Phillies Turn Up Heat on Braves

The Atlanta Braves wanted to put a stranglehold on another NL East championship. Instead, the race is on.

Randy Wolf allowed three hits in eight innings, Bobby Abreu hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Braves 3-1 Tuesday night in the opener of a big three-game series. The Phillies overcame Atlanta ace Greg Maddux to close within a game of the division leader with five to play. "We could have put a big damper on their season," said Braves closer John Smoltz, who gave up a homer to Scott Rolen in the ninth. "That's what is so frustrating on our end. We had a chance to just nail it."

Philadelphia won for the fourth time in its last five games with the Braves. On Wednesday, the Phillies will send their top starter, Robert Person, to the mound against Tom Glavine with a chance to tie for first.

"We've got a pennant race," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said. "We have a young team that believes in itself. This was huge."

Wolf (9-11), who pitched a one-hitter against Cincinnati in his previous start, followed up with his first career victory over the Braves. He had been 0-5 with a 5.77 ERA against Atlanta, including three losses this season.

"This was fun, pitching against Maddux and the team that has won this – how many times?" Wolf said. "I'm having the time of my life right now."

The Braves are going for their 10th straight division title – unparalleled in U.S. major league sports. Even so, the first game of the series was met with indifference in Atlanta, where a crowd of just 30,739 – about 20,000 short of capacity – turned out on a warm, clear night.

It still seems as though no one believes the youthful Phillies, with seven straight losing seasons until this year, could actually end one of baseball's greatest streaks.

"This feel like the playoffs," Wolf said. "It's October and we're still playing."

The left-hander retired the last 10 hitters he faced before giving way to Jose Mesa, who worked a perfect ninth for his 40th save in 44 chances.

Atlanta's hapless offense managed only three singles and went down 1-2-3 five times.

"There's not much room for error," Smoltz said. "We're playing hard, but we've got to play flat-out execution baseball."

The Braves only serious threat came in the fifth, when they scored an unearned run and had the bases loaded with one out, only to have Julio Franco hit into a double play.

Maddux (17-11) failed for the seventh time to win his 18th game, even though he gave up just two runs and six hits in eight innings.

The seven-game stretch is Maddux's longest without a victory since 1991, when he went a month between wins for the Chicago Cubs. He has lost four straight decisions for the first time since 1996.

"It's not do or die yet," Maddux said. "We'll just try to win tomorrow."

He retired the first nine Phillies hitters before giving up a single to Jimmy Rollins leading off the fourth. Rollins was thrown out stealing, but Marlon Anderson followed with a single to left and Abreu lined an opposite-field homer to left, the ball barely clearing the wall for his 31st of the season.

"He threw me a changeup away," Abreu said. "He left it up a little bit. I just got my head up and hit it good."

Wolf surrendered only one hit until the fifth, when the Braves squeaked out a run in unconventional fashion.

With one out, Rolen bobbled Rey Sanchez's grounder to third for an error. Paul Bako, hitting .184, lined a single to right and Maddux was struck in the right thigh by a 1-2 pitch while trying to bunt, loading the bases.

Marcus Giles lined an RBI single off the glove of Rollins, leaping at shortstop, but Bako had to hold a third. Franco then hit into an 6-4-3 double play, ending the threat.

Maddux ran into another jam after getting the first two hitters in the sixth. Anderson and Abreu hit back-to-back singles and Rolen was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. But Travis Lee grounded out to first.

In the ninth, Rolen hit his 25th homer on a curve ball that slipped out of Smoltz's hand.

"I still can't believe he hit it out," Smoltz said. "It came out like an egg. Most times, the guy doesn't even swing at it. But he hit it at his eyes."

Notes:
Philadelphia holds a 9-8 lead in the season series. ... Maddux dropped to 25-14 in his career against the Phillies. ... Mesa's 40th save tied him for second on the Phillies season list with Steve Bedrosian, who saved 40 in 1987. Mitch Williams set the team record with 43 in 1993.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News