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  Friday, May 19 7:40pm ET
Nevin hits slam, has 6 RBI for Padres
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

ATLANTA (AP) -- Phil Nevin is having a pretty good week.

Nevin hit his first career grand slam and broke his 3-day-old mark for RBI in a game, driving in six runs Friday night to power the San Diego Padres over the Atlanta Braves 11-7.

Phil Nevin
Phil Nevin was the center of the Padres' attention with a grand slam and career-high six RBI.
"You'd rather have them come with three runners on than no runners on," said Nevin, who had five RBI against Florida on Tuesday night. "I didn't really know I had never hit (a grand slam) until I got back to the dugout."

Bret Boone added a three-run homer in his return to Atlanta as the Padres scored four runs in the first inning, fell behind 5-4 in the third and put the game out of reach with Nevin's homer in the seventh against Kevin McGlinchy, snapping the Braves' six-game winning streak.

Nevin also had an RBI single in the first and broke a 5-5 tie in the fifth with a run-scoring grounder to third.

"I had some rough at-bats but I got some breaks," he said. "It just shows what the guys in front of me are doing. It's nice to hit with the bases loaded and less than two outs," which happened twice.

Tony Gwynn, limited to 16 games because of injuries, went 3-for-3 to raise his average from .196 to .241 before leaving with a sore knee.

"Right now, it feels all right," said Gwynn, sitting at his locker with the left knee heavily wrapped. "But I have a feeling it's going to hurt like hell tomorrow."

The Braves, coming off sweeps of Philadelphia and San Francisco, lost for only the fifth time in 22 games at Turner Field despite 15 hits, including two homers by Andruw Jones. Chipper Jones and Brian Jordan also homered.

"A loss is a loss," Andruw Jones said. "We went up by a run, but we couldn't hold it."

Atlanta had a horrible game defensively, giving up two runs in the fifth after Terry Mulholland made an ill-advised throw to second, leaving the bases loaded. Two batters later, third baseman Chipper Jones went to second on Nevin's grounder when he had a chance for an out at the plate, allowing a run to score.

Mulholland (3-4) left in the seventh after bobbling a bunt along the third-base line, an error that left the bases loaded with no outs and the Padres clinging to a 6-5 lead. The Braves brought in the right-handed McGlinchy to face the right-handed Nevin, but the strategy backfired when he hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right-center for his 11th homer of the season.

"I thought I had it," said Andruw Jones, who made a leap at the wall. "My spike couldn't get a grip in the wall."

Nevin said, "I knew I hit it good, but it was high. Anytime you see Andruw Jones climbing the wall, you get scared. It seemed the ball was carrying well in that direction for some reason."

Atlanta's second error of the seventh, a grounder scooting under the glove by first baseman Andres Galarraga, gave the Padres another run.

"It wasn't fun," said Mulholland, who allowed nine hits and eight earned runs in six-plus innings. "But I'll get over it."

Boone, returning to Turner Field for the first time since being dealt by the Braves in an offseason trade, came up in the opening inning with two runners on and the Padres already ahead 1-0. He struck a blow against his former team by hitting a two-out homer to right-center.

The Braves quickly overcame the four-run deficit. Chipper Jones hit his 10th homer in the first, a two-run shot, and Andruw Jones had a two-run drive the next inning. Jordan put the Braves ahead with his seventh homer, a solo liner in the third.

Atlanta followed Jordan's homer with two more hits, knocking out starter Brian Meadows. But Matt Whiteside (1-0) escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam to keep the Braves' lead at 5-4 and wound up earning the win.

Trevor Hoffman got the last out in the ninth for his seventh save in eight opportunities.

The Padres received a scare in the third when Gwynn went down near second base as he tried to turn back toward first following a hit. He remained on the ground for a few seconds, clutching his troublesome left knee, before limping to the dugout.

"I tried to stop and, boom, it just gave out on me," Gwynn said.

He was able to remain in the game and added his third hit in the fifth, a bloop single to center that tied the score at 5. Gwynn was then replaced by pinch-runner Kory Dehaan.

Andruw Jones hit his second homer of the game and 12th of the season in the eighth.

Game notes
The Braves lost leadoff hitter Quilvio Veras in the first. He was struck on the right knee by a pitch from Meadows and hobbled off with a contusion. Veras will be X-rayed Saturday to determine the severity of the injury. ... Atlanta's four homers were a season high. ... The Padres didn't allow a stolen base after giving up a team-record 10 to Florida on Thursday with Wiki Gonzalez behind the plate. Carlos Hernandez caught Friday.

 


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