LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Fredi Gonzalez tinkered with his batting order Thursday in hopes of breaking up the logjam of left-handed hitters atop the Braves' lineup.
The Atlanta manager had been hitting lefties Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis third and fourth in the lineup, respectively. Although those two are Atlanta's best run producers, leadoff man Ender Inciarte also is a lefty, and two-hole hitter Erick Aybar is a switch-hitter.
It's easy to see how that foursome could be silenced in the later innings by a lockdown left-handed specialist.