Phillies Down, But Not Out

The Atlanta Braves took a huge step toward their 10th straight division championship, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 8-3 Wednesday night. The Braves had 13 hits, and Tom Glavine pitched six solid innings, pushing Philadelphia two games back in the NL East with four to play. Atlanta can clinch a tie for first by beating the Phillies on Thursday night, the finale of the three-game series.

One night after being limited to three hits and an unearned run, the Braves routed 15-game winner Robert Person, the Phillies' top starter.

Marcus Giles homered, Andruw Jones had three RBIs and the outcome was certain when Atlanta put up four runs in the fifth, building an 8-1 lead.

Glavine (16-7) won his fifth straight decision, scattering eight hits and two walks. The Phillies had at least one baserunner in every inning against the left-hander, but he surrendered just two earned runs.

John Smoltz worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth to protect the victory.

Person (15-7) lost for the first time since Aug. 5. He lasted only 4 1-3 innings, giving up nine hits and seven runs to snap a six-game winning streak.

Person pitched well in his four previous starts against the Braves this season, going 2-1 with a 2.36 ERA. In fact, he allowed as many runs Wednesday as he did in the other four games combined, encompassing 26 2-3 innings.

Giles knocked Person's fourth pitch into the left field stands, the leadoff hitter's eighth homer of the season. The Braves added three more hits in the first, including Jones' RBI single.

Two more runs came home in the second. Paul Bako singled and Giles walked before 40-year-old Julio Franco doubled to the gap in right-center, scoring both runners.

Pat Burrell led off the fifth for Philadelphia with his 26th homer, cutting the lead to 4-1, but the Braves responded with four runs in their half.

Chipper Jones singled, Brian Jordan hit a ground-rule double and B.J. Surhoff was walked intentionally to load the bases with one out. Jose Santiago replaced Person and gave up Andruw Jones' two-run single between shortstop and third.

Rey Sanchez added a run-scoring double, and Bako drove in the final run with a groundout.

The Phillies took advantage of two Atlanta throwing errors in the sixth, scoring twice on RBI singles by Scott Rolen and Travis Lee.

Once again, the biggest series of the year failed to generate much excitement in Atlanta. The announced crowd was 27,431 _ about 3,300 less than the turnout Tuesday at 50,091-seat Turner Field.

Notes:
The Braves still have a chance to avoid a losing record at home, but they must win their remaining four games. At 37-40, Atlanta can become the first team to make the playoffs with a losing record at home. ... The Braves haven't been under .500 at home since 1990. ... Glavine put down his 17th sacrifice bunt of the season in the second, tying him with two other players for the major league lead. ... Phillies 2B Marlon Anderson was initially charged with an error when he failed to come up with a backhanded grab on Jordan's grounder up the middle in the first. At the end of the inning, the official scorer changed it to a hit.

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

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News