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Carlyle, Braves rally past Marlins

Jun 5, 2007 - 10:56 PM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Chris Woodward helped Buddy Carlyle do something he hasn't done this millennium - win a major league ballgame.

Carlyle pitched seven solid innings and Saltalamacchia and Woodward homered in the seventh inning as the Atlanta Braves rallied for 3-1 victory over the Florida Marlins in the first game of a doubleheader.

The 29-year old Carlyle (1-1) has been a journeyman most of his career, getting occasional cups of coffee in the big leagues with the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers and playing two seasons in Japan, posting a 1-4 record in 23 major league games.

With injuries to Mike Hampton, Anthony Lerew and Lance Cormier, the Braves turned to Carlyle, who was 5-2 with a 2.59 ERA in Class AAA Richmond. The righthander was pounded in his first start with Atlanta on May 26, surrendering five runs and six hits in four innings.

But what a difference nine days made.

Carlyle allowed one run and one hit with three walks and five strikeouts to record his first win since September 9, 1999 against the then Montreal Expos. Carlyle threw 53 of his 92 pitches for strikes to dispatch of the young Marlins lineup.

"When you're young and stupid, you don't realize how lucky you are," Carlyle said. "This one means 1,000 times more than when I was 21 (and won my first game). I haven't had many opportunities. My time in the majors has been very limited."

"Buddy did an outstanding job," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "His first outing was so, so. (Tuesday), I think he was excellent around the plate with good stuff."

Unfortunately, it might be a while before Carlyle gets another chance to win another one. With uncertainty surrounding the health of Atlanta ace John Smoltz, who was scheduled to start the second game of the twinbill, Carlyle was optioned to Class AAA Richmond after the game to make room for Blaine Boyer.

"Nobody wants to be in the minor leagues, obviously," Carlyle said. "You try to do your best and you come back. The only thing I can be happy with is that I pitched well. I'm very fortunate I got an opportunity to play today."

Carlyle's only mistake came in the third frame, when Aaron Boone delivered a solo blast to the left field bleachers on a 2-2 count as Florida grabbed a 1-0 lead.

"It was a fastball," said Boone, who drove in two runs in Monday's 6-4 win. "I felt like we had some pitches to hit. (Carlyle) was obviously in control of what he was doing."

Carlyle's outing overshadowed a gritty performance from Marlins starter Sergio Mitre, who was battling back from a right hamstring strain that cut his last outing short.

Mitre scattered four hits in five shutout innings, extending his scoreless streak to 16 innings. With the hamstring still bothering him, the righthander was relieved by Justin Miller, who hurled a scoreless sixth before things got out of hand.

"I was going to go as long as I could," Mitre said. "After five innings, it probably was safer for me to come out. I was pretty good. I would have liked to have stayed out there longer, but we were just trying to be careful."

Jeff Francoeur led off the seventh with single to chase Miller, and Saltalamacchia crushed the first offering from lefthander Renyel Pinto (0-3) to give Atlanta a 2-1 edge.

"I saw the first pitch and I swung," said Saltalamacchia, who his second major league homer. "I felt good at the plate."

Woodard added another run with a pinch-hit homer to left. It was the second career pinch-hit shot of Woodward's career and the second set of back-to-back homers hit by the Braves this season.

"Salty's homer was huge," Cox said. "The extra run with Woodward was big too."

Rafael Soriano worked around a 26-minute rain delay for a scoreless eighth and Bob Wickman hurled a scoreless ninth to pick up his 10th save.

Andruw Jones was hitless in four at bats to snap a 10-game hitting streak for Atlanta, which snapped a four-game home slide.

Alfredo Amezaga had the only other hit in the ninth for the Marlins, who were two-hit for the second time this season.