ORTIZ WINS 15TH STRAIGHT DECISION
Braves Hammer Giants for Season's 90th 'W'
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19 (AP) - Russ Ortiz tossed seven shutout innings and the
Atlanta Braves became the first major league team to reach the 90-win threshold
with a 9-0 pasting of the San Francisco Giants before a sellout crowd at Pacific
Bell Park. Ortiz has now won 15 consecutive decisions--the longest such
string in the majors this year; his last loss came on May 3 to the Diamondbacks
in Phoenix. Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees has an active 13-game
winning streak which spans as many starts; Mussina's last start without a win
was a May 28 no-decision.
Ortiz's mound opponent on this day was Jerome Williams and the two starters
matched scoreless frames until the sixth when everything started to fall apart
for the Giants. Chipper Jones led off the inning with a double and was
immediately singled home by Andruw Jones for the game's first run. Robert
Fick and Javy Lopez followed with back-to-back walks to load the bases and San
Francisco manager Dusty Baker relieved Williams with Felix Rodriguez. But
Vinny Castilla greeted Rodriguez by driving an 0-2 mistake into the seats down
the left field line for a grand slam and a 5-0 Braves lead. That was all
Atlanta would need, but the Braves didn't stop there. After Ortiz struck
out, Rafael Furcal singled to center and Marcus Giles drew the third free pass
of the inning. Gary Sheffield followed with a double to the right-center
field gap, scoring both runners to give the Braves a seven-run lead. That
was it for Rodriguez; he was replaced by Scott Eyre but the Braves kept up the
onslaught. Chipper Jones, the 10th batter of the inning, singled to left,
with Sheffield stopping at third, and Andruw Jones walked to fill the bases for
the second time. Fick's grounder to second brought home Sheffield with the
eighth run of the frame and Lopez walked to load the bags yet again before
Castilla, who was bidding for his second grand slam of the inning, struck out to
mercifully end the uprising. In all, the Braves sent 14 batters to the
plate and scored eight times.
That effectively put the game to bed. Atlanta added a run, for good
measure, in the eighth inning when Chipper Jones belted his 19th home run of the
season, capping a three-hit day. With the contest well in hand, Ortiz was
lifted after seven scoreless frames and Trey Hodges mopped up by firing a pair
of shutout innings.
It was the 10th shutout of the year for the Atlanta pitching staff and the
eighth time San Francisco had been shut out.
The victory was the fourth straight for the Braves and the club's 12th win in
the last 13 games. Atlanta now leads the National League East by 19 games
over the second place--and wildcard leading--Florida Marlins.
Despite the loss, the Giants continue to hold a comfortable 12-game bulge over
the second place Arizona Diamondbacks in the West.
8/19/2003, Atl03-SF03, Pacific Bell Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Braves 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 9 10 1 9 1 2003 Giants 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 9 0 Braves AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Furcal ss 5 1 3 0 .326 Cruz,Jo rf 4 0 0 0 .265 Giles,M 2b 2 1 0 0 .334 Worrell p 0 0 0 0 .000 Sheffield rf 4 1 1 2 .315 Aurilia ss 4 0 0 0 .309 Bragg rf 0 0 0 0 .297 Grissom cf 4 0 0 0 .298 Jones,C lf 5 2 3 1 .285 Bonds lf 3 0 1 0 .365 Franco,M 1b 0 0 0 0 .317 Nathan p 0 0 0 0 .000 Jones,A cf 4 1 1 1 .273 Torrealba ph 1 0 0 0 .276 Fick 1b 4 1 0 1 .284 Feliz 1b 4 0 2 0 .276 Hodges p 0 0 0 0 .000 Santiago,B c 2 0 0 0 .281 Lopez,JT c 3 1 0 0 .318 Hammonds lf 1 0 1 0 .227 Castilla 3b 5 1 2 4 .270 Alfonzo 3b 2 0 0 0 .257 Ortiz,Ru p 3 0 0 0 .250 Perez,N 2b 4 0 1 0 .207 Hessman lf 1 0 0 0 .000 Williams,J p 2 0 0 0 .130 36 9 10 9 Rodriguez,Fe p 0 0 0 0 .000 Eyre p 0 0 0 0 .000 Linden lf 2 0 1 0 .143 33 0 6 0 Braves INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Ortiz,Ru W 18-2 7.0 5 0 0 2 5 102 67 2.89 Hodges 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 29 16 6.40 9.0 6 0 0 3 8 131 83 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Williams,J L 6-4 5.0 5 4 4 5 2 79 45 3.82 Rodriguez,Fe 0.1 3 4 4 1 1 14 8 3.70 Eyre 0.2 1 0 0 2 1 25 11 5.68 Nathan 2.0 1 1 1 0 1 17 13 3.32 Worrell 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 11 7 3.58 9.0 10 9 9 8 6 146 84 Atl: Bragg inserted at rf in the 8th Franco,M inserted at 1b in the 8th Hessman inserted at lf in the 8th SF : Linden inserted at lf in the 7th Torrealba batted for Nathan in the 8th Torrealba moved to c in the 9th Hammonds inserted at lf in the 9th Linden moved to rf in the 9th E-Furcal. 2B-Sheffield(31), Jones,C(16), Bonds(26), Feliz(7), Hammonds(9). HR-Jones,C(19), Castilla(19). RBI-Sheffield 2(85), Jones,C(80), Jones,A(81), Fick(47), Castilla 4(62). SB-Giles,M(12), Feliz(3). K-Sheffield, Jones,C, Jones,A, Castilla, Ortiz,Ru, Hessman, Cruz,Jo, Aurilia 3, Feliz, Williams,J 2, Torrealba. BB-Giles,M 3, Sheffield, Jones,A, Fick, Lopez,JT 2, Santiago,B, Alfonzo 2. SH-Ortiz,Ru. GWRBI: Jones,A Temperature: 73, Sky: cloudy, Wind: left to right at 12 MPH. Attendance: 41,006 Game Time: 2:52