Royals 3 - 6 Braves
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Braves power past Royals, run streak to 10

Apr 17, 2013 - 4:27 AM

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Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - The Atlanta Braves cranked out five solo home runs and continued the club's best start in 19 years by overpowering the Kansas City Royals, 6-3, Tuesday at Turner Field.

Jason Heyward, Justin Upton and Dan Uggla each went deep in the eighth inning off Kelvin Herrera (1-1), with Heyward's blast breaking a tie game. Juan Francisco homered twice in the Braves' 10th straight victory -- their longest winning streak since a 15-game stretch from April 16-May 2, 2000.

Eric O'Flaherty (3-0) earned the win behind Kris Medlen, who allowed just two runs -- one earned -- on six hits over seven solid frames.

Chris Getz ended the longest dry spell between home runs in the majors with a solo shot for Kansas City, which was coming off a 4-2 homestand.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie served up Francisco's two homers, but was otherwise stellar in seven innings of work.

Guthrie, despite throwing just 91 pitches, was pulled in a 2-2 game in favor of the hard-throwing Herrera, who had allowed just two hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings coming into the game.

After retiring B.J. Upton on a groundout, Herrera watched Heyward send a 98 m.p.h. fastball over the left-field wall. Justin Upton stepped in and crushed a letter-high offering halfway up the left-field bleachers, and Uggla followed two batters later with his third home run of the season.

"It's nice to have that type of arsenal on your club," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It's a game changer. One swing of the bat and you can put some runs on the board."

Chris Johnson added an RBI single later in the frame, and the Braves, after allowing an RBI single to Alex Gordon in the ninth, moved to 12-1 for their best start since going 13-1 in 1994.

Francisco put the Braves on the board with a solo homer down the right-field line in the second inning, and the unlikeliest of players evened things in the third, as Getz led off with a deep line drive into the right-field seats for his first round-tripper since July 19, 2009 -- a span of 954 at-bats.

An unearned run in the fourth gave the Royals a 2-1 lead. Salvador Perez reached base when Francisco airmailed his throw from third, and Perez eventually scored on Jeff Francoeur's two-out single to center.

Francisco made up for the mistake in the seventh by hammering a Guthrie offering to dead center for his first career multi-homer game. The Braves nearly took the lead later in the inning, but Francoeur threw out Andrelton Simmons at the plate with a laser throw from right-center field.

"This is a lineup that is obviously hot and loaded with good bats," Guthrie said.

Game Notes

Justin Upton's homer was his eighth of the season. He hit his eighth last year on July 20 ... Medlen is undefeated in his career when given a lead, going 16-0 with 12 no-decisions ... Braves reliever Luis Avilan was carted off the field with a leg injury in the ninth ... Guthrie allowed five hits and one walk while striking out six. He has not lost a decision since Aug. 3, 2012, a span of 14 starts ... Getz has three career homers, the previous one, incidentally, coming against Guthrie ... Alex Gordon extended his hitting streak to 12 games ... This brief two-game series ends Wednesday with Atlanta's Mike Minor facing Wade Davis.






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