When the skidding Braves held voluntary early batting practice Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at Busch Stadium, the entire team showed up. They hit then and hit again during regular batting practice a few hours later, but they didn't hit when it counted against the St. Louis Cardinals. Again. Kenshin Kawakami didn't make it out of the fifth inning and the lineup stayed punchless during a 6-0 Braves loss, the eighth consecutive defeat for a team most pundits expected to compete for the National League East title. Maybe they still will; it's a long season. But right now those projections seem way off-base for the reeling Braves, who are 8-13 in a division where no other team has a losing record. http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-shut-out-again-503290.html
