Braves Beat the Phillies

Tom Glavine wasn`t giving in this time.

Glavine, who gave up three homers in his previous start, pitched six strong innings to lead the Atlanta Braves past the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 on Friday night.

Wes Helms added a two-run homer for the Braves, who have started slow (5-6) in pursuit of their 10th straight playoff appearance.

"This was more of a typical game for us," Glavine said. "Good pitching, good defense and timely hitting."

Glavine (1-1) wasn`t about to follow the same pattern of his last start. He lasted just five innings in a loss to Florida, equaling his career high for homers allowed.

On Friday, Glavine walked five and threw 118 pitches in 6 2-3 innings, but kept getting out of trouble. The Braves helped him by turning three double plays.

"If you`re walking guys and giving up hits, then you`ve got a problem," said Glavine, who allowed only two hits before tiring in the seventh. "I made the mistake in Florida of not trying to walk someone and giving up a homer. I`m not going to do that anymore."

Glavine improved to 20-8 in his career against the Phillies, early leaders in the NL East.

"That`s why he`s as good as he is," said Scott Rolen, who was 0-for-4. "I don`t think he cares if he walks anyone. He can throw the ball where he wants to throw it and get the outs he wants to get."

Glavine allowed three singles in the seventh, including a two-out, run-scoring hit by Marlon Anderson that finished off the Atlanta starter.

Rookie Jason Michaels followed with his first major league hit against Mike Remlinger, bringing in another run before the Braves escaped the jam on Doug Glanville`s pop-out.

John Rocker pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.

Helms hit his second career homer in the fourth, doubling Atlanta`s 2-0 lead. B.J. Surhoff led off with a single to center before Helms sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left-center against Randy Wolf (0-2).

"Until there`s two strikes, I want a pitch I can drive," Helms said. "I`m not a guy who wants to hit .300 with five homers. I want to be the guy who hits the ball on the nose and drives in runs."

Helms, who platoons at first base, finally made the team this year after three seasons in Triple-A and sporadic appearances in Atlanta. His only other major league homer came Sept. 23, 1998.

"He left a change in my zone and I went after it with authority," he said. "Hopefully, it won`t take as long this time (to hit another major league homer). I don`t think it will."

Helms also doubled in the second, coming around to make it 2-0 on Rafael Furcal`s sacrifice fly.

Glavine held the Phillies without a hit until Jimmy Rollins led off the fourth with a single to right field.

"Tommy kept going deep into the count, but he never broke," Braves manager Bobby Cox said.

Atlanta scored an unearned run in the first. Anderson bobbled a potential inning-ending double play grounder and wound up getting no one, throwing the ball away at second. With the bases loaded, Javy Lopez walked on a 3-2 pitch to make it 1-0.

"You can`t give a team four or five outs an inning and expect to win," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "We have to catch the ball and make the plays."

In five innings, Wolf allowed eight hits and walked three. He never did get his curve under control.

"I wasn`t very sharp," Wolf said. "My changeup was OK, but you can`t live on that."

Game notes:
Anderson had two errors, making an errant throw to first in the fourth. ... Wolf has two of Philadelphia`s three losses this season. ... Atlanta first baseman Rico Brogna, a left-handed hitter, probably won`t get a chance to start against his former team until Sunday. Wolf is a lefty and so is Omar Daal, the scheduled starter Saturday. ... The Braves are in position to win their first multigame series of the season. They have dropped two of three games in three straight series.

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News (AP)