FURCAL'S 3 HOMERS AT FOREFRONT OF 18-HIT ATTACK
Braves Belt 5 HRs in Romp Over Expos
MONTREAL, July 26 (AP) - Rafael Furcal had a huge game with the bat and the
Atlanta Braves won their sixth straight with a 10-4 whipping of the Montreal
Expos at Olympic Stadium. It was the fifth straight defeat for the
Expos. The Braves battered a quartet of Montreal hurlers for 18 hits, 10
of them for extra bases including five home runs.
Furcal was 5-for-6, with three home runs and a double, four runs scored and four
driven in. It was the 11th time this year that a major league player has
hit three home runs in a single game, and the seventh time since June 30.
It was the second time this season that Furcal accrued five hits in a game; he
also accomplished the feat on April 11 in a victory over the Florida
Marlins. The only other member of the team with a five-hit game this
season is Gary Sheffield.
The Braves set the tone for what would become a romp in the top of the very
first inning by tallying three runs against Expos starter Zach Day.
Furcal and Marcus Giles started things off with a bang, with back-to-back homers
leading off the game. After Sheffield and Chipper Jones grounded out,
Andruw Jones, Robert Fick and Javy Lopez strung together consecutive two-out
singles, the last of which plated the third run.
Andruw Jones led off the third inning with his 20th home run of the season to
give Atlanta a 4-0 lead.
The Expos cut the lead in half on Michael Barrett's two-out, two-run homer in
the bottom of the fourth off Braves starter Shane Reynolds, but that was as
close as Montreal would get as Atlanta seized firm command of the game in the
top of the sixth. Furcal led off with a single and Day hit Marcus Giles
with a pitch putting runners on first and second with no outs. Sheffield
then laced a double into the left-center field gap, scoring Furcal and sending
Giles to third. That ended Day's outing; he was replaced on the mound by
Luis Ayala. With the infield in, Chipper Jones grounded to second and
Jamey Carroll fired home to nail Giles trying to score. The fielder's
choice left runners on the corners with one out. Andruw Jones hit a rocket
off the glove of Ayala for an infield single, scoring Sheffield and advancing
Chipper Jones to second. Fick struck out but Lopez singled to center,
scoring Chipper Jones to increase the lead to 7-2.
Furcal cracked his second home run of the game with one out and the bases empty
in the seventh to make it 8-2 and in the ninth he struck again. Pinch
hitter Julio Franco doubled with one out and then Furcal, now hitting
right-handed against lefty Eric Knott, drilled a home run into the stands in
left field to up the advantage to 10-2.
The Expos pushed across a pair of consolation runs in the bottom of the ninth,
but it was far too little too late.
The Braves continue to lay waste to the rest of the National League East, having
won 27 of their last 32 games. Atlanta holds a 14 1/2 game lead over
Philadelphia and Florida despite the fact that the Phillies and Marlins are in a
virtual tie for the lead in the race for the NL wildcard slot.
7/26/2003, Atl03-Mon03, Olympic Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Braves 3 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 2 10 18 0 11 1 2003 Expos 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 4 11 1 8 2 Braves AB R H BI AVG Expos AB R H BI AVG Furcal ss 6 4 5 4 .329 Carroll 2b 5 0 2 1 .272 Giles,M 2b 5 1 2 1 .356 Guzman,E 3b 5 0 1 1 .257 Sheffield rf 5 1 2 1 .311 Cabrera,O ss 5 0 2 0 .281 Jones,C lf 4 1 0 0 .255 Guerrero rf 4 0 1 0 .299 Jones,A cf 4 2 4 2 .274 Wilkerson cf 4 0 0 0 .290 Fick 1b 5 0 1 0 .294 Cordero,W 1b 2 1 1 0 .258 Lopez,JT c 5 0 3 2 .331 Calloway,R lf 4 0 2 0 .210 Castilla 3b 5 0 0 0 .269 Barrett c 4 2 1 2 .216 Reynolds p 4 0 0 0 .135 Day p 2 0 0 0 .043 King p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ayala p 0 0 0 0 .000 Franco,Ju ph 1 1 1 0 .364 Schneider ph 1 0 0 0 .292 Hernandez,Ro p 0 0 0 0 .000 Knott p 0 0 0 0 .000 44 10 18 10 Eischen p 0 0 0 0 .000 Mateo,H ph 1 1 1 0 .284 37 4 11 4 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Reynolds W 7-3 7.1 8 2 2 2 5 97 64 5.16 King 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 6 5 2.23 Hernandez,Ro 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 26 15 5.82 9.0 11 4 4 2 6 129 84 Expos INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Day L 2-4 5.0 11 7 7 3 2 98 58 6.38 Ayala 2.0 3 1 1 0 2 26 18 2.04 Knott 1.1 4 2 2 0 1 27 19 1.80 Eischen 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 9 6 5.31 9.0 18 10 10 3 5 160 101 Atl: Franco,Ju batted for King in the 9th Mon: Schneider batted for Ayala in the 7th Mateo,H batted for Eischen in the 9th E-Cabrera,O. 2B-Furcal(22), Giles,M(28), Sheffield(26), Jones,A(14), Franco,Ju(15). HR-Furcal 3(15), Giles,M(18), Jones,A(20), Barrett(11). RBI-Furcal 4(59), Giles,M(62), Sheffield(65), Jones,A 2(68), Lopez,JT 2(68), Carroll(11), Guzman,E(9), Barrett 2(32). SB-Sheffield(11). K-Sheffield, Fick 3, Reynolds, Carroll, Cabrera,O, Guerrero, Wilkerson 2, Calloway,R. BB-Sheffield, Jones,C, Jones,A, Cordero,W 2. HBP-Giles,M. PB-Barrett. HB-Day. GWRBI: Furcal Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 15,637 Game Time: 3:09