ATLANTA (3) VS HOUSTON (1) - FINAL
ATLANTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Furcal ss 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 .330
M Giles 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .357
G Sheffield rf 3 1 1 2 1 0 0 .312
C Jones lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .276
A Jones cf 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 .289
R Fick 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 .313
J Franco 1b 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .372
V Castilla 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 5 .269
H Blanco c 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .192
G Maddux p 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 .071
R Hernandez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Smoltz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 3 6 3 3 8 10
BATTING: 2B - M Giles (9, R Oswalt). RBI - G Sheffield 2 (16), A Jones (22).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - V Castilla 2. GIDP - V Castilla. Team
LOB - 5.
HOUSTON ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Biggio cf 3 0 2 0 1 1 0 .252
G Blum 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .262
J Bagwell 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .324
J Kent 2b 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 .289
L Berkman lf 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .221
B Hunter lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .240
R Hidalgo rf 3 0 1 0 1 1 0 .307
B Ausmus c 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .244
J Lugo ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .254
a-J Vizcaino ph-ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .128
R Oswalt p 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .267
P Munro p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-O Merced ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .303
R Stone p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 32 1 6 1 2 8 12
a-grounded to shortstop for J Lugo in the 8th; b-struck out swinging for P
Munro in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - J Kent 2 (10, J Smoltz, G Maddux); R Hidalgo (8, G Maddux). RBI -
J Kent (16). 2-out RBI - J Kent. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - R
Oswalt 1, B Ausmus 1, L Berkman 1. Team LOB - 6.
BASERUNNING: CS - C Biggio (2, 2nd base by G Maddux/H Blanco).
FIELDING: DP: 1 (G Blum-J Kent-J Bagwell).
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ATLANTA - 200 001 000 -- 3
HOUSTON - 100 000 000 -- 1
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ATLANTA ip h r er bb so hr era
G Maddux (W, 3-3) 7 5 1 1 0 5 0 5.13
R Hernandez (H, 8) 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.21
J Smoltz (S, 10) 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0.00
HOUSTON ip h r er bb so hr era
R Oswalt (L, 2-3) 7 6 3 3 2 7 0 3.86
P Munro 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.06
R Stone 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.93
WP - G Maddux. Pitches-strikes: G Maddux 86-58; R Hernandez 18-10; J Smoltz
22-13; R Oswalt 104-69; P Munro 11-7; R Stone 16-10. Ground balls-fly balls: G
Maddux 10-5; R Hernandez 2-0; J Smoltz 0-1; R Oswalt 5-9; P Munro 1-2; R Stone
2-0. Batters faced: G Maddux 25; R Hernandez 4; J Smoltz 5; R Oswalt 29; P
Munro 3; R Stone 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Terry Craft. 1B--Fieldin Culbreth. 2B--Marty Foster. 3B--Gary
Darling.
EJECTIONS: HOUSTON's Berkman by Craft (7th).
T--2:32. Att--28,467.
Weather: 78 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 13 mph, out to
left.
How They ScoredATLANTA 1ST: R Furcal reached on infield single to shortstop. M Giles doubled to deep right, R Furcal to third. G Sheffield singled to left, R Furcal and M Giles scored. C Jones flied out to center. A Jones struck out swinging. R Fick singled to left center, G Sheffield to second. V Castilla struck out looking. (2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 2, HOUSTON 0. HOUSTON 1ST: C Biggio struck out swinging. G Blum singled to left. J Bagwell struck out swinging. J Kent doubled to deep right center, G Blum scored. J Kent to third on wild pitch by G Maddux. L Berkman grounded out to first. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 2, HOUSTON 1. ATLANTA 6TH: M Giles struck out looking. G Sheffield walked. C Jones reached on infield single to first, G Sheffield to second. A Jones singled to deep left, G Sheffield scored, C Jones to third. R Fick flied out to shallow right. V Castilla flied out to center. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) ATLANTA 3, HOUSTON 1.
Game StoryHOUSTON (Ticker) -- After a slow start, Greg Maddux is back. Maddux pitched seven strong innings to lead the Atlanta Braves to their 12th win in 14 games, a 3-1 triumph over the Houston Astros. Maddux (3-3) allowed one run and five hits. He struck out five and did not issue any walks. In his last four starts, the four-time Cy Young Award winner is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He has walked just one batter over that span. "I think my command has been better," Maddux said. "The biggest difference (from the beginning of the season) is I'm getting outs on mistakes. The first couple of games, every mistake I made, they whacked pretty good." Roberto Hernandez pitched the eighth and John Smoltz worked the ninth for his National League-leading 10th save. Smoltz has converted 26 consecutive save opportunities dating back to last season. So far this season, he has not allowed a run in 13 2/3 innings, striking out 19. "I've felt my best," Smoltz said. "I want to keep it going as long as possible. The only selfish goal is to pitch in as many games in a row as possible that we win." The Braves have won 61 straight games in which Smoltz has appeared. The Braves grabbed the lead before Houston starter Roy Oswalt (2-3) retired a batter. Rafael Furcal opened the game with an infield single, Marcus Giles' doubled and Gary Sheffield came through with a two-run single. "When things are going bad, everything seems to fall in," Oswalt said. "As a team out there, things aren't going good right now for us. We just have to battle through it." The Astros answered in the bottom of the first when Maddux gave up an RBI double to Jeff Kent. Kent advanced to third on a wild pitch with two outs, but Lance Berkman grounded out to end the inning. Oswalt kept the Astros in the game after the shaky start. He allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking two. Atlanta's other run off the righthander came in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Andruw Jones. Houston has lost five of its last six games and 14 of 16. Berkman was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes with plate umpire Terry Craft. "In a lot of cases, when you argue balls and strikes you'll get ejected a lot quicker," Astros manager Jimy Williams said. "It's the first time I've ever seen Lance get that fired up." Berkman has been ejected only twice in his career.
