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  Sunday, May 21 1:10pm ET
Jordan (2 HRs) has career-high 7 RBI
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME LOG

ATLANTA (AP) -- Just imagine if Braves outfielder Brian Jordan was healthy.

Jordan woke up Sunday with a such a sore ankle that he told his wife he probably wouldn't be able to play. But Jordan saw his name on the lineup card, so he went out and homered twice, drove in a career-high seven runs and powered the Braves to a 12-6 victory over the San Diego Padres.

Brian Jordan
Jordan

"What better way to deal with the pain than jogging around the bases after hitting home runs?" Jordan quipped.

He had plenty of help. Andres Galarraga went 5-for-5 with two RBI and the Braves pounded out 16 hits -- their seventh straight game in double figures. It's their longest stretch with at least 10 hits since eight in a row in July 1993.

"This is pretty awesome," said Chipper Jones, who scored two runs as the Braves won for the eighth time in nine games after an earlier 15-game winning streak. "We're getting it from all angles."

The Padres, who gave up 29 runs in the three-game series, finally boiled over in the eighth when pitcher Kevin Walker was ejected for hitting Trenidad Hubbard with a 3-0 pitch. Manager Bruce Bochy also was thrown out when he argued with plate umpire Jim Joyce.

"This is as good a Braves team as I've seen," Bochy said. "If (injured pitcher John) Smoltz was on the club, they'd really be scary."

Jordan hit a two-run homer in the sixth to put the Braves ahead, then added a three-run shot in the eighth to eclipse his previous high for RBI in a game. Twice, he drove in six runs, the last in 1996 when he played for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jordan has eight homers in the past 10 games, including three two-homer games. He also had a pair of run-scoring singles Sunday, raising his average to .330 after a slow start in which he spent 15 days on the disabled list and struggled with muscle strains on both sides of his ribcage.

During the six-game homestand, Jordan was 15-of-25 with five homers, 12 RBI and seven runs.

"He's been awesome," said Tom Glavine, who pitched six solid innings despite a recent bout with food poisoning. "He struggled when he came back from the DL, but he's pretty much erased all that in two weeks."

Jordan was the first Atlanta player with seven RBI in a game since Jeff Blauser on May 11, 1996 at Philadelphia. Galarraga had four singles and a double to become the first Brave with five hits in a game since Jones and Eddie Perez did it on April 18, 1999, at Colorado.

Glavine (7-1) lost 10 pounds because of his illness and wasn't sure if he'd be able to pitch. But, on a cloudy day, he wound up throwing 107 pitches, allowing seven hits and three runs before turning the game over to the bullpen.

"I did feel surprisingly good," said Glavine, off to his best start since 1993. "I caught a break with the weather and I seemed to catch my second wind as the game went on."

Atlanta broke it open with a five-run seventh and has scored 68 runs in the past nine games, adding a devastating element to a team already known for its strong pitching.

The Braves trailed 3-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth, but Galarraga led off with a single to left and Jordan followed with his eighth homer, a 414-foot drive over the center-field wall against Sterling Hitchcock (1-6).

Hitchcock, who beat the Braves in the deciding game of the 1998 NL Championship Series, couldn't follow up his first win of the season. He surrendered nine hits and all four runs in six innings.

Atlanta grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first. Galarraga had an RBI single to right and Jordan followed with a dribbler down the third-base line, beating it out for a hit while Jones came home from third.

The Padres scored a run in the second when Hitchcock hit into a double play, then went ahead on Ruben Rivera's solo homer in the fifth and Ed Sprague's leadoff homer the following inning.

After Jordan's homer in the bottom half of the sixth, the Braves turned the game into a rout against relievers Donne Wall and Walker, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring all five runs in the seventh with two outs.

Galarraga doubled in a run for his second RBI of the game, went to third on the throw home and trotted in when Jordan singled to right. Walker came on after the Braves loaded the bases, only to walk Walt Weiss. Pinch-hitter Bobby Bonilla followed with a two-run double to left.

Jordan homered again in the eighth, his ninth of the season, after Keith Lockhart doubled and Jones singled.

Phil Nevin hit a solo homer in the eighth for the Padres, snapping Mike Remlinger's scoreless streak at 19 2/3 innings. But the Atlanta reliever shouldn't feel too bad -- Nevin went 14-of-21 with four homers and 14 RBI during San Diego's six-game road trip.

Al Martin added a pinch-hit, two-run homer against Greg McMichael in the ninth, San Diego's fourth homer of the game.

Game notes
Weiss was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day after recovering from a strained left hamstring. He went 1-of-3 with two walks. ... Padres OF Tony Gwynn sat out for the second straight day because of soreness in his troublesome left knee.

 


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