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Johnson, Braves rally to beat Cubs

Apr 19, 2007 - 5:07 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Kelly Johnson and the Atlanta Braves continue to find ways to frustrate the Chicago Cubs.

Johnson's two-run single in the seventh inning provided the go-ahead runs as the Braves posted an 8-6 victory over the Cubs.

Jeff Francoeur hit a three-run homer and Scott Thorman added a solo shot for Atlanta, which has beaten Chicago 13 of the last 15 times, including eight of nine here.

"I don't know why we've won so many games," Francoeur said. "Maybe it's all the Cubs fans that get on us and yell at us and it kind of geeks us up a little bit."

After the Cubs took a 6-5 lead in the top half of the seventh, when Derrick Lee hit an RBI double and later scored on a wild pitch by reliever Oscar Villarreal, the Braves got to the Chicago bullpen in the bottom of the inning.

With two outs and the bases full, Johnson singled to center field off reliever Scott Eyre, plating Thorman and Matt Diaz to give Atlanta a 7-6 lead. Edgar Renteria followed with an RBI base hit to put the Braves up by two.

"I was sitting dead red," said Johnson, who had four hits on Tuesday and saw his average rise 95 points from .150 to .245 over the past two games. "I didn't want to overdo anything. I put a good part of the barrel on it."

Villarreal (1-0), one of six pitchers used by Atlanta, worked the seventh inning to earn the win and Bob Wickman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to record his fifth save of the season.

Eyre (0-1), in relief of starter Carlos Zambrano, allowed three runs, three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.

"Every time I make a mistake, it hurts me," Eyre said. "I left our bullpen down. I needed to step up and I didn't."

With the scored tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the first and runners at first and second, Francoeur belted the first pitch by Zambrano over the left field wall for his third home run, giving the Braves a 4-1 lead.

"It was a slider," Francoeur said. "He threw me a lot of sliders the last two times I faced him. I thought he was going to come with the slider. I was able to hit it and get the team off to a fast start."

Zambrano allowed five runs and six hits, walked five and struck out six in six innings. The Chicago ace, who was 16-7 with a 3.41 ERA last season, is a disappointing 1-2 with a 7.77 ERA in four starts this year.

"I guarantee I won't finish like this," Zambrano said. "I left some pitches in the middle of the plate. This is the big leagues, when you leave pitches in the middle, you will pay for it."

Atlanta starter Kyle Davies surrendered four runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Johnson, Thorman, Renteria and Brian McCann each had two hits for Atlanta, which signed manager Bobby Cox to a contract extension through the 2008 season earlier Wednesday.

"It's always good to win when you're going to work next year," Cox said. "I'm thrilled about the contract. We'll just go year by year and see how we do. If the players can put up with me and the front office wants me, we'll see."

Mark DeRosa hit a solo homer and Lee and Jacque Jones each had two hits for Chicago (5-9), which fell into last place in the National League Central.