Cox Needs Milestone Reminder

Bobby Cox didn’t have to sweat out his 1,000th victory as manager of the Atlanta Braves.

It wasn’t just because Atlanta easily defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 10-5, Saturday. Fact is, Cox forgot about the milestone.

“I didn’t think about it until I was walking off the field and [Tom] Glavine told me,” Cox said. “But that’s a good way to do it, beating one of the best pitchers in baseball.”

Javy Lopez homered in a four-run first inning against Mike Mussina, sparking the Braves to their first win against the Orioles in five interleague games over two years.

Cox became the 19th manager in major-league history to win 1,000 games with the same team. He also moved within five victories of becoming the winningest manager in franchise history--Frank Selee won 1,004 with the Boston Braves from 1890-1901.

“It’s something I wasn’t thinking about coming in today,” Cox said. “It means you’ve had some good players to win that many in one spot. I’m happy about it, I’m not going to just shrug it off, because it’s nice.”

Cox, who also spent four seasons as manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, is 1,355-1,108 overall.

“Bobby Cox is the one who turned this team around,” Lopez said. “I feel happy for him. He deserved it.”

Lopez went four-for-five with four RBIs and Kevin Millwood (8-2) allowed four runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings for the Braves, who lost three in a row to Baltimore at home last year.

Mussina (4-3), activated from the disabled list before the game, struck out 10 but gave up eight runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.