Bobby Crosby hit a solo home run in the very top of the first inning of Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Braves and Oakland A’s, but the Braves were able to rebound to notch a 5-2 victory, improving their record to 22-21. The Braves had some nice offense yesterday; Brian McCann doubled in the first inning to tie up the game. In the 2nd, Yunel Escobar singled in Kelly Johnson and Gregor Blanco. To drive the nail in the coffin, Kelly Johnson hit a two RBI triple in the bottom of the 8th inning, to put away the Athletics.

“We just didn’t get it done,” said Crosby. “We had lots of opportunities but couldn’t capitalize. … I expect we’ll be fine. Right now we’re struggling a little bit. Maybe we’re pressing a little bit.”

One other reason that the Braves were able to win was a solid showing from their bullpen. Jeff Bennett, Blaine Boyer, Will Ohman and Manny Acosta combined to provide four innings of scoreless relief to give starting pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes his 2nd victory of the season.

“You can’t let a team like the Atlanta Braves off the hook like that,” Mike Sweeney of the A’s said. “We had opportunities to blow the game open. We didn’t get it done. … We don’t deserve to win that game.”

The fact that the Braves can get by with such a shallow bullpen is a good sign for the franchise. They’ll have Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano and John Smoltz returning from the DL soon, all should be able to contribute to the depleted Braves ‘pen.

“Add those into the mix with the guys we’ve got, and we’ve got one of the best bullpens in baseball right now,” Bennett said. “When you add those guys in there, it’s going to be incredible.”