Ortiz retired the first 15 batters

MONTREAL (AP) -- Russ Ortiz wanted to pitch nine innings Saturday

night. His first shutout of the year was merely a bonus.

Ortiz pitched a three-hitter and Andruw Jones hit a grand slam

to help the Atlanta Braves win their fifth straight game, a 9-0

victory over the Montreal Expos.

Ortiz (14-7) retired the first 15 batters before Einar Diaz

lined a clean single to right-center to lead off the sixth.

"I felt like the way I was throwing I could finish the game and

that was my main focus," Ortiz said. "If the shutout was there,

obviously that's a great thing, but my whole objective was to

finish the game."

After five perfect innings, his teammates had other things in

mind.

"Yeah, we were thinking about," Jones said. "It's always nice

to be part of a no-hitter and it would have been great if he did

it, but we'll take the win."

Ortiz's third career shutout was his first since Sept. 19, 2003,

when he reached 20 wins for the first time in his career with a 1-0

three-hitter against Florida.

"I thought he changed speeds really well and he banged strikes

all night," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "He had his great

changeup going tonight."

The Braves have won 11 of 12, and are 35-12 since the All-Star

break.

"Andruw took care of the big runs with the grand slam -- that

really was a huge hit," Cox said. "It put us way up, so that

helped."

Adam LaRoche went 3-for-5, falling a triple short of the cycle,

and J.D. Drew extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single

in the sixth.

After John Patterson (3-4) walked two batters and hit another in

the third, Jones hit Joe Horgan's first pitch over the left-field

wall for his second grand slam of the season.

"It's a tough spot, but I've been in that spot before," Horgan

said. "I just didn't make a good pitch."

LaRoche doubled and, one out later, Ortiz hit an RBI double over

center fielder Ryan Church to make it 8-0.

Patterson allowed three hits and six runs in two-plus innings.

"Two walks and 3-2 and he hit him -- I look at that as a walk

too," Expos manager Frank Robinson said. "It's just like he

wasn't out there tonight."

Montreal fell to 4-8 on its season-high 13-game homestand.

Drew walked with two out in the first and scored the game's

first run on Chipper Jones' RBI double.

The Braves added two more in the second to take a 3-0 lead on

Rafael Furcal's RBI single and Diaz's throwing error. Furcal stole

his 22nd base when Diaz's throw popped out of his hand and rolled

slowly up the third-base line, allowing Charles Thomas to run home

from third.

Game notes
Andruw Jones, who also hit a grand slam off Kevin Millwood

on May 27 in Philadelphia, has three career grand slams. ... The

Braves had 13 hits, the 13th time in their last 14 games they have

had 10 or more hits in a game. ... The Expos have been shut out 16

times this season, including four times by Atlanta.