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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) – B.J. Surhoff hadn't played in a week, and Braves
manager Bobby Cox didn't know what to expect.
|  | | B.J. Surhoff is congratulated after hitting a home run; he also had a triple in the game.
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Surhoff homered, tripled and doubled after missing five games
with a back injury, driving in three runs to lead Atlanta over the
Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3 Saturday night.
"I don't know if I was surprised or what, but I was totally
impressed," Cox said.
Surhoff, who went 3-for-4, missed hitting for the cycle when he
grounded out to first in the seventh inning. He has never hit for
the cycle in his 15-year career.
"It's a rare occurrence and I would have liked to have taken
advantage of it," Surhoff said. "The pitch in the seventh inning
was a good one, one I should have drove. I had too much time to
think about it, but it's not as important as a win."
Surhoff, who raised his average from .219 to .235, didn't waste
any time in finding his batting eye, hitting a 1-0 pitch from
Pittsburgh starter Don Wengert for a triple in the second inning, a
drive off the center-field fence.
His two-run homer in the third also came on a 1-0 pitch from
Wengert. He swung at the first pitch in the sixth off Joe Beimel
for a double and also on the first pitch in grounding out off
Josias Manzanillo in the seventh.
John Burkett had another theory.
"He got the tough ones early and he only needed a single, but
sometimes it's not that easy to get a base hit," he said. "Just
watch me."
Andruw Jones homered for the fourth time in five games, his 13th
of the season, and also drove in three runs for the Braves. He went
3-for-5 with a pair of run-scoring singles.
The Braves had 14 hits, including six doubles, a triple and two
homers.
Atlanta won for the fourth time in five games and improved to
24-24, its first time at .500 or better since April 18 (8-8).
Burkett (3-4) allowed three runs – two earned – and five hits in
6 2-3 innings and struck out eight.
Wengert (0-2) gave up six runs and eight hits in 2 2-3 innings.
"I felt good. I just made too many mistakes. Plain and simple,
I made too many mistakes," said Wengert, whose ERA ballooned from
10.80 to 12.38. He has given up 22 runs in 16 innings in four
starts.
"He couldn't hit his spots. He didn't have command," said
Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon.
Pittsburgh has lost five straight and 14 of 17.
After Surhoff tripled in the second, he scored on a double by
Javy Lopez, who came home on the first of two doubles by Rico
Brogna, who had two RBI.
Following Jones' homer in the third, Surhoff hit his fourth home
run of the season, a two-run drive. Lopez and Brogna followed with
doubles in the four-run inning for a 6-1 lead.
Surhoff added an RBI double in the fifth that scored Brian
Jordan, who singled.
Aramis Ramirez hit a solo homer and Emil Brown had a pair of
run-scoring singles for the Pirates, who have lost 14 of their last
15 on the road and are 6-22 away from home.
Game notes
Brian Giles went 0-for-5. He came up three times with two
runners on and two outs and made out each times, twice striking
out. ... Pittsburgh's Kevin Young, in an 0-for-15 slump, was robbed
of a hit in the sixth when Jordan made a diving catch of his liner
to right. ... Chipper Jones is in a 1-for-21 slump and is in a
7-for-50 (.140) skid dating back to May 8, dropping his batting
average from .342 to .280. ... The Braves will try to win three in
a row for the first time this season in the series finale Sunday.
Atlanta has won two straight five times.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 12
Cleveland 5
Texas 0
Baltimore 0
Oakland 5
Minnesota 4
Minnesota 7
Oakland 6
(2nd game)
Anaheim 10
Tampa Bay 4
Toronto 5
Boston 0
Chi. White Sox 8
Detroit 0
Seattle 7
Kansas City 2
Florida 7
NY Mets 3
Milwaukee 0
Chicago Cubs 0
Colorado 10
San Francisco 4
Atlanta 9
Pittsburgh 3
Cincinnati 7
St. Louis 2
Montreal 0
Philadelphia 0
Arizona 3
San Diego 1
Los Angeles 7
Houston 2
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