Braves Bring Their Bats, Bash The Bucs

ATLANTA 11, PITTSBURGH 1

Javier Vazquez pitched a third straight quality start and his offense backed him up on the strength of two three-run homers as Atlanta snapped their five-game losing streak, defeating the Pirates 11-1.

Pirates starter Zach Duke wasn't particularly sharp from the start. Jeff Francoeur hit a two-out, two-run single off of him in the first, took second on the throw and Casey Kotchman chased him home with a single. Martin Prado piled on three more runs with his first home run of the year. The line drive cleared the wall in left and gave the Braves a 6-0 lead.

David Ross extended the lead to 11-0 by lining a shot off of Pirate reliever Craig Hansen to the same part of the park. His three-run shot scored Francoeur and Kotchman. Francoeur had doubled Chipper Jones home earlier to score the first run of the inning.

Vazquez took full advantage of the support. His six inning stint featured just one walk and eight punchouts. He has pitched his third straight quality start and is the only Braves starter to do that this season. Peter Moylan and Jeff Bennett threw scoreless innings and James Parr lost some control in the ninth, allowing two singles and walking a batter after getting two outs on two pitches. He plunked Ramon Vazquez, who subbed for Jack Wilson in the eighth inning, and that forced in a run. He got Nyjer Morgan to line out to left-center to end the game, though.

It's nice to have the Braves pound an opponent every now and then. It's even nicer that they snapped their skid. Hopefully, the trend continues against the Nationals.

W - Javier Vazquez (1-1)
L - Zach Duke (2-1)
HR - Martin Prado (1)
David Ross (1)

THREE STARS

GOLD
P Javier Vazquez, Atlanta - 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO

SILVER
2B Martin Prado, Atlanta - 2-4, 2B, HR, R, BB, 3 RBI

BRONZE
C David Ross, Atlanta - 2-4, 2B, HR, 2 R, BB, 3 RBI

HONORABLE MENTION
RF Jeff Francoeur, Atlanta - 2-5, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI

AP Photo by Gene J. Puskar

Craig Monroe Single-Handedly Dispatches Braves

PITTSBURGH 10, ATLANTA 0

Outfielder Craig Monroe, playing in his sixth game as a Pirate, smacked two home runs and drove in six as the Pirates jumped on Jo-Jo Reyes late and tacked on more for a 10-0 win.

The loss marked the first time since 1974 that the Braves were shut out by the Pirates in two consecutive games:

July 18, 1974: 4-0
July 19, 1974: 2-0

Atlanta starter Jo-Jo Reyes, called up to take the start for the injured Tom Glavine, allowed just one run on three hits through five innings. The sixth inning, however, was the decisive one. After allowing on a triple and a comebacker with one out, Reyes got Adam LaRoche to strike out. However, Craig Monroe launched a ball to center field for a three-run shot to increase the lead to 5-0. He added another three-run shot off of Buddy Carlyle in the seventh and the Pirates tacked on another run in the eighth.

The Braves had only one runner in scoring position the entire game: Casey Kotchman got to second with a two-out double in the fourth inning off of Ian Snell.

I didn't see most of this game myself, and I'm glad I didn't. The Braves are playing the finale right now and it's looking good: they're up 6-0 on a rainy day in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a three-run first and Martin Prado's three-run homer in the top of the fourth.

W - Ian Snell (1-2)
L - Jo-Jo Reyes (0-1)
HR - Craig Monroe 2 (2)

THREE STARS

GOLD
RF Craig Monroe, Pittsburgh - 2-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 6 RBI

SILVER
C Ryan Doumit, Pittsburgh - 3-4, 3 2B, 3 R, BB, RBI

BRONZE
P Ian Snell, Pittsburgh - 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO

AP Photo by Gene J. Puskar

Pirates Frustrate Braves Bats, Hand Them Fourth Straight Loss

PITTSBURGH 3, ATLANTA 0

Starter Paul Maholm and the Pirates continued the trend of Atlanta's ineptitude against left-handed pitching, dealing Jair Jurrjens a hard-luck 3-0 loss. Wasted scoring chances plagued the Braves the entire game as they left six runners in scoring position, four against starting pitcher Paul Maholm and one against reliever John Grabow.

The only run of the game was scored in the second inning. After Brandon Moss had a leadoff triple (the second of the game, probably caused by Jordan Schafer's inexperience in attempting to catch each ball), he scored on a one-out groundout to Kelly Johnson up the middle, who made a nice play on the ball. The Braves had the bases loaded with no one out in the ninth, but Casey Kotchman popped up to the catcher for a rare infield fly rule call. Jordan Schafer then bounced out into a double play to end the inning.

Pittsburgh's 1-0 lead held up the entire game as the Braves continued to leave men on base (nine in total). Jair Jurrjens pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up just the one run and striking out seven batters. He left the game in the seventh inning after walking two straight Pirate batters. Peter Moylan finished the inning by getting pinch-hitter Delmon Young to pop up in foul ground.

Nate McLouth gave Pittsburgh some insurance with a two-run home run off of Braves closer Mike Gonzalez in the eighth. Matt Capps pitched the ninth for his third save.

It seemed all night that in scoring chances, the Braves hit balls right at Pirate fielders. Quite frankly, it was a particularly frustrating loss. Hopefully, the Braves bats decide to wake up tomorrow against Ian Snell.

W - Paul Maholm (2-0)
L - Jair Jurrjens (2-1)
S - Matt Capps (3)
HR - Nate McLouth (3)

THREE STARS

GOLD
P Paul Maholm, Pittsburgh - 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO, W

SILVER
P Jair Jurrjens, Atlanta - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, L; 1-1, BB

BRONZE
CF Nate McLouth, Pittsburgh - 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI

AP Photo by John Heller