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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- Twenty-nine hits. Ten pitchers. Three errors. One
starter coming out of the bullpen to get the save. And, finally,
nothing left to say.
"I can't begin to tell you about that ballgame," Atlanta
Braves manager Bobby Cox said Tuesday night after his team survived
for a 9-7 victory over the San Francisco Giants. "It was ugly."
|  | | Brian Jordan celebrates the second two-homer game of his career. |
So ugly that Brian Jordan homered twice in a game for the second
time in a week and was overshadowed by a near-debacle in the ninth
inning, when John Rocker came in with a 9-5 lead but couldn't get
the final out.
The erratic left-hander was pulled after giving up two hits and
walking in a run. Kevin McGlinchy followed with another
bases-loaded walk, blowing a chance to earn his first major league
save.
Terry Mulholland, normally the Braves' fourth starter, was used
in relief for the first time this season and retired Armando Rios
on a grounder, ending the 3-hour, 42-minute opus. Rocker was
charged with both runs, raising his ERA to 5.68.
"You can't get hitters out by walking them," Cox said.
"You've got to throw strikes."
Rocker has allowed 13 hits and 16 walks in 12 2/3 innings since
serving a two-week suspension for insensitive comments.
"It was one of those days for him," Rios said. "He was all
over the place."
Mulholland, who had started four days earlier, was dispatched to
the bullpen just in case. As it turned out, he was needed on a
night when Atlanta used seven pitchers and gave up 14 hits.
The Braves piled up 15 hits against three pitchers. Chipper
Jones homer and drove in two runs, while Andres Galarraga had three
RBI.
"Honestly, I didn't think there would be a big need for me
tonight," Mulholland said. "That just goes to prove that you
never know."
Jordan nearly had his third homer in the eighth inning, but a
380-foot drive was caught at the base of the wall for a sacrifice
fly and his third RBI of the game.
"I definitely went up there thinking about three," Jordan
said. "I knew I got underneath it a little bit. Earlier in the
game, it might have gone out. But later in the night, the air seems
to be heavier. It was close."
Tom Glavine (6-1) picked up the win despite lasting only 5 1/3
innings in his shortest start this season. He allowed nine hits and
five runs.
"You've got to win ugly once in a while," said Glavine, who
had gone at least six innings in his first eight starts. "Tonight
was certainly ugly."
Jordan, bothered much of the season by muscle strains in his rib
cage, hit solo shots in the second and fifth innings, giving him
six homers for the season after a slow start. He also hit two
homers in an 8-7 victory Friday at Philadelphia to begin Atlanta's
four-game winning streak.
"I'm confident up there," Jordan said. "I feel I can hit it
out every time I go up."
The Giants won't have Barry Bonds for the three-game series at
Turner Field. He returned to San Francisco with an ailing back
after being injured at Colorado over the weekend.
Even without their most feared hitter, the Giants rallied from a
6-2 deficit in the sixth when Rich Aurilia, Armando Rios and Doug
Mirabelli had consecutive RBI singles, pushing the potential tying
run to third with only one out.
But Mike Remlinger, who replaced Glavine after Aurilia's hit,
struck out pinch-hitter Russ Davis. Calvin Murray walked to load
the bases before Remlinger retired J.T. Snow on a weak popup to
Jones just behind third base.
In the bottom half, Jones sent a 3-0 pitch over the 400-foot
sign in center for his ninth homer, restoring the Braves to a
two-run lead.
San Francisco, which lost its fourth straight, went ahead in the
first on Jeff Kent's two-out, run-scoring single. Jordan tied it up
with his first homer against Russ Ortiz (2-5) and the Braves went
ahead on Galarraga's two-run single in the third.
The Giants pulled to 3-2 when Kent scored while the Braves were
turning a double play in the fourth, but rookie Rafael Furcal
produced a run with pure speed in the bottom of the fourth.
First, the 19-year-old reached first by beating out an infield
hit, moving to second when first baseman Snow threw the ball away.
Furcal moved to third on a Glavine's sacrifice, then got caught in
a rundown on a sharp rounder to shortstop. But Mirabelli, the
catcher, threw the ball away again while Furcal scrambled back
toward third.
Galarraga brought home another run in the eighth with a double
against reliever Mark Gardner, went to third on the throw home and
scored on Jordan's long fly to left.
Ortiz lasted five innings, surrendering 10 hits and five earned
runs for his third straight loss.
Game notes
The Braves are 19-5 with Jordan in the lineup, 7-7 when he
sits out. ... Jordan has eight two-homer games in his career. ...
Davis is 0-for-9 at pinch-hitter. ... Mirabelli had the first
stolen base of his career. ... Mueller extended his hitting streak
to 12 games before leaving with a sore knee. X-rays were negative.
... Mulholland has five saves in his career.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
San Francisco Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Kansas City 8
Oakland 7
Cleveland 11
Detroit 9
Chi. White Sox 4
NY Yankees 0
Toronto 7
Boston 6
Texas 9
Tampa Bay 7
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Anaheim 3
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Minnesota 5
Cincinnati 6
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Florida 3
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Arizona 0
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Philadelphia 2
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NY Mets 3
Atlanta 9
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