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Harris, Nationals pound Braves

Jul 20, 2008 - 10:57 PM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Willie Harris gave the Atlanta Braves another reason to rue the day they didn't re-sign him.

Harris homered, drove in five runs and reached base five times and Austin Kearns homered and scored five times to lead the Washington Nationals to a 15-6 rout of the Braves in the rubber game of the three- game set Sunday afternoon.

Jesus Flores set a career high with five hits and Felipe Lopez had three hits and drove in three runs for the Nationals, who scored the most runs since the franchise moved to Washington. The 17 hits also were a season high.

"Hitting is contagious," Harris said. "We're swinging the bats really well right now. It's good for our hitters and good for our pitchers, too."

Harris, a native of Georgia, spent the better part of last season with his hometown club, batting .270 with two homers and 32 RBI in 117 games for the Braves. But Atlanta and the former Kennesaw State standout parted ways in the offseason as Harris became one of many former Braves on a struggling Nationals club.

After Harris' weekend performance, the Braves may have been better off keeping him.

"I looked forward to this series," Harris said. "I had a bunch of friends (in the stands). I want to beat my old team."

The 30-year old Harris, who pounded out five hits, scored four times and drove in two runs in the first two games of the three-game set, was at it again Sunday.

Harris, who walked in the first, helped the Nationals extend the lead to 3-1 by smashing a two-run single off Atlanta starter Jo-Jo Reyes (3-9) in the second before drawing a walk with the bases loaded in the third. He followed by capping a six-run fourth with a two-run shot into the right field stands for his sixth homer of the season.

"Willie Harris has been a sparkplug for us," Nationals manager Manny Acta said. "He's having some good at-bats."

Harris, who is batting .480 (12-for-25) with a homer and 10 RBI against the Braves this season, is hitting just .205 (27-for-132) with five homers and 10 RBI against the rest of the league.

His supporting cast, which tattooed Atlanta pitching for 14 hits Saturday night, had the bats working again Sunday.

After scoring three runs in the second, Washington added three more in the third and six in the fourth. The Nationals added two runs in the fifth. Kearns hit his 100th career homer in the fourth.

Former Braves pitcher Odalis Perez (3-7) benefited from the offensive outburst, notching his first win since May 28, despite allowing five runs and nine hits while walking two and striking out four over five frames.

"I'd say (the offense helped me) - 15 runs, 17 hits," Perez said. "I may not have pitched that well, but sometimes you deserve games like that."

The loss capped another miserable series for the Braves, who may quickly be turning into sellers at the trade deadline.

"That's part of the game," said Teixeira, who was 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs the contest. "I've always said that I wanted to stay here and wee my way through it. But business is business and things have to change."

Atlanta's pitching staff allowed 29 runs and 42 hits in the three-game set to a club that entered Sunday's contest with a major league-low .241 batting average.

"It's really frustrating," second baseman Kelly Johnson said. "All of us have been on winning teams and winning organizations. It needs to change."

Reyes was the latest Atlanta starter to get tattooed by the light-hitting club, allowing six runs and seven hits, walking four and striking out one in 2 1/3 frames.

His bullpen mates were not much better. Buddy Carlyle allowed six runs over the next 1 2/3 frames, which included issuing a free pass to Harris with the bases loaded.

The ball four call by plate umpire Chris Guccione drew the ire of Braves manager Bobby Cox, who was promptly ejected before even leaving the Atlanta dugout. It was the sixth time this season and the 141st time in his career that the cantankerous Cox has been ejected.

Things just got worse for the Braves after Cox left as the club quickly fell behind by 10 after Washington put up a six-spot in the fourth.

"It was pretty embarrassing," Teixeira said. "We couldn't do anything. It's tough to watch when you do that, it's not only frustrating but it's tough to swallow when we're here in a must win situation. ? We've been playing better than that. It's as bad as you can play a game. We got our butts kicked."

Martin Prado smacked a pinch-hit two-run homer in the fourth for the Braves, who have dropped 23 of their last 37 games.