Atlanta Braves Sunday Report

This week started off bad as the Braves were swept by the Reds. The Mets lost 2 of 3 to the Padres so the Braves were only 2 1/2 games behind the Mets at mid-week. The 2nd half of the week was great. The Braves signed Julio Franco from the Mets and he made an instant impact. The Braves finished the week 1-3.

MONDAY

---Reds

---Loss 10-3

---WP: Bobby Livingston (2-0)

---LP: Kyle Davies (4-8)

Kyle Davies started for the Braves and faced 5 batters without recording an out before being lifted by manager Bobby Cox. Davies gave up 2 runs, 2 hits, 3 walks and left the bases loaded while he was in the game. Ken Griffey Jr. added a 3-run homerun in the 2nd inning off the Braves' Oscar Villarreal to make it 5-0 Reds at that point. For Griffey it was career homerun number 587 breaking a tie he held with Frank Robinson. The only Braves offense came from Andruw Jones who had all 3 RBIs.

TUESDAY

---Reds
---Loss 6-5
---WP: Bronson Arroyo (4-10)
---LP: Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1)

Jo-Jo Reyes pitched very well in only his 2nd career start and held the Reds scoreless for 4 2/3 innings. In 6 1/3 innings pitched he gave up only 2 runs on 8 hits. He was later charged with 2 additional runs when Peter Moylan came in in the 7th and allowed 4 runs. The Braves made a comeback in the 8th when Andruw Jones hit a 2-run homerun and Kelly Johnson had a 2-run triple. Chipper Jones added a run scoring single in the 9th but the Braves comeback fell short as they lost 6-5.

WEDNESDAY

---Reds
---Loss 5-4
---WP: Mike Gosling (1-0)
---LP: Jose Ascanio (0-1)

This was a wild game. John Smoltz made his return from the DL and was just unhittable. He pitched 7 shutout innings while recording 11 strikeouts. Those 11 strikeouts were his most in over 2 years. This was a back and forth game as the Braves scored in the 7th to take a 1-0 lead and give Smoltz a chance for his 10th win of the season. That went out the window when Rafael Soriano gave up a 2-out 2-run homerun to Adam Dunn. The Braves tied it at 2 in the bottom of the 8th on a sac fly by Jeff Francoeur. The game then went to extras. The Reds took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 10th on a Scott Hatteberg RBI single off Tyler Yates. Chipper Jones, following a leadoff single by Edgar Renteria, hit a game tying double. After a Jones stolen base and a walk to Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur came up with a chance to win the game. The Reds then called in centerfielder Ryan Freel to play right on top of the 2nd base bag so the infielders could play their normal defensive positions. It worked as Francoeur hit a screaming liner that was caught by a leaping Brandon Phillips who then doubled off Chipper Jones at 3rd to end the inning. Phillips than won the game for the Reds in the 15th with a 2-out, 2-run single to give the Reds a 5-3 lead. The Braves scored a run in the bottom of the inning but fell short losing 5-4 in 15 innings.

THURSDAY

---Cardinals
---Win 10-1
---WP: Tim Hudson (10-5)
---LP: Mike Maroth (0-3)

Andruw Jones got the scoring going early with a 1st inning 2-run homerun off Cards' starter Mike Maroth. The Braves added a single run in the 2nd on a homerun by Matt Diaz than with 2 out in the 4 the Braves scored 5 runs to take a 10-0 lead. The highlight of the inning was Julio Franco, who was starting in his 1st game back with the Braves, capping the inning with a 2-run single.

FRIDAY

---Cardinals

---Loss 4-1

---WP: Adam Wainwright (9-7)

---LP: Rafael Soriano (2-2)