[Bulldog]

This should pretty much do it for the Braves season even if Hudson is pitching well.
Unless Thompson comes back and plays good, I dont see how anything else could lift the Braves over 8 teams to grab the WC.

Anyway heres the story...

ATLANTA -- Horacio Ramirez's injury-plagued season may have come to an end. According to manager Bobby Cox, there's a good chance Ramirez will spend the rest of this year on the disabled list.
An MRI taken on Tuesday showed that Ramirez has a partially torn tendon pulley in his left finger. It's an injury similar to the one that sidelined fellow Braves starter John Thomson for three months last year. Ramirez will be further evaluated on Wednesday morning by hand specialist Dr. Gary Lourie.

When asked if there was a chance Ramirez would miss the rest of this season, Cox responded, "Good chance. Even if he gets right, he still has to go out and pitch [in rehab appearances] and see if it's OK."

When Thomson was injured, the Braves said that he'd sustained a partial tear to the supporting structures surrounding the flexor tendon, but not to the tendon itself.

According to Braves head trainer Jeff Porter, the tendon pulley supports the tendon and keeps it pulled up next to the bone.

"I knew something was wrong," said Ramirez, who was forced to leave Monday's game in the fifth inning. "I've been jammed before with a pitch, and it's similar to that, but it's a lot worse. I just knew something in there wasn't right."

Ramirez's finger began bothering him during his July 28 start against the Mets, but it never bothered him to the point it did on Monday night, when he was unable to hit the strike zone with any of his first five pitches in the fifth inning.

"You can't throw with it," he said. "You can't finish your pitch. It's impossible to keep the ball down and get the type of movement that you naturally get. You just have to wait until it heals and go from there."

Though Ramirez was able to come back from the hamstring ailments (in both legs) and the concussion he suffered earlier this year, there simply may not be enough time for him to come back from this injury.

Ramirez's absence will further weaken an already struggling rotation. While allowing three earned runs or fewer in 10 of his past 13 starts, Ramirez had joined John Smoltz as the club's only consistent starters.

To cover Ramirez's scheduled start on Saturday, Cox will likely go with Triple-A Richmond's Lance Cormier, who tossed a shutout against Durham on Aug. 3. For next Tuesday's start against the Nationals, he'll likely choose between Kevin Barry, who is 3-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 15 starts with Richmond, or Double-A Mississippi's Anthony Lerew, who is 4-2 with a 1.44 ERA in his past seven starts.

Chipper set to begin rehab: Chipper Jones will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Mississippi on Friday. He'll likely play two games with Mississippi and be activated from the disabled list on Sunday. The veteran third baseman hasn't played since aggravating his strained left oblique muscle on July 28.

In awe of Andruw: When Andruw Jones drilled his 415-foot, broken-bat, two-run homer off Geoff Geary in the ninth inning of Monday night's loss to the Phillies, he shocked just about everybody at Turner Field.

"I didn't even know [the bat] was shattered, because I was admiring how far he hit it," Cox said. "The ball was really hit. That was one of his longer ones."

Jones couldn't exactly flip the bat and admire the long shot sailing over the center-field wall. The only thing left in his hand was the shattered handle. The barrel flew by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and into the visitor's dugout.

It all happened so quick that Manuel wasn't even aware that the bat had flown into his dugout. He initially thought his pitching coach, Rich Dubee, had thrown his clipboard to the ground.

"I hit it right where I needed to hit it," Jones said. "[The bat] probably was broke already. But I hit it square. I'm telling you, I hit the ball how I wanted to hit it, right in the sweet spot, where I wanted to hit it."

Phillies pitchers Randy Wolf and John Lieber both told visiting clubhouse attendant Josh Hall that they wanted to check the bat to see if it was corked.

When Hall told Jones this, Jones said, "Tell them the next time they pitch against me, they can come over and pick whatever bat they want, and I'll use it."

Jones uses a 30-ounce, 34-inch bat made of maple. He says that this type of bat has more of a tendency to break when hit square than the more commonly used bats made of ash.

"Maybe he should go up there with a fungo [bat]," said Geary, who also surrendered a 434-foot homer that gave Jones his 50th homer of last season and the 300th of his career.

Braves bits: Adam LaRoche was a late scratch from Tuesday's lineup because of discomfort in his left forearm. He was hit in that area with a Bronson Arroyo pitch on Saturday. ... General manager John Schuerholz's son, Jonathan, was named the International League's Batter of the Week for his efforts last week. The younger Schuerholz, who has struggled most of this season, earned the award after hitting .444 with two homers and 10 RBIs. ... Cormier's shutout led him to being named the IL's Pitcher of the Week.

Coming up: The Braves will conclude their three-game series against the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon. Chuck James (4-3, 5.07 ERA) will be opposed by Wolf (0-0, 6.48 ERA).

[bigboydan]

the injuries are starting to mount up against the braves this year down the streach. first Chipper and now Ramirez. needless to say they have a real up hill battle in the next month or so.