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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- Tom Glavine is making a pitch for another Cy Young.
Glavine became the NL's first 17-game winner when Chipper Jones
hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the seventh inning, giving
the Atlanta Braves a 7-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on
Friday night.
|  | | Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria loses control of a ground ball off the bat of B.J. Surhoff as Chipper Jones races for second base during the sixth inning in Atlanta. Jones hit a three-run blast in the seventh. |
Glavine (17-6) won for the 10th time in his last 11 starts,
pushing ahead of Arizona's Randy Johnson. The Big Unit also began
the night with 16 wins, but he lasted only 2 1/3 innings in a 13-3
loss to the New York Mets.
Johnson, last year's Cy Young winner, still leads the NL with a
2.41 ERA -- more than a run ahead of Glavine's 3.77. But Jones said
his teammate is making a strong case to recapture the award he won
in 1991 and '98.
"If you talk to pitchers, the only stat that anyone talks about
is wins and losses," Jones said. "Right now, Tommy is the best
pitcher in the league. He's got 17 wins and every fifth day we know
we're going to be in the game whether he has good stuff or not."
Glavine gave up leadoff hits in four of his seven innings, but
15 of 21 outs came on grounders.
"I threw well," said Glavine, who allowed eight hits and three
earned runs. "It's one of those games where I felt like I
shouldn't have given up three earned runs. It seemed like more of a
battle at times than it needed to be."
St. Louis rookie Britt Reames, making his second big league
start, left after five innings with a 4-2 lead and a chance to pick
up his first win in the majors. But the bullpen let him down.
Mike James surrendered a two-out, two-run single to Paul Bako in
the sixth, tying it at 4. Mike Timlin (4-4) was even worse the next
inning, giving up a leadoff walk to Rafael Furcal and a single to
Andruw Jones before Chipper Jones put the Braves ahead for the
first time all night.
On a 1-1 pitch, last year's NL MVP pounced on a low fastball and
lined it over the 390-foot sign in right field for his 30th homer
of the season -- the fourth time in his six-year career that he's
reached that level.
"I was throwing the ball pretty good," Timlin said. "But you
can throw it 105 mph, and if you don't hit your spots, you're not
going to get anybody out. These guys didn't lose the game. I lost it."
The Mets remained two games behind the Braves in the NL East.
St. Louis's lead in the Central dropped to 7½ games over
Cincinnati, which blanked Florida 6-0.
Braves manager Bobby Cox picked up the 1,599th victory, tying
him with Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda for 14th on the career list.
"Honest to God, I never notice that stuff," Cox said. "I feel
bad that I don't even know about the players (and their
milestones). The ball will get thrown out of the game and I'll say, 'What was it for?"'
Terry Mulholland pitched a scoreless inning before Kerry
Ligtenberg came on for a 1-2-3 ninth, earning his 12th save.
Reames gave up just four hits and two runs. But James couldn't
pitch around an error by second baseman Fernando Vina in the sixth,
giving up a pair of unearned runs when Bako, filling in for the
injured Javy Lopez, singled to left with the bases loaded.
The Cardinals scored an unearned run of their own in the second
when Reames hit a high hopper over the mound with two outs, but
Furcal fumbled the ball away trying to rush the throw as Edgar
Renteria trotted home from third.
St. Louis pushed its lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Ray Lankford led
off with a single, Renteria walked and J.D. Drew lined an RBI
single to right. Renteria moved to third on Drew's hit and scored
when Mike Matheny hit into a double play.
In the bottom half, the Braves got two runs back, beginning with
Andruw Jones' 29th homer to lead off the inning. Chipper Jones
walked and B.J. Surhoff singled to center, putting runners at first
and third with no outs.
Reames almost escaped the jam, striking out Andres Galarraga and
getting Keith Lockhart on a pop to the shortstop, but the rookie
pitcher was called for a balk when he flinched slightly at the
beginning of his windup to Reggie Sanders.
"I couldn't see the sign really good, and I made a little
move," Reames said. "I knew (the umpire) got me, but I had to
argue a little bit."
The Cardinals stretched their lead to 4-2 on Matheny's
run-scoring single.
Game notes
Lopez, who bruised his right forearm the previous night,
should at least be available for pinch-hitting duty on Saturday,
Cox said. ... Vina stretched his career-high hitting streak to 17
games with a fifth-inning single. ... The Braves drew their 18th
sellout of the season, 46,695. ... Reames, who is from Seneca,
S.C., was cheered on by six family members and at least 30 friends
who made the 1½-hour drive to Atlanta.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
St. Louis Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
Not in the Cards? Hurting McGwire's return not imminent
RECAPS
Baltimore 4
Tampa Bay 3
Kansas City 6
Boston 2
Minnesota 8
Detroit 3
Texas 1
Toronto 0
Oakland 8
NY Yankees 1
Anaheim 4
Cleveland 1
Chi. White Sox 4
Seattle 1
Los Angeles 5
Chicago Cubs 3
Los Angeles 3
Chicago Cubs 1
(2nd game)
Cincinnati 6
Florida 0
Houston 3
Montreal 1
Colorado 6
Pittsburgh 3
NY Mets 13
Arizona 3
San Francisco 16
Philadelphia 3
Atlanta 7
St. Louis 4
San Diego 4
Milwaukee 0
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