BRAVES, ORTIZ KEEP ON STREAKING
Atlanta Now Holds Best Record in Majors
NEW YORK, July 9 (AP) - The Atlanta Braves extended their winning streak to 12
with a 5-4 victory over the New York Mets at a damp Shea Stadium. Braves
starter Russ Ortiz won his 10th consecutive decision after allowing four runs
(three earned) in seven innings of work. His record stands at 13-2, making
him the winningest pitcher in the National League. Ortiz's last loss was
on May 3, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, in Phoenix.
The Braves drew first blood when Andruw Jones led off the top of the second
inning by drawing a free pass from Mets starter Tom Glavine (8-8). One out
later, Julio Franco tripled to right-center field, scoring Jones and giving
Atlanta a 1-0 lead.
The Mets tied the game in the fourth with one out and the bases empty when Jason
Phillips belted his second home run of the year.
But the Braves took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth. Rafael
Furcal cranked a solo home run into the left field bullpen for a 2-1 lead and
Mark DeRosa followed with a double off the left-center field wall. Glavine
fell behind Gary Sheffield 2-1 and then uncorked a wild pitch, advancing DeRosa
to third. The Mets walked Sheffield intentionally, setting up a double
play possibility, but Chipper Jones, who has been red hot lately, foiled the
strategy by slashing a single up the middle, scoring DeRosa and increasing the
Atlanta advantage to 3-1.
From that point on, the Mets kept inching closer and the Braves kept adding to
their lead. New York cut the deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth
when Roger Cedeno singled home Jose Reyes, who had led off the inning with a
base hit and was sacrificed into scoring position by Glavine.
But the Braves got the run back in the sixth. With one out, Vinny Castilla
lined a double and Ortiz worked a walk. Furcal slashed a single to left,
filling the bases. David Weathers replaced Glavine and induced a weak
ground ball to the right side off the bat of DeRosa, but Castilla scored as
second baseman Rey Sanchez's only play was at first.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Mets again drew to within one run. Jeromy
Burnitz led off with a single, stole second base, advanced to third on a passed
ball and scored on Tony Clark's ground out. But Atlanta regained the run
in the seventh when Javy Lopez belted his 22nd home run of the year with two
outs and the bases empty.
Again, in the bottom of the seventh, New York cut the deficit to a single
run. Reyes led off with a base hit and moved to second on a ground
out. Cedeno flied out to right, but Reyes advanced to third and when
Sheffield's throw got past Castilla, Reyes raced home to make the score 5-4.
But that was the end of the scoring. Braves reliever Ray King replaced
Ortiz in the eighth and set the Mets down in order. King re-emerged to
being the ninth and he retired Sanchez on a ground ball, but Reyes came through
again, doubling down the right field line. With closer John Smoltz
unavailable due to recent heavy usage, Jung Bong came on for King and set down
pinch hitter Raul Gonzalez and Cedeno to earn his first save of the year.
The win improved the Braves' record in July to 9-0. The 12-game winning
streak they currently sport is the longest in the major leagues thus far this
season. In fact, Atlanta is the only club in either league to record a
double digit winning streak. The Braves' last loss came on June 27 against
the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in St. Petersburg. The team has now won 18 of its
last 21 games.
7/9/2003, Atl03-NYM03, Shea Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Braves 0 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 5 11 1 9 0 2003 Mets 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 4 8 0 6 1 Braves AB R H BI AVG Mets AB R H BI AVG Furcal ss 5 1 2 1 .339 Cedeno rf 5 0 1 1 .264 DeRosa 2b 5 1 3 1 .297 Perez,Ti cf 4 0 2 0 .310 Sheffield rf 3 0 1 0 .304 Wigginton 3b 4 0 0 0 .237 Jones,C lf 5 0 1 1 .257 Burnitz lf 3 1 1 0 .294 Jones,A cf 4 1 0 0 .270 Phillips,JL c 4 1 1 1 .258 Lopez,JT c 4 1 1 1 .341 Clark,T 1b 3 0 0 1 .200 Franco,Ju 1b 4 0 2 1 .361 Sanchez,R 2b 4 0 0 0 .142 Castilla 3b 4 1 1 0 .253 Reyes,J ss 4 2 3 0 .244 Ortiz,Ru p 2 0 0 0 .263 Glavine,T p 1 0 0 0 .147 Franco,M ph 1 0 0 0 .329 Weathers p 0 0 0 0 .000 King p 0 0 0 0 .000 Floyd ph 1 0 0 0 .263 Bong p 0 0 0 0 .333 Lloyd p 0 0 0 0 .000 37 5 11 5 Gonzalez,R ph 1 0 0 0 .307 34 4 8 3 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ortiz,Ru W 13-2 7.0 7 4 3 2 3 99 62 3.05 King H 17 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 16 13 2.64 Bong S 1 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 10 6 3.26 9.0 8 4 3 2 4 125 81 Mets INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Glavine,T L 8-8 5.1 9 4 4 4 2 107 60 4.72 Weathers 1.2 1 1 1 0 1 31 21 3.59 Lloyd 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 19 13 2.60 9.0 11 5 5 4 3 157 94 Atl: Franco,M batted for Ortiz,Ru in the 8th NYM: Floyd batted for Weathers in the 7th Gonzalez,R batted for Lloyd in the 9th E-Sheffield. 2B-DeRosa(9), Franco,Ju(12), Castilla(13), Perez,Ti(7), Reyes,J(2). 3B-Franco,Ju(2). HR-Furcal(11), Lopez,JT(21), Phillips,JL(2). RBI-Furcal(48), DeRosa(13), Jones,C(49), Lopez,JT(60), Franco,Ju(16), Cedeno(18), Phillips,JL(16), Clark,T(13). SB-Burnitz(1). K-Furcal, Jones,A, Ortiz,Ru, Cedeno, Wigginton, Burnitz, Phillips,JL. BB-Sheffield 2, Jones,A, Ortiz,Ru, Burnitz, Clark,T. SH-Glavine,T. PB-Lopez,JT. WP-Glavine,T. GWRBI: Furcal Temperature: 81, Field: wet, Sky: threatening, Wind: right to left at 7 MPH. Attendance: 17,748 Game Time: 2:50