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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- John Rocker didn't have much to say after his
first win since last Aug. 22.
"Like I told you in the clubhouse, `No.' No means no," Rocker
told reporters after signing autographs and posing for pictures.
"This is family time. I pitched OK and happy I contributed to a
Braves victory. What more is there to say?"
|  | | Atlanta's John Rocker earned his first victory of the season on Sunday against Milwaukee. |
Rocker and the Atlanta Braves beat Milwaukee 5-4 Sunday when
Brewers reliever Curtis Leskanic walked four in the ninth inning.
Rocker (1-0), who has struggled with his control all season,
relieved with two outs in the eighth and pitched 1 1/3 innings,
walking two and striking out two. He threw just 11 of 21 pitches
for strikes.
Sent to the minor leagues from June 5-14 because of his lack of
control, Rocker has 33 walks in 22 1-3 innings this season,
including eight in four innings since his recall from Triple-A
Richmond.
"It's been a tough road for everybody," Jake Rocker, the
pitcher's father, said while waiting for his son to emerge from the
clubhouse. "But John's a fighter. He's staying with it. He'll
never give up."
Rocker, who pitched a scoreless ninth Friday for his 12th save,
took over for Kevin Millwood, who tied a career-high with 13
strikeouts.
"It was another good step for him, and another good step for
us," said Chipper Jones, who was credited with the winning RBI
after walking on a 3-1 pitch that scored Walt Weiss. "His control
wasn't what you'd like to see, but he got the job done."
Leskanic (0-2) had even worse control. He walked Weiss on four
pitches with one out, then struck out Keith Lockhart and walked
Quilvio Veras on four straight balls. Andruw Jones walked on a 3-1
count to load the bases.
"I had the green light until it got to 2-0," Chipper Jones
said. "Everybody wants to be the hero with the game-winning hit,
but you've got to make the guy throw you a strike first."
Atlanta batters walked 12 times in all. David Weathers issued
three consecutive walks in the eighth, then got Andres Galarraga to
hit into an inning-ending forceout.
Milwaukee manager Davey Lopes, whose club has surrendered a
major league-leading 381 walks, was disgusted.
"If you don't give them a chance to hit the ball, you have no
chance to win. Zero, zilch," he said. "There are ways to lose a
game, and that is not one of my favorite ways. It's the ugliest
thing in baseball. Seven walks in (the final) 1 2-3 innings. At
this level that's scary, absolutely scary."
Millwood, trying to win consecutive starts for the first time
since April 26 and May 1, allowed four runs and eight hits. He
walked none for the first time in 23 starts since beating Arizona
7-3 last Sept. 3.
Staked to a 3-0 lead in the first, Millwood allowed Tyler
Houston's two-run homer in the second. Veras' sacrifice fly made it
4-2 in the fifth, but Marquis Grissom's two-run homer tied it in
the eighth.
"That's just the way it goes sometimes," Millwood said. "As
long as we get a win, it doesn't matter to me who gets it."
Allen Levrault, making his first major league start, gave up
four runs -- three earned -- four hits and five walks in six innings.
He knew the day would be tough after he walked Veras to start the
game.
"I threw a 3-2 pitch to Veras and when he called it a ball. I
said, `My God, the strike zone is small here,' " Levrault said.
"I got a little nervous, but by the third inning, it was all
over."
Atlanta went ahead in the first on an RBI single by Andruw Jones
and a two-run single by Brian Jordan.
Game
notes
Houston left in the middle of the sixth with a sprained
left ankle. Attempting to break up a double play in the fifth, he
slid hard into second and caught his left foot on the bag. Houston
is day to day. ... Houston's homer, measured at 443 feet, was the
fifth-longest at Turner Field.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Milwaukee Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
Upcoming visit to Big Apple weighs heavily on Braves
RECAPS
Cleveland 2
Detroit 1
Toronto 6
Boston 5
Chi. White Sox 8
NY Yankees 7
Oakland 4
Kansas City 3
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Baltimore 2
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Minnesota 6
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Chicago Cubs 7
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NY Mets 9
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