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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
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| Gonzalez |
PHOENIX (AP) – Luis Gonzalez went to the plate looking for a
home run. He had to settle for a triple off the center-field wall.
Gonzalez just missed a record-breaking 14th April homer when his
towering drive came up just short in the eighth inning of the
Arizona Diamondbacks' 7-5 victory over Atlanta on Sunday night.
"I thought I had it," said Gonzalez, who hit his 12th and 13th
homers on Thursday night to tie the April record set by Ken Griffey
Jr. in 1997. "There was no way I could not think about it going
into the box. I was looking for something up in the zone that I
could elevate."
Gonzalez also doubled in the game, and Jay Bell and Mark Grace
homered to help the Diamondbacks split the four-game series.
Arizona has Monday off before beginning a three-game series in
Montreal.
"It will be good going to Montreal," Gonzalez said. "It's a
getaway. No fans go, no reporters and it's out of the U.S. It's
like having four days off."
The loss dropped the Braves to 12-14 in April, their first
losing opening month in eight years.
"You deserve what you get. I enjoyed it," Atlanta manager
Bobby Cox said before abruptly leaving the visiting managers'
office.
Erubiel Durazo broke a 3-3 tie in the fourth inning with a
sacrifice fly to the center-field wall, and Grace made it 5-3 in
the sixth with his second homer of the year, a drive into the
Atlanta bullpen in right field.
Arizona added an unearned run in the seventh, with Reggie
Sanders singling, stealing second and scoring on pitcher Kerry Ligtenberg's throwing error.
Erik Sabel (1-0), the second of six Arizona pitchers, allowed
one hit and struck out one in the fifth to earn his first victory
in the majors. After allowing pinch-hitter B.J. Surhoff's two-run
single, Troy Brohawn got Rafael Furcal to hit into a game-ending
double play for the first save of his career.
"This is going to be the first and only," said Brohawn, who
was recalled from Triple-A Tucson on April 12. "We needed a ground
ball there and I'm a ground ball pitcher."
Atlanta's Brian Jordan had an RBI triple in the first inning,
and made it 3-0 in the third with a two-run homer, his third of the
year. The home run ball landed in the pool area in right field.
The Diamondbacks tied it with a two-out rally in the bottom of
the inning against Odalis Perez. Steve Finley beat out an infield
single, and Bell hit his fourth homer into the first row of the
left-field stands.
Gonzalez followed with a double down the right-field line and
Matt Williams tied it with an RBI single.
Perez (1-4), making his first start since April 15, allowed four
runs on seven hits and a walk.
"I just gave up some runs on nothing," Perez said. "I have no
words to describe. This is so frustrating. It's unbelievable.
Unbelievable. I gave up two runs, three runs and nothing
happened."
Game notes
Gonzalez received a standing ovation as he returned to left
field in the top of the eighth. ... Sabel made his second
appearance of the year after spending the entire 2000 season in the
minors. ... Since May 1993, the Braves have had only four losing
months. ... Williams' third inning single was the 1,700th hit of
his career. ... Perez has allowed four or more runs in three of his
four starts and four of his six appearances overall. ... Finley's
second single moved his batting average above .200 for the first
time since the third game of the season. ... Greg Swindell retired
the Braves in the sixth on five pitches.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Arizona Clubhouse
RECAPS
Kansas City 11
Boston 8
Cleveland 9
Texas 2
Detroit 6
Tampa Bay 1
NY Yankees 3
Oakland 1
Toronto 2
Anaheim 0
Chi. White Sox 2
Seattle 1
Minnesota 4
Baltimore 0
Milwaukee 10
Montreal 0
St. Louis 12
NY Mets 1
Florida 11
Houston 5
Colorado 14
Cincinnati 7
Chicago Cubs 11
San Francisco 2
Los Angeles 4
Philadelphia 1
San Diego 6
Pittsburgh 1
Arizona 7
Atlanta 5
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