Tom Glavine picked up his first win in his second stint with Atlanta as the Braves’ patchwork bullpen managed to hold things together against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Doesn’t seem to matter what Milwaukee starters do these days. The Brewers’ bullpen problems extend far beyond Eric Gagne.
Glavine was so-so for 5 2-3 innings but still won his first game for the Braves in six years, thanks to three solo homers and Brian McCann’s three RBIs in an 8-6 victory over the Phillies on Wednesday night.
Glavine (1-1) allowed four runs and four hits. He took a one-hitter into the sixth before the Phillies cut an 8-0 deficit in half. The 42-year-old spent the previous five seasons with the New York Mets after pitching his first 16 in Atlanta.
“It feels good,” he said. “Nice to get back on the board and feel like I’m contributing.”
There’s not much to feel good about in Milwaukee lately.
Guillermo Mota provided the latest late-inning meltdown from the Brewers’ bullpen, giving up Juan Pierre’s two-run double in the ninth as the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a three-run deficit for a 6-4 victory that stopped a season-high, five-game skid.
“Everybody knows now in the bullpen you’ve got to be ready for any situation, so I just tried to go in there and do my job,” Mota said. “I wasn’t able to do it tonight.”
In other NL games Wednesday, it was Washington 5, the New York Mets 3; Arizona 4, Colorado 3; Cincinnati 7, Florida 6 in 10 innings; Houston 6, San Francisco 3; St. Louis 5, Pittsburgh 1; and the Chicago Cubs 8, San Diego 5.
Yunel Escobar led off with a homer for Atlanta, and Chipper Jones hit an opposite-field drive one batter later to make it 2-0. Kelly Johnson connected in the second and McCann’s two-run double in the third put the Braves ahead 5-0.
Brett Myers (2-4) left to a chorus of boos in the fifth, and sat by himself in the dugout. He allowed eight runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings for Philadelphia.
“I’m disappointed that the fans have to watch this,” Myers said. “I know I’m better than this. It’s frustrating.”
Blaine Boyer got the last four outs for his first career save. He allowed an RBI single to Jimmy Rollins in the ninth before retiring Shane Victorino on a fly ball to the warning track with the tying run on second. Boyer is the fifth Braves reliever to record a save this season.
Oh, what the Brewers would give for somebody – anybody – to save a game.
Manager Ned Yost had said before playing the Dodgers that Eric Gagne, who has five blown saves in 15 chances, would be available for the ninth. But Yost changed his mind and decided Gagne would rest after throwing 60 pitches in two days.
When David Riske left with one out in the eighth because of a hyper-extended right elbow and Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse finished the inning, that left Mota for the ninth.
He walked Delwyn Young with one out and allowed a single to Andre Ethier that put runners on the corners. Pierre drove a pitch deep to left-center to put Los Angeles ahead 5-4, stole third and scored on Andruw Jones’ groundout.
Joe Beimel and Jonathan Broxton (2-1) combined on a perfect eighth for the Dodgers, and Takashi Saito threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his sixth save.
Milwaukee, which had won three in a row, has lost 10 games in which it led at some point.
“I don’t think we gave it away,” Yost said. “I think that they earned it.”
Nationals 5, Mets 3
At New York, Ryan Zimmerman homered and Tim Redding pitched two-hit ball for six innings.
Jesus Flores hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the seventh off Aaron Heilman, who was booed on and off the mound by the Shea Stadium crowd. Washington added three more in the inning, sticking Claudio Vargas with a tough-luck loss in his Mets debut.
Redding (5-3) allowed one run and struck out four, improving to 3-0 in three road starts this season. Jon Rauch worked a perfect ninth, earning his eighth save.
Diamondbacks 4, Rockies 3
At Phoenix, Micah Owings threw six shutout innings and Brandon Lyon earned his 10th straight save while Arizona continued its domination of the defending NL champions.
Owings (5-1) limited Colorado to five hits in six innings, with two walks and five strikeouts. He had a 4-0 lead but had to sweat out the victory when the bullpen faltered.
Jorge De La Rosa (1-2) gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings for Colorado.
Reds 7, Marlins 6, 10 innings
At Cincinnati, the Reds blew a six-run lead in the ninth inning, but Paul Janish singled home the tiebreaking run in only his second big-league at-bat in the 10th.
Renyel Pinto (1-2) walked two with two outs before Janish, who arrived from the minors earlier in the day, singled to right field to end it. Jared Burton (2-1) pitched a perfect 10th for the win.
Astros 6, Giants 3
At San Francisco, Miguel Tejada had three hits, including the go-ahead single in the seventh, and Lance Berkman and Brad Ausmus homered for the Astros.
Oscar Villarreal (1-3) pitched a third of an inning to get the win, while Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 10th save in 13 tries.
Jack Taschner (2-1) took the loss for San Francisco.
Cardinals 5, Pirates 1
At St. Louis, Todd Wellemeyer allowed two hits into the eighth inning and Albert Pujols had two hits, reaching base for the 41st straight game to start the season.
Wellemeyer (4-1) allowed Luis Rivas’ single with one out in the first, then gave up only three walks before Jose Bautista singled to start the eighth.
Pujols did most of his damage against Paul Maholm (2-4). His streak of reaching base is best in the majors to start a season since Derek Jeter’s 53-game run in 1999 for the Yankees.
Cubs 8, Padres 5
At Chicago, Ted Lilly struck out 11 in six innings to win his third straight start, and Alfonso Soriano and Geovany Soto homered to lead the Cubs.
Lilly (4-4) allowed six hits and four runs in six innings.
Jake Peavy (4-3) needed 87 pitches to make it through four innings. He gave up four runs and seven hits, struck out eight and walked two in his shortest outing since last Sept. 5.
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