggla’s hitting streak is the longest for the Braves since Kelly Johnson hit in 22 straight games from Sept. 1-24, 2008.