--LHP Mike Hampton's rehabilitation tour of the minor league system continued Thursday night with a start in Class AA Mississippi. The southpaw hurler, who hasn't started a big league game since 2005, scattered two runs and six hits and struck out four without a walk over five frames.
--The new home of the Atlanta Braves' Class AAA minor league affiliate in suburban Gwinnett County, Ga., remains on time and on schedule. According to an article in Thursday's Atlanta Journal Constitution, foundation and utility work is under way on the ballpark in Buford. The park should be finished in April 2009. --LHP Jo-Jo Reyes returns to the site of his first major league start in the opener of a three-game set against the San Diego Padres on Friday. Reyes, who hails from Southern California, made his major league debut against the Padres on July 7, 2007. The southpaw hopes that the cavernous ballpark will help eradicate his recent slide, in which Reyes is 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in his last three starts.
--Something will have to give when the worst road team in the majors faces off against an ice-cold team in Petco Park on Friday. The Braves, a major league-worst 13-31 on the road this season, will face off against a Padres team that has dropped 10 of its last 11 at home. The Braves have won 16 of their last 20 against the Padres, including a three-game sweep in Atlanta earlier this season.
--C Brian McCann has made the All-Star Game in each of his first three full seasons in the majors -- something neither Chipper Jones nor Braves Hall of Famer Hank Aaron accomplished.
BY THE NUMBERS: 47 -- Innings between the Braves' lead in a game, from June 27 to July 4.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "This wasn't punitive in nature. We don't even really look at it as a demotion. We look at it as stepping back for a few days and decompressing and getting his game going." -- General manager Frank Wren, on optioning RF Jeff Francoeur to Class AA Mississippi to work on his swing.
