Braves 6-5, Mets 5-1

NEW YORK — Julio Teheran gave flashes of his vast potential in earning his first big league win and the Atlanta Braves, using a lineup with Chipper Jones starting as the No. 2 hitter for the first time in 15 years, beat the New York Mets, 5-1, Thursday night to complete a sweep of a doubleheader made necessary by the threat of Hurricane Irene.

Jones had a sacrifice fly and RBI double in the nightcap and a solo homer and a double in the opener, a 6-5 victory for Atlanta. The Braves were making a quick stop in New York to play two games postponed Aug. 27-28 after being handed their first three-game sweep of the season, by the Phillies.

The Braves next head to St. Louis for a crucial series with the team they lead in the wildcard race by 71/2 games. Only several hundred fans were on hand to see the start of the twinbill at 4:10 p.m. A few thousand more sat through a misty rain in the nightcap, though the announced attendance was 25,953.

Teheran (1-1) gave a performance more in line with his minor league credentials than his first two big league starts in May. The International League’s Most Valuable Pitcher and Rookie of the Year went 15-3 for Triple-A Gwinnett, but he gave up a combined five runs in 82/3 innings for the Braves earlier this year for a 5.19 ERA.

This time, he gave up two hits to start the first and a sacrifice fly then little more in 51/3 innings.

He left after walking two with one out in the sixth but Cristhian Martinez retired two in row to end New York’s best threat.

Dan Uggla had an RBI single in the first, driving in Michael Bourn two outs after the speedster reached on Jose Reyes’ fielding error at shortstop.

Catcher David Ross had an RBI single in the fifth off Dillon Gee (12-6) and a homer in the ninth to straightaway center.

Jones drove in a run when his sinking liner was caught by a diving Jason Bay in the seventh and doubled after Bourn tripled in the ninth.

Bay hit a grand slam off Mike Minor (5-2) in the opener and had a sacrifice fly in the finale, both coming in the first inning.

The Mets had won 10 of 13 coming in and had a chance to pull to .500 in the opener but are now 70-73.

Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez tried shaking up his scuffling club, losers of five of six over all coming in, by stacking his top on-base percentage guys up front, and his squad, with Jones starting as the No. 2 batter for first time since 1996, responded in the opener.

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Chicago Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro is benched against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning of a baseball game, Monday, Aug. 22, 2011, in Chicago. Castro was benched one night after television cameras caught him not paying attention in the field as a pitch was thrown.

The Chicago Cubs just couldn’t get the big hit.
Jair Jurrjens pitched in and out of trouble for 6 1-3 innings, Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman homered and the Atlanta Braves beat the Cubs 3-0 on Monday night for their fifth straight win.
“It’s always good if you can do some damage early but we couldn’t,” Cubs manager Mike Quade said. “We created plenty of opportunities, that’s for sure.”
The Cubs had just two hits with runners in scoring position in 14 tries.
Jurrjens (13-5) allowed eight hits and walked five. The Cubs had nine hits and drew a season-high seven walks but still ended up with a goose egg on the board and stranded a season-high 15 runners on the night.
“He’s got a very good movement on the ball so I think that he’s got good location,” Chicago’s Alfonso Soriano said. “He knows what he’s doing when he’s pitching.
“That was the key to why we lost tonight because we left a lot of runners in scoring position. We didn’t get that big hit tonight.”
The Cubs fell to 13-7 this month, missing out on a chance to start an August 14-6 for just the third time in 78 years.
The Cubs played without Starlin Castro, who was benched for a “mental day off” by manager Mike Quade after television cameras captured the 21-year-old shortstop not paying attention as a pitch was thrown during Sunday night’s loss to St. Louis.
Castro, who leads the NL with 164 hits, was the only position player not to make an appearance for the Cubs, who used four pinch-hitters. Quade said he would have used Castro in the ninth had the pitcher’s spot come up again.
“I was kind of hoping to use him in the ninth, that means would we have gotten to (the pitcher’s) spot,” Quade said. “I would have used him.”
With Castro out of the lineup, Darwin Barney moved over from second base and made a couple of sparkling plays at shortstop, including a diving stop on Uggla’s hard-hit ball in the third that saved a run.
“He’s a good little player, isn’t he?” Quade said. “His versatility is huge. He did a real good job tonight.”
Quade said he wasn’t sure if Castro would be back in the starting lineup on Tuesday.
Jonny Venters walked the first two batters in the ninth, but got the last three outs for his fifth save, a fitting end for the Cubs’ parade of stranded runners.
“That’s not the way you draw it up, but (Venters has) got that composure that he can get out of that jam,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Ryan Dempster (10-9) struck out eight over six innings but fell to 2-10 in his career against the Braves. He allowed homers to Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman, plus a scratch run in the third.
“Couple of bad pitches,” Dempster said. “Freeman’s ball, it’s the first time I’ve ever faced him and he hit a first-pitch slider out. I hung a pitch to Uggla.”
Freeman opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second. Uggla led off the sixth by hitting a drive onto Waveland Avenue.
“Who’d have thought, right?,” Uggla said. “I guess that’s where I’ve got to hit them against this team.”
Aramis Ramirez singled his first three times up for the Cubs, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. He’s hitting .512 (22 for 43) during that stretch.
NOTES: Cubs reliever Kerry Wood struck out the side in the ninth and has now struck out 14 of the last 19 batters he’s faced. Braves RHP Tommy Hanson threw nine pitches during a short bullpen session on Monday and is slated to throw again on Tuesday as the latest step in his recovery from right rotator cuff tendinitis. Atlanta is hoping Hanson can make a rehab start on Saturday for Triple-A Gwinnett. … Monday marked the first anniversary of Quade’s ascension as Cubs manager. On Aug. 22, 2010, former skipper Lou Piniella announced his retirement and Quade was given the job on an interim basis. He had the interim tag removed after leading the Cubs to a 24-13 finish. … Atlanta will send LHP Mike Minor to the mound on Tuesday to face Chicago’s Casey Coleman, who is 0-3 with a 12.27 ERA in five appearances this season at Wrigley Field.

ATLANTA – Kirk Gibson tried to push buttons and pull levers with his batting order Friday, rearranging his slumping hitters with his hotter ones, reacting quickly to an offensive drought that began just a few days ago.

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Diamondbacks-Braves photos | Friday’s box | MLB scoreboard

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He might as well have been shaking up an already-open, day-old can of soda. The Diamondbacks still were flat.

They put more pressure on the Atlanta Braves in a 4-2 loss on Friday night than they did in the previous three games in Philadelphia, but the end result was another loss, their third in four games on a road trip everyone knew would be difficult – and thus far, has been.

But that silver lining known as the flat-lining San Francisco Giants popped up again, this time on Turner Field’s out-of-town scoreboard high beyond left field. The Giants were defeated once again, dropping a 6-0 decision to the Houston Astros, thus remaining 2 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks in the National League West standings.

Gibson went to great lengths to praise the performance of his team, despite the fact that it failed to score at least three runs for the third consecutive game and left 10 men on base.

He said they “battled” and “grinded.” He said he was “proud” and that they “did a hell of a job.” He even summoned right fielder Justin Upton, who grounded out to end the game, into his office after the game, ostensibly to tell him not to beat himself up for not coming through against Braves closer Craig Kimbrel.

“That closer, look at his numbers,” Gibson told reporters. “But we didn’t concede to him. We battled till the end.”

With the tying runs aboard, Upton got ahead 2-1 against Kimbrel, the rookie with the 100-mph fastball. But Kimbrel threw consecutive sliders, and Upton bounced out in front of the plate. He briefly popped into Gibson’s office before speaking with reporters.

“Me and Gibby were just talking about him,” Upton said of Kimbrel. “Guys are hitting .170 off him. Obviously I want to get a hit in that situation, but if you look at the big picture he’s gotten everybody out. The moral of the story is you don’t get to that guy (i.e., get the lead early). If you don’t get to him in the ninth inning, you might be all right.”

Gibson elevated Gerardo Parra from No. 8 to No. 2 in the lineup, but Parra went 0 for 3 before being lifted for pinch-hitter Collin Cowgill in the seventh. Gibson also dropped Chris Young from the fifth spot to No. 7; he went 0 for 4. First baseman Lyle Overbay, the hero Tuesday night against Roy Halladay, struck out four times.

Gibson, who this season has expressed frustration for his hitters’ inability to deliver with men in scoring position, this time forgave them for it.

“We’ve won one game on this trip,” Gibson said. “That’s what it is. It’s not a big deal. We’re not going to panic. We played a good game today. We had a lot of pressure on them. We were 3 for 14 with runners in scoring position. We left a ton of guys on. They kept battling. We didn’t roll over. That’s a good sign. We’re fine.”

Diamondbacks rewind

Kelly’s night: Slumping second baseman Kelly Johnson had three hits, his first multi-hit game since July 31. He entered the day with a .208 average, the lowest among league qualifiers.

But he singled to center in the third and to right in the fifth off Braves starter Derek Lowe, then dropped down a bunt single to lead off the ninth against closer Craig Kimbrel.

“We know about their bullpen, and at that point putting any kind of pressure it seemed, obviously, worth a chance,” Johnson said. “Fortunately it rolled the way it did, and I got on there.”

Homers sink Hudson: All four runs the Braves scored against Diamondbacks right-hander Daniel Hudson came via the long ball, but Hudson seemed upset only about one, a two-run shot by Brian McCann off a change-up in the third inning.

“That was probably the only pitch I want back all night,” he said. “It was down, but it was middle of the zone and he crushed it.”

Keep battling: Manager Kirk Gibson noted that his lineup made the Braves throw 160 pitches, an indication to him that hitters weren’t giving away at-bats.

Willie Bloomquist had a good night at the plate, reaching base four times, including in a ninth-inning at-bat against Kimbrel in which he walked on seven pitches, all 98-mph fastballs.

View from the press box

Chipper Jones said Thursday that the amount of young pitching talent the Braves have is “almost embarrassing.” After one game, it’s easy to see what he means. Closer Craig Kimbrel is a Rookie of the Year candidate, and young relievers Jonny Venters and Arodys Vizcaino are filthy. Assuming the Braves reach the postseason, they look like they’ll be a tough team to face in a short series.

Dan Uggla extended his hitting streak to 31 games and Tim Hudson pitched into the eighth inning, leading the Atlanta Braves over the Florida Marlins 6-2 Wednesday night for a three-game sweep.

Uggla’s two-run single in the first inning tied Rico Carty for the second-longest hitting streak in franchise history. Tommy Holmes hit in 37 straight for the Boston Braves in 1945.

Uggla went 3 for 5. It was his ninth multihit game during the longest hitting streak in the majors this season. He is batting .224 overall this year.

Logan Morrison hit his 17th home run for the Marlins, who have lost seven straight.

Eric Hinske also drove in two runs for the Braves, who have won six of seven and are a season-best 20 games over .500.

Hudson (12-7) allowed two runs in 7 1-3 innings and struck out seven. The Marlins scored twice off him in the eighth.

Jonny Venters relieved in the ninth, coming in to strike out Brett Hayes with the bases loaded to record his fourth save in six chances.

Anibal Sanchez (6-6) stretched his winless streak to 11 games dating to June 10 with his shortest outing in nearly three years. He allowed five runs in 1 2-3 innings.

Atlanta, which is 9-3 against the Marlins this season, scored three times in the second for a 5-0 lead. Hudson hit an RBI single and Hinske had a two-run double.

NOTES: The longest hitting streak by a second baseman in big league history is 35 games, shared by Chase Utley (Phillies, 2006) and Luis Castillo (Marlins, 2002). … Braves SS Alex Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the seventh. … It was the shortest outing for Sanchez since September 8, 2008, at Philadelphia when he pitched 1 2-3 innings and allowed five runs. … Braves 20-year old RHP Arodys Vizcaino made his major league debut in the ninth. He got two outs and walked two. … Both teams are off on Thursday. The Braves will begin a 10-game homestand on Friday while the Marlins will host the Giants for a three-game series.