It was a tough day and night for the Atlanta Braves.
After John Smoltz had successful shoulder surgery Tuesday – leaving his future unclear – his longtime teammate Tom Glavine was forced to leave after three innings with an elbow strain that will send him to the disabled list in the Braves 10-5 loss to the Cubs.
“It hurt from the minute I started throwing tonight,” Glavine said.
Glavine has been bothered by the injury for a month, but with Smoltz out for the season and the Braves in danger of falling out of the NL East race, the left-hander had been trying to push through the injury.
“That’s part of the reason I’ve been trying to fight through it with everything we have going on,” Glavine said. “Smoltzy going down, I was kind of keeping my fingers crossed that eventually this thing would start getting better, but it hasn’t.”
Glavine said he would probably return to Atlanta on Wednesday and have an MRI, probably on Thursday.
“We’re going to disable him. Give him a breather,” manager Bobby Cox said after the loss. “See if his elbow can get better. … It was hurting him like the dickens.”
Glavine, who won his 300th game last August at Wrigley Field while pitching for the Mets, was staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning Tuesday night but couldn’t hold it. He gave up four runs, allowing six hits and issuing four walks while throwing 72 pitches during his second-shortest outing this season.
“Previously it was mostly between starts and a little bit as the game would go on, I would get a little bit stiff,” Glavine said. “But the last two games, it’s been pretty much every pitch I throw.”
In other NL games Tuesday, it was: Florida 5, Philadelphia 4; St. Louis 7, Cincinnati 2; Washington 7, Pittsburgh 6; Houston 6, Milwaukee 1; Arizona 9, New York 5; Colorado 10, San Francisco 5; and Los Angeles 7, San Diego 2.
While the Braves are falling out of the NL East race, the Cubs are running through the NL Central.
Chicago improved to 27-8 in their home ballpark this season. Derrek Lee had a solo shot in the third to tie the game and Geovany Soto added a three-run drive in the eighth to put it away.
“It’s something we talked about in the spring, playing better at home,” Lee said. “I don’t know if we expected to play this well at home, but it’s been fun.”
Ted Lilly (6-5) worked 6 2-3 innings to get his first win since May 19. He allowed four hits and the three runs with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Marlins 5, Phillies 4
Hanley Ramirez led off the game with one of host Florida’s three home runs against Philadelphia starter Brett Myers.
Jorge Cantu hit a two-run homer in the first and Mike Jacobs added a two-run shot in the fifth for the Marlins, who closed within three games of the Phillies’ lead atop the division and handed Philadelphia just its fifth loss in 20 games.
Ricky Nolasco (6-4) allowed three runs – all unearned – in six innings for Florida, and Kevin Gregg got the final four outs for his 12th save in 15 chances.
Jimmy Rollins and Pat Burrell homered for Philadelphia.
Cardinals 7, Reds 2
Ryan Ludwick homered and drove in four runs to lead visiting St. Louis.
Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel gave the Cardinals their first set of back-to-back home runs this season before Pujols was helped off the field in the top of the seventh inning with a strained left calf he suffered while running out a ground ball.
Ludwick also doubled twice and singled in support of rookie right-hander Mitchell Boggs (1-0), who made his first major league start and second appearance.
Homer Bailey (0-2) gave up five runs and eight hits.
Nationals 7, Pirates 6
Ronnie Belliard hit two homers and Lasting Milledge’s two-run shot with two outs in the ninth lifted Washington at Pittsburgh.
Dimitri Young and Jesus Flores also homered for the Nationals, who had lost four in a row and eight of nine.
Pittsburgh’s Matt Capps (0-1) had been 15-for-15 in save opportunities and appeared headed to his third save in as many days when he got two quick outs to open the ninth. But on successive pitches Elijah Dukes doubled to right and Milledge homered to left.
Joel Hanrahan (2-2) got the final two outs of the eighth for the win, and Jon Rauch pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save.
Astros 6, Brewers 1
Lance Berkman homered and hit a three-run triple, and Roy Oswalt pitched seven solid innings for his first win in almost a month for host Houston.
Berkman’s 19th homer of the season off Seth McClung (3-3) landed in the left-field Crawford Boxes and scored Miguel Tejada to give the Astros a 2-0 lead in the first.
Oswalt (5-6) broke a three game losing streak with his first win since May 12.
Diamondbacks 9, Mets 5
Chris Snyder hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning off Joe Smith (0-1), and visiting Arizona sent New York to its fifth straight loss.
Orlando Hudson, Stephen Drew and Conor Jackson also connected for the NL West leaders, who won for only the seventh time in 21 games.
David Wright hit a two-run homer for the Mets and Moises Alou pulled a two-run single on the first pitch he saw after coming off the disabled list.
Chad Qualls (1-5) worked a perfect seventh for the win.
Rockies 10, Giants 5
Aaron Cook threw seven efficient innings, Todd Helton hit a three-run homer and Colorado ended San Francisco’s seven-game road winning streak.
Cook (9-3) had his sinker working, getting nine groundball outs while scattering nine hits and giving up three earned runs. Garrett Atkins had a two-run homer and Omar Quintanilla added three hits as the Rockies won for the 600th time at Coors Field.
Pat Misch (0-3) pitched four innings, giving up four runs and seven hits.
Dodgers 7, Padres 2
Russell Martin and Matt Kemp each drove in two runs in visiting Los Angeles’ four-run seventh inning, and the Dodgers took advantage of San Diego’s shoddy outfield play.
The Dodgers deprived the Padres’ Greg Maddux of his 351st victory for the sixth straight start, and it also snapped San Diego’s season-high five-game winning streak.
Scott Proctor (1-0) got the win despite throwing a wild pitch that allowed a run to score and give San Diego a 2-1 lead.
Justin Hampson (0-1), who did not retire either batter he faced, took the loss.
Add A Comment