BRAVES 7, MARLINS 5
ATLANTA - John Smoltz's return to the mound as a closer didn't go exactly as he wanted. Still, the Atlanta Braves actually managed to win a close game.
Yunel Escobar hit the first game-ending homer of his career, a two-run shot in the 10th, as the Braves rallied for a 7-5 win over the Florida Marlins last night.
Pitching in relief for the first time since 2004, Smoltz came on in the ninth with a 4-3 lead, then gave up two runs.
But Jeff Francoeur hustled home on a wild pitch in the bottom half to get Smoltz off the hook. Escobar's shot in the 10th bounced off the top of the wall in right center and into the seats.
Florida 000 200 102 0–5 8 1
Atlanta 011 010 011 2–7 9 1
Florida AB R H BI Avg. Atlanta AB R H BI Avg.
HRamirez ss 5 0 0 0 .292 YEscobar ss 5 2 3 3 .301
Hermida rf 4 1 2 2 .267 Infante 2b-lf 4 0 0 0 .250
Gregg p 0 0 0 0 .000 CJones 3b 4 0 2 0 .407
Kensing p 0 0 0 0 .000 Teixeira 1b 4 1 2 2 .276
Cantu 3b 4 0 0 1 .266 Francoeur rf 4 2 1 1 .256
Jacobs 1b 4 0 0 0 .252 McCann c 3 0 0 0 .313
Uggla 2b 5 2 2 0 .297 2-Jurrjens pr 0 0 0 0 .130
LGonzalez lf 5 0 2 1 .302 CMiller c 0 0 0 0 .077
CRoss cf-rf 3 0 0 1 .210 Norton lf 4 0 0 0 .171
Treanor c 4 0 1 0 .274 Smoltz p 0 0 0 0 .000
1-Amez'ga pr-cf 0 1 0 0 .252 e-JAnderson ph 1 0 0 0 .200
Olsen p 1 0 0 0 .045 Ohman p 0 0 0 0 ---
a-JJones ph 0 0 0 0 .091 GBlanco cf 5 1 1 0 .273
Pinto p 0 0 0 0 .000 JoReyes p 2 0 0 0 .000
Lindstrom p 0 0 0 0 --- Acosta p 0 0 0 0 .000
Nelson p 0 0 0 0 --- b-Gotay ph 1 0 0 0 .229
d-Helms ph 1 1 1 0 .242 RSoriano p 0 0 0 0 ---
Rabelo c 0 0 0 0 .214 c-KJohn. ph-2b 0 1 0 0 .299
Totals 36 5 8 5 Totals 37 7 9 6
No outs when winning run scored.a-walked for Olsen in the 7th. b-struck out for Acosta in the 7th. c-was intentionally walked for Soriano in the 8th. d-singled for Nelson in the 9th. e-grounded into fielder's choice for Smoltz in the 9th.1-ran for Treanor in the 9th. 2-ran for McCann in the 9th. E: Olsen (2), Infante (2). LOB: Florida 7, Atlanta 12. 2B: Uggla 2 (21), Treanor (5), GBlanco (5). 3B: Hermida (2). HR: YEscobar (5), off Kensing; Teixeira (9), off Olsen; Francoeur (7), off Olsen. RBIs: Hermida 2 (28), Cantu (28), LGonzalez (22), CRoss (21), YEscobar 3 (25), Teixeira 2 (42), Francoeur (34). SB: JAnderson (2). S: Olsen. SF: Cantu. RLSP: Florida 4 (HRamirez 2, Cantu, LGonzalez); Atlanta 8 (CJones 2, Francoeur 2, Norton 2, GBlanco, JoReyes). RA: HRamirez, Cantu.
Florida walks (4): Hermida, Jacobs, CRoss, JJones.
Atlanta walks (8): YEscobar, Infante, CJones, Teixeira, Francoeur, McCann, KJohnson 2.
Florida strikeouts (7): HRamirez 2, Hermida, Jacobs, Uggla, LGonzalez, Olsen.
Atlanta strikeouts (7): Infante, Francoeur, Norton, GBlanco 2, JoReyes, Gotay.
Florida IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Olsen 6 4 3 3 2 4 92 3.72
Pinto 1 2 0 0 1 2 23 1.53
Lindstrom 2/3 2 1 1 2 1 19 3.05
Nelson 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 3 2.08
Gregg(BS) 1 0 1 1 2 0 23 2.54
Kensing(L) 0 1 2 2 1 0 10 4.00
Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
JoReyes 6 5 3 3 1 4 74 4.78
Acosta(BS) 1 0 0 0 1 1 18 2.73
RSoriano 1 0 0 0 2 1 18 2.57
Smoltz(BS) 1 3 2 2 0 0 12 2.57
Ohman(W) 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 2.70
W: Ohman, 2-0. L: Kensing, 3-1. . BS: Smoltz, 1. BS: Acosta, 1. BS: Gregg, 3.
Kensing pitched to 2 batters in the 10th, JoReyes pitched to 2 batters in the 7th. IR-S: Nelson 3-0, Acosta 2-1. IBB: off Lindstrom (KJohnson) 1, off RSoriano (Jacobs) 1. HBP: by Olsen (McCann). WP: Gregg, Kensing. Umpires: Home, Greg Gibson; First, Brian Runge; Second, Charlie Reliford; Third, Adrian Johnson.
T: 3:01. A: 20,896 (49,743).
PIRATES 5, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS - Jason Michaels hit a tying pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh and Jason Bay drove in the winning run an inning later as Pittsburgh rallied past St. Louis.
Michaels, batting for Raul Chavez, hit his first home run of the season on the first pitch he saw from starter Adam Wainwright. The two-out blast landed in the Pirates' bullpen and was just the second hit of the inning. It was his first homer with the Pirates.
St. Louis 202 000 000–4 9 0
Pittsburgh AB R H BI Avg. St. Louis AB R H BI Avg.
McLouth cf 4 1 2 0 .312 Miles 2b 5 1 1 0 .316
JaWilson ss 3 0 1 0 .281 Mather rf 4 2 2 0 .286
FSanchez 2b 4 0 0 0 .238 Pujols 1b 4 1 2 2 .366
Bay lf 4 1 2 1 .296 Glaus 3b 4 0 0 0 .264
Nady rf 3 1 0 0 .322 Ludwick cf-lf 3 0 2 2 .321
AdLaRoche 1b 4 0 0 0 .215 YMolina c 2 0 1 0 .292
JBautista 3b 3 1 1 0 .261 BBarton lf 3 0 0 0 .258
RChavez c 2 0 0 0 .217 Schumaker cf 1 0 0 0 .292
a-Michaels ph 1 1 1 4 .324 Wainwright p 2 0 1 0 .189
RPaulino c 1 0 0 0 .218 ChPerez p 0 0 0 0 ---
Gorzelanny p 2 0 1 0 .125 c-Ankiel ph 1 0 0 0 .264
b-ChGomez ph 1 0 0 0 .322 Izturis ss 4 0 0 0 .257
Osoria p 0 0 0 0 .400 Totals 33 4 9 4
DMarte p 0 0 0 0 ---
Capps p 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 5 8 5
a-homered for Chavez in the 7th. b-grounded out for Gorzelanny in the 7th. c-lined out for Perez in the 9th. LOB: Pittsburgh 3, St. Louis 6. 2B: Bay (10), Miles (5), Pujols (15). HR: Michaels (1), off Wainwright. RBIs: Bay (29), Michaels 4 (11), Pujols 2 (39), Ludwick 2 (42). SB: Ludwick (3). S: JaWilson. SF: Ludwick. GIDP: FSanchez, RPaulino, Miles, Izturis. RLSP: Pittsburgh 1 (JaWilson); St. Louis 3 (YMolina, BBarton, Schumaker). RA: Glaus. DP: Pittsburgh 2 (Gorzelanny, JaWilson and AdLaRoche), (JBautista, FSanchez and AdLaRoche); St. Louis 2 (Izturis, Miles and Pujols), (Miles, Pujols, Izturis and Miles).
Pittsburgh walks (2): Nady, JBautista.
St L. walks (3): YMolina 2, Wainwright.
Pittsburgh strikeouts (4): JaWilson, Nady, RChavez, Gorzelanny.
St L. strikeouts (4): Mather, Glaus, BBarton, Izturis.
Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Gorzelanny 6 7 4 4 3 2 90 7.22
Osoria(W) 12/3 2 0 0 0 1 24 4.29
DMarte(H) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 7 4.10
Capps(S) 1 0 0 0 0 1 9 2.45
St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Wainwright(L) 8 7 5 5 2 4 103 3.12
ChPerez 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 1.13
W: Osoria, 3-1. L: Wainwright, 5-3. S: Capps, 11. H: DMarte, 10.
IR-S: DMarte 2-0.PB–YMolina. Balk–Gorzelanny. Umpires: Home, Ed Rapuano; First, Ed Hickox; Second, C.B. Bucknor; Third, Joe West.
T: 2:31. A: 42,129 (43,975).
BREWERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 3
MILWAUKEE - Prince Fielder homered to lead off the eighth and helped scratch across another run with an unlikely steal of third to lift Milwaukee over Arizona.
Fielder, who went 3 for 4, drove a fastball by Arizona reliever Doug Slaten (0-2) deep to left-center field, where it bounced off a stadium support below a "Vote Brewers" all-star banner to give Milwaukee its first lead, 4-3.
It was Fielder's third homer in the last four games and ninth this year.
Arizona AB R H BI Avg. Milwaukee AB R H BI Avg.
SDrew ss 4 1 1 0 .268 Weeks 2b 4 0 1 0 .207
Young cf 4 0 1 0 .239 MCameron cf 3 0 1 0 .226
OHudson 2b 4 0 0 0 .303 Braun lf 4 0 1 0 .297
Tracy 1b 4 0 0 0 .250 Fielder 1b 4 2 3 1 .280
Reynolds 3b 4 0 2 1 .242 Hart rf 4 0 0 0 .292
Upton rf 4 1 1 0 .275 BHall 3b 3 1 1 1 .227
CSnyder c 3 1 2 2 .268 Hardy ss 3 1 0 0 .245
CBurke lf 2 0 1 0 .173 Torres p 0 0 0 0 ---
DDavis p 3 0 0 0 .250 Kendall c 1 0 0 0 .254
Qualls p 0 0 0 0 --- Suppan p 2 0 0 0 .045
Slaten p 0 0 0 0 --- a-Kapler ph 1 0 0 0 .302
TPena p 0 0 0 0 --- Mota p 0 0 0 0 ---
b-Ojeda ph 1 0 0 0 .339 Counsell ss 0 0 0 0 .235
Totals 33 3 8 3 Totals 29 4 7 2
a-safe on fielder's choice and error for Suppan in the 7th. b-popped out for Pena in the 9th. E: Reynolds (10), Qualls (2), BHall (13), Kendall (3). LOB: Arizona 7, Milwaukee 6. 2B: CSnyder (14), Weeks (9). HR: Fielder (9), off Slaten; CSnyder (5), off Suppan. RBIs: Reynolds (33), CSnyder 2 (29), Fielder (30), BHall (23). SB: Fielder (1). CS: SDrew (1). S: CSnyder, Kendall. SF: BHall. GIDP: Braun. RLSP: Arizona 3 (SDrew 2, DDavis); Milwaukee 2 (Braun, Hart). RA: Tracy. DP: Arizona 1 (SDrew, OHudson and Tracy); Milwaukee 1 (Kendall and Weeks).
Arizona walks (3): SDrew, CBurke 2.
Milwaukee walks (3): MCameron, Hardy, Kendall.
Arizona strikeouts (8): SDrew 2, Young, OHudson, Tracy, Upton, DDavis 2.
Milwaukee strikeouts (4): Weeks, MCameron, Braun, BHall.
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
DDavis 6 6 3 1 2 3 92 3.90
Qualls(BS) 1 0 0 0 1 1 17 2.89
Slaten(L) 0 1 1 1 0 0 2 3.78
TPena 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 3.38
Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Suppan 7 7 3 3 2 6 96 3.93
Mota(W) 1 0 0 0 0 1 11 3.04
Torres(S) 1 1 0 0 1 1 31 2.62
W: Mota, 2-3. L: Slaten, 0-2. S: Torres, 6. BS: Qualls, 4.
DDavis pitched to 2 batters in the 7th, Slaten pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. IR-S: Qualls 2-2. WP: DDavis. Umpires: Home, Gerry Davis; First, Scott Barry; Second, Bruce Dreckman; Third, Brian Gorman.
T: 2:43. A: 27,562 (41,900).