Maddux a Winner in First Start

The Atlanta Braves were delighted to get five shutout innings from Greg Maddux, and those five double-play grounders didn’t hurt either.

Maddux looked sharp in his first start this year, Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the first inning and defense did the rest for the Braves in a 2-0 victory over the Florida Marlins on Friday night at Miami.

Maddux, activated from the disabled list before the game, gave up four hits and two walks and departed after throwing 76 pitches.

“Not too bad. Not too bad at all,” said Maddux, a perfectionist. “I feel pretty good about how I threw. It’s pretty hard to complain when you don’t give up a run.”

A sore lower back sent him to the disabled list for the first time in his career and forced him to sit out his opening-day start.

“I can’t even say he was rusty,” Brave Manager Bobby Cox said.

John Smoltz pitched out of a two-on, none-out jam in the eighth and finished for his second save in three chances. Mike Remlinger and Tim Spooneybarger worked one scoreless inning each in the Braves’ first shutout.

“That’s a good bullpen right there,” Maddux said.

Rookie Josh Beckett (0-1) was impressive. Beckett trailed, 2-0, when he left after six innings with a blister on his right middle finger.

Florida’s Kevin Millar grounded into three double plays and flied out with a runner on first to end the game.

After setting a franchise low for attendance the previous two nights against Montreal, the Marlins drew 12,066 against the 10-time defending division champions.

St. Louis 7, Houston 3--Jim Edmonds hit two solo home runs and J.D. Drew had a long two-run shot, leading the Cardinals at St. Louis.

Matt Morris (3-0) gave up two runs and six hits in six innings to beat Houston for the second time in a week. He has won eight consecutive decisions at Busch Stadium dating to July 24. He has won 16 of his last 17 starts at home.

St. Louis scored three times in the third inning. Fernando Vina, who has been hit by 50 pitches in the last two seasons, was plunked leading off. One out later, Drew hit a 496-foot shot off the scoreboard in right field, the eighth-longest homer at Busch since such statistics began being kept in 1988.

Chicago 7, Pittsburgh 3--Sammy Sosa hit the longest home run in the two-year history of Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, and Mark Bellhorn also homered to help the Cubs break out of their slump.

Pirate starter Dave Williams (1-1) hit his first career home run, but gave up three drives of 400 feet or longer, including an estimated 484-foot shot by Sosa to center field. It was Sosa’s fifth home run.

Jason Bere (1-1), a 2-1 loser to Williams last week at Wrigley Field, gave up Williams’ drive but otherwise held down Pittsburgh’s slumbering offense, giving up three hits in six innings.

The Pirates lost their third in a row following five consecutive victories. The Cubs had scored only nine runs in their previous six games.

Cincinnati 8, Philadelphia 5--Juan Encarnacion homered in his third consecutive game and Barry Larkin doubled to key a six-run rally in the seventh inning at Philadelphia.

Larkin, who tripled and scored in the sixth inning, hit a double that tied the score in the seventh and scored the go-ahead run.

Wilton Guerrero had a run-scoring triple, Aaron Boone doubled home a run and Sean Casey and Jason LaRue each had run-scoring hits in the inning.

Jim Brower (1-0) pitched a scoreless sixth inning and Danny Graves earned his fourth save.

New York 2, Montreal 1--Jeff D’Amico made an impressive home debut for the Mets, pitching eight scoreless innings and New York won for the third time in a row.

Jeromy Burnitz, who came from Milwaukee with D’Amico in a three-team, 11-player deal in January, hit a solo homer in the second inning.

D’Amico (1-0) again pitched well at Shea Stadium. In his only other start there, he threw eight scoreless innings for Milwaukee on Sept. 13, 2000.

The Brewer bullpen blew a 1-0 lead in that game after D’Amico left because of dizziness and New York went on to win in extra innings.

D’Amico’s start two years ago was one of the reasons the Mets wanted to acquire him this off-season. New York wanted Burnitz because of his power.

Arizona 8, Colorado 3--Curt Schilling (3-0) gave up three runs in seven innings at Denver.

The Diamondbacks are 6-0 when Schilling or Randy Johnson start. When the co-most valuable players of the World Series do not pitch, Arizona is 0-5.

Craig Counsell had three hits and three runs batted in for Arizona. Danny Bautista and Junior Spivey each drove in two runs.

The Rockies’ Mike Hampton (0-3) lost his fifth consecutive start, the longest skid of his career. He gave up seven runs and 10 hits in seven innings.