TEXAS (2) VS ATLANTA (5) - FINAL
TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
M Young 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 .326
H Blalock 3b 4 0 2 0 0 0 2 .358
A Rodriguez ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 .291
R Palmeiro 1b 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 .263
J Gonzalez rf 4 0 1 2 0 1 0 .286
C Everett cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .301
M Teixeira lf 3 0 0 0 0 2 1 .241
E Diaz c 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 .248
J Thomson p 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-R Sierra ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .258
B Shouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
J Powell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ro Garcia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
b-M Lamb ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .150
Re Garcia p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 33 2 9 2 0 4 10
a-lined out to shortstop for J Thomson in the 6th; b-grounded to shortstop for
R Garcia in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - A Rodriguez (14, G Maddux); R Palmeiro (12, G Maddux); E Diaz (6,
G Maddux). 3B - H Blalock (1, G Maddux). RBI - J Gonzalez 2 (42). Runners left
in scoring position, 2 out - H Blalock 1, A Rodriguez 1. GIDP - H Blalock,
R Palmeiro. Team LOB - 4.
FIELDING: E - H Blalock 2 (11, catch, throw).
ATLANTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Furcal ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 .324
M Giles 2b 5 2 3 0 0 0 1 .316
G Sheffield rf 3 1 2 2 1 0 0 .351
C Jones lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 .302
R Fick 1b 3 1 1 1 1 0 0 .295
V Castilla 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 4 .277
D Bragg cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 5 .136
H Blanco c 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 .215
G Maddux p 3 0 1 1 0 0 2 .107
a-M Franco ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .302
J Smoltz p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Totals 34 5 10 4 4 4 17
a-grounded to third for G Maddux in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - R Fick (11, J Thomson); H Blanco (5, J Thomson). HR - G Sheffield (15,
4th inning off J Thomson 1 on, 0 Out). RBI - G Sheffield 2 (50), G Maddux (1),
R Fick (30). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - M Giles 1, D Bragg 2,
G Maddux 1, C Jones 2. Team LOB - 9.
BASERUNNING: SB - R Fick (1, 3rd base off J Thomson/E Diaz).
FIELDING: Outfield assists - C Jones (J Gonzalez at Home). DP: 2
(R Furcal-M Giles-R Fick, G Maddux-R Furcal-R Fick).
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TEXAS - 000 000 200 -- 2
ATLANTA - 010 210 10x -- 5
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TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
J Thomson (L, 3-7) 5 6 4 3 1 1 1 5.19
B Shouse 2/3 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.42
J Powell 1/3 0 0 0 1 0 0 10.00
Ro Garcia 1 2 1 1 2 2 0 9.82
Re Garcia 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.71
ATLANTA ip h r er bb so hr era
G Maddux (W, 5-5) 8 9 2 2 0 2 0 4.64
J Smoltz (S, 22) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.86
IBB - H Blanco (by J Powell). Pitches-strikes: J Thomson 85-54; B Shouse 8-6;
J Powell 8-4; Ro Garcia 22-12; R Garcia 14-9; G Maddux 71-53; J Smoltz 12-10.
Ground balls-fly balls: J Thomson 7-7; B Shouse 1-0; J Powell 1-0; Ro Garcia 0-1;
Re Garcia 3-0; G Maddux 13-8; J Smoltz 0-1. Batters faced: J Thomson 22;
B Shouse 3; J Powell 2; Ro Garcia 7; Re Garcia 4; G Maddux 30; J Smoltz 3.
UMPIRES: HP--Doug Eddings. 1B--Ron Kulpa. 2B--Mike Winters. 3B--Bruce Froemming.
T--2:26. Att--30,836.
Weather: 79 degrees, clear. Wind: 8 mph, left to right.
How They ScoredATLANTA 2ND: C Jones popped out to shortstop. R Fick doubled to left. V Castilla grounded out to shortstop. R Fick stole third, R Fick scored on error by third baseman H Blalock. D Bragg struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 1 Error) TEXAS 0, ATLANTA 1. ATLANTA 4TH: M Giles singled to deep left. G Sheffield homered to left, M Giles scored. C Jones lined out to third. R Fick flied out to left center. V Castilla grounded out to third. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ATLANTA 3. ATLANTA 5TH: D Bragg grounded out to second. H Blanco doubled to right center. G Maddux singled to center, H Blanco scored. R Furcal grounded into fielder's choice to first, G Maddux out at second. M Giles singled to shallow center, R Furcal to third, M Giles to second advancing on throw. G Sheffield walked. C Jones grounded out to pitcher. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ATLANTA 4. TEXAS 7TH: A Rodriguez doubled to left. R Palmeiro doubled to deep right center, A Rodriguez to third. J Gonzalez singled to center, A Rodriguez and R Palmeiro scored. C Everett flied out to left. M Teixeira struck out looking. E Diaz doubled to left center, J Gonzalez thrown out at home. (2 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ATLANTA 4. ATLANTA 7TH: Ro Garcia relieved J Powell. R Furcal struck out swinging. M Giles singled to right center. G Sheffield singled to left, M Giles to second. C Jones walked, M Giles to third, G Sheffield to second. R Fick walked, M Giles scored, G Sheffield to third, C Jones to second. V Castilla struck out swinging. D Bragg fouled out to third. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ATLANTA 5.
Game StoryATLANTA (Ticker) -- Greg Maddux won't have to face too many questions about his pitch count after his most recent outing. Maddux turned in his longest start of the season with eight masterful innings and Gary Sheffield homered to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers. Maddux (5-5) has notched victories in consecutive starts for just the second time this season. Maddux's ability to pitch deep into games had come into question after he averaged only 82.5 pitches over his last four starts. But the four-time Cy Young Award winner needed only 71 pitches - 53 strikes - to allow two runs and scatter nine hits. "Tonight, I was pretty lucky," Maddux said. "Who knows? They hit a lot of balls at people. They still got nine hits." No batter reached a three-ball count against Maddux, who pitched past the sixth inning for just the fifth time in 14 starts this season. It was the fifth start in which Maddux did not issue a walk. "He's been vintage for a long time," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He's had a couple of rough outings in the beginning." After a leadoff single by Marcus Giles in the fourth inning, Sheffield blasted his 15th homer to give Atlanta a 3-0 lead. Braves closer John Smoltz struck out a pair of batters in a perfect ninth inning to notch his 22nd save in 23 chances. The Rangers, who lost their fifth straight, were held scoreless and managed only four singles through the first six innings as Maddux threw just 49 pitches. The veteran righthander retired eight straight hitters heading into the seventh inning. "He's a little bit different," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "His style is not very different. He studies what hitters are trying to do against him. Maddux makes a lot of people look less crisp." Texas finally reached Maddux in the seventh. Alex Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro opened the inning with doubles, although Rodriguez stopped at third on Palmeiro's hit. Juan Gonzalez followed with a two-run single to cut the deficit to 4-2. Carl Everett flied out and rookie Mark Teixeira, a former Georgia Tech star, struck out. Einar Diaz followed with a double, but Gonzalez was thrown out at the plate on a perfect relay toss from second baseman Giles after left fielder Chipper Jones cut off the ball in the gap. "If they scored, it's 4-3," Giles said. "Obviously, it took the wind out of their sails. Momentum is a big thing." Giles went 3-for-5 and scored twice and Sheffield and Henry Blanco each added a pair of hits. Rangers starter John Thomson (3-7) suffered his third straight loss after allowing four runs - three earned - and six hits in five innings. Thomson fell to 2-5 in road starts this season. "It's always quick when you play against him," Thomson said of facing Maddux. "He's one of those guys who's going to throw like that nine out of 10 times. There's very minimal room for error when you're against him." Atlanta scored an unearned run in the second inning to take the lead. Robert Fick stroked a one-out double before Vinny Castilla grounded out. As Thomson threw to second base for a pickoff attempt, Fick took off for third. Rodriguez took the throw and fired to third baseman Hank Blalock, who mishandled the ball for an error, allowing Fick to race home. Blanco doubled with one out in the fifth inning and Maddux singled to drive in his batterymate for a 4-0 advantage. It was his first RBI of the season and the 63rd of his career. Blalock tripled with two outs in the eighth inning, bringing up Rodriguez as the potential tying run. Maddux induced the superstar shortstop to fly out to the warning track for the final out of the inning. "They hit some balls hard at people," Maddux said. "That was the difference. We got some cheap outs." Fick drew a bases-loaded walk off Texas reliever Reynaldo Garcia in the eighth to complete the scoring.
