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Carlyle, Jones lead Braves past Padres in opener

Jul 7, 2007 - 6:21 AM SAN DIEGO (Ticker) -- Buddy Carlyle pitched the best game of his career in the city in which it began.

Carlyle pitched a career-high eight solid innings and drove in the go-ahead run as the Atlanta Braves posted a 7-4 triumph over the San Diego Padres in the opener of a three-game series Friday.

Carlyle, who made his major league debut with San Diego in 1999, allowed three runs and eight hits in winning his second straight decision. The 29-year-old righthander struck out a season-high seven and walked one.

"It's funny, I didn't think there would be any (extra emotion), but there was just because of the fact that these guys always treated me great," Carlyle said of the Padres organization. "It definitely feels good to pitch in San Diego. I'm more comfortable knowing that I'm going to be going out there and pitching every five days."

"(Carlyle) is sneaky quick," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "A lot of guys don't have good hacks on him. To get a win is pretty important, but to get eight innings out of any pitcher is pretty darn good. It gave everyone a breather."

San Diego got to Carlyle (3-2) early in the first inning as Michael Barrett and Mike Cameron each drove in runs to build a 2-0 advantage before Atlanta's offense woke up.

In the fourth, Andruw Jones belted a two-run blast - his 15th of the season - and Carlyle delivered an RBI single against starter Justin Germano (5-3) to give Atlanta the lead for good.

The Braves continued to pull away in the next frame as Jones stroked an RBI single, sparking a four-run fifth. Kelly Johnson's double chased Germano and Jeff Francoeur singled against reliever Justin Hampson to make it 7-2.

"We've faced (Germano) before, and when we saw him (this) time we really didn't know what he was pitching," Jones said. "In the first inning, he was throwing his fastball and he would use his off-speed pitch to throw us off a little bit. But, he made a mistake and I took advantage of it."

The core of Andruw Jones, Johnson, Francoeur and Chipper Jones combined to go 7-for-7 and score six runs and drive in six between the fourth and fifth.

Germano allowed a season-high seven runs and 10 hits in four-plus innings. The 24-year-old righthander walked two and struck out two. Following a start in Los Angeles in which he surrendered five runs, Germano has given up 12 earned runs over his last 10 2/3 frames.

"I think it helps that they've seen me before and there is a lot more video out there," Germano said. "The batters have been able to get into better counts. I just have to not let my emotions get the best of me and keep pounding the strike zone."

"I thought he got the ball up during the middle innings," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He showed some signs of stringing some pitches together, but the Braves did a good job of sort of waiting him out. I think he'd probably want to have the curveball back that he threw to Andruw in the fourth inning."

Brian Giles added two hits for Padres, who have scored four runs or fewer in six of their last seven games.

"We strung some good at-bats together in the first inning, but we just couldn't get anything going after that," Black said. "You've got to give (Carlyle) some credit for pitching well, too."