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Jones, Renteria help Braves end four-game skid

Jun 10, 2007 - 8:05 AM ATLANTA (Ticker) -- All the Atlanta Braves needed to snap out of their funk was a visit from old teammate Jason Marquis.

Andruw Jones and Edgar Renteria each homered as Atlanta ended its four-game slide with a 9-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the third game of a four-game series Saturday.

Entering the matchup, Atlanta was in the midst of a tailspin, dropping six of seven and eight of its last nine here while batting just .193 over the last five games. The Braves did not have a lead in any of its last four contests.

But fortunately for Atlanta, it was facing Marquis.

The 28-year-old righthander, who played his first four seasons with the Braves from 2000 to 2003, had been nothing short of disastrous against his former club, allowing 24 earned runs in 15 frames in three starts. Atlanta tattooed Marquis (5-3) for 12 runs and 14 hits in five innings in his last start against the Braves.

This one was not much different.

Although he was spotted a 4-0 lead, Marquis allowed six runs - two earned - four hits, walked three and struck out one in 1 2/3 frames to fall to 0-3 with a 14.33 ERA in four career starts against his former club.

"It wasn't my night," Marquis said. "I wasn't making quality pitches. I was falling behind. I wasn't attacking the strike zone. That made it a little difficult to do what I wanted."

"We score four runs against a good pitcher in the first, and before you know it, we're behind by two," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "Jason was falling behind on hitters. He needs to start using his changeup a little more."

Jones did the most damage. The 30-year-old slugger, who came into the game 7-for-10 with four homers and 13 RBI against Marquis, smashed a two-run homer 425 feet over the center field wall in the first to cut the deficit to 4-2.

Jones also chased Marquis in the second with a run-scoring single to left as the Braves grabbed their first lead in 37 frames, 5-4.

"We play behind them so many times that we know what kind of pitchers they are," Jones said of Marquis and Tom Glavine, another former Brave that Atlanta has had a lot of success against. "When they make mistakes, we take advantage of them."

A nine-time Gold Glove Award winner, Jones also made a spectacular diving grab on a flyball in shallow right center field to end the seventh.

"I didn't even see (Andruw)," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "I was looking at (Jeff) Francoeur (in right field). Then I saw him catch it. I thought he had no chance."

Renteria, who laced an RBI single in the second to snap an 0-for-14 slide, smashed a two-run homer over the right field wall for an 8-5 edge in the fourth off rookie Sean Gallagher, who was making his major league debut. Renteria collected his fourth RBI of the night with an RBI double in the sixth.

"I saw the ball a little bit better," Renteria said. "I tried to go to my strength and hit the ball to right field."

Chicago gave the sold-out Turner Field crowd of 51,816 a bit of a scare in the third.

With runners at first and third, Jacque Jones smashed a grounder off the left shin of Atlanta starter Tim Hudson, who threw wildly to home plate, allowing Derrek Lee to score to cut the edge to 6-5.

Fortunately for Atlanta, Hudson, who allowed five runs and five hits in two-plus innings, suffered just a contusion to his left leg. X-Rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day.

"It feels alright, but I'm pretty sore," Hudson said. "It's probably the best one I've ever gotten. It hit me pretty flush. Nothing is broken. If it's not broken, I'll be in there (for my next start). It'll be a little sore, but everybody here is sore."

Peter Moylan (2-1) allowed just one walk and hit a batter in three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win. Four other relievers combined with Moylan to hurl seven shutout innings.

"I wasn't expecting to be in as early as I was," Moylan said. "I knew I could to it. (The bullpen was) unbelievable. We all love the game and we all enjoy each other's company. We all want each other to do really well. It was great. We really enjoyed it."

Mark DeRosa had three hits for the Cubs, who lost for only the second time in seven games.