Home Runs Set Pace for Braves, 15-2

L.A. Times Archives

July 4, 1997 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

Andruw Jones and Javy Lopez set the tone. The Atlanta Braves followed.

Jones and Lopez homered on consecutive pitches during a nine-run fourth inning Thursday night, sending the Braves on a 15-2 romp over the Montreal Expos.

“That’s what started it, the back-to-back homers,” Lopez said. “After that, that’s when we started scoring a lot of runs.”

Jones drove in four runs and Ryan Klesko had three hits and three RBIs as Atlanta won for the eighth time in nine games.

“Every time you get an at-bat, you want to get a hit,” Jones said. “You go hard to get a hit. When you get a big lead, you make your pitcher more relaxed.”

John Smoltz (8-7) left after five innings with Atlanta ahead, 15-0. He gave up four hits, and won his second consecutive start after going 0-3 in his previous four.

“It breaks a streak I don’t mind breaking,” Smoltz said of his early exit. “I think I had 13 straight starts with at least seven innings or more. This is a game you don’t get many of. You take it and make the most of it.”

Rondell White hit a two-run homer in the seventh for Montreal. The Expos have lost five in a row to Atlanta and 11 of 13 to the Braves.

Klesko’s two-run single keyed a three-run first against Jim Bullinger (5-8).

“It was a rough day at the office. The only good thing is it didn’t take too long,” Expo Manager Felipe Alou said after the two-hour 37-minute game. “Bullinger didn’t have much tonight. He didn’t have a breaking ball and not much velocity. You could see it was a matter of time.”

The Braves sent 15 batters to the plate in the fourth. They combined eight hits, three walks and a hit batter in matching their biggest inning of the season. Lopez and Klesko each had two hits in the inning.

“Every time we hit the ball it was in there,” Brave Manager Bobby Cox said. “One of those nights. There’s not much else you can say.”

Cincinnati 4, Houston 3--Joe Oliver drove in three runs with a homer and two-run single at Houston and John Smiley beat the Astros for the ninth straight time.

Smiley, who hasn’t lost to the Astros since May 8, 1993, kept Houston scoreless until the the seventh when Luis Gonzalez and Derek Bell singled and Sean Berry homered to make it a one-run game.

Smiley (6-10) left after Berry’s fifth homer of the year, giving up seven hits and striking out six. Stan Belinda came on and pitched two innings before Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his 17th save.

The Reds took a 3-0 lead in the first against Ramon Garcia (3-7), who loaded the bases by hitting leadoff batter Deion Sanders and then walking Lenny Harris and Willie Greene.

Hal Morris struck out for the second out of the inning, but Sanders scored on a wild pitch and Oliver followed with a two-run single.

Florida 10, New York 4--Kurt Abbott hit a pair of two-run doubles to help Livan Hernandez win his first road start for the Marlins.

The Marlins scored four runs in the first and second innings off Armando Reynoso (6-2).

Jeff Conine hit a two-run homer--the 15th homer in four games off Met pitchers--and went three for four for the Marlins, 5-1 in their last six road games.

Shawn Gilbert hit his first major league homer for New York, which lost its fourth in a row.

Hernandez (2-0) gave up eight hits in 5 1/3 innings to win his second consecutive start. The right-hander, who defected from Cuba in 1995 while pitching for his country’s national team in Mexico, also picked up his first career RBI in the first inning.

Chicago 5, Philadelphia 4--Not even All-Star Curt Schilling could stop the Phillies from losing their 10th consecutive game.

Sammy Sosa had two RBIs and rookie Jeremi Gonzalez won his third consecutive start as the Cubs won before a Veterans Stadium crowd of 40,213--largest of the season.

The Phillies, owners of the worst record in the major leagues at 23-60, lost for the 18th time in their last 19 games. It’s the Phillies’ longest losing streak since they dropped 11 in a row in 1989.

Schilling (9-8), who leads the NL in strikeouts with 159, gave up nine hits in eight innings.

Trailing, 3-1, the Cubs took a 4-3 lead in the fourth. Dave Hansen doubled and went to third on Shawon Dunston’s single. Ryne Sandberg followed with an RBI single before Kevin Orie and Scott Servais hit sacrifice flies.

Chicago added another run in the fifth on an RBI groundout by Sosa, who also had an run-scoring single in the first.

Pittsburgh 6, St. Louis 4--Kevin Young hit a two-run homer and Esteban Loaiza pitched six strong innings to lead the Pirates at St. Louis.

The Pirates scored three runs against Fernando Valenzuela (2-11) in the first five innings as the left-hander became the major leagues’ first 11-game loser. Since arriving from San Diego, Valenzuela has four starts without a win for the Cardinals.

With the Pirates ahead, 4-2, in the seventh, Young followed Al Martin’s single with his ninth homer.

Pittsburgh won its fourth straight game and has seven wins in its last 11 games to move within one game of the first-place Cardinals in the Central.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Steve Finley

Team: San Diego

Performance: 2 for 4, 2 homers, 5 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

Player: Greg Vaughn

Team: San Diego

Performance: Game-winning homer Thursday, traded today?