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Early outburst leads Braves past Phillies

May 15, 2008 - 4:12 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - Tom Glavine finally got his first win of the season.

Glavine tossed five dominant innings before leaving in the sixth and Brian McCann drove in three runs as the Atlanta Braves nearly blew an eight-run lead before holding off the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6, on Wednesday.

Atlanta took advantage of an ineffective outing by Phillies starter Brett Myers. Yunel Escobar, Chipper Jones and Kelly Johnson all hit solo home runs off Myers in the first two innings.

"It's nice to get back on board and kind of feel like I'm contributing like everybody else," Glavine said. "Hopefully, now that that first win is out of the way, we can relax, myself included."

Glavine retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced with Chris Coste's single being the only hit for the Phillies. However, Coste led off the sixth with a single as the Phillies batted around to score four runs to pull within 8-4.

"I think the mistake I made was, once I got through the fifth inning, I went out there in the sixth inning and kind of pitched to the score," Glavine said. "That's not a very good thing for me to do. Even at my age and my level of experience, you learn some things every now and then."

Jimmy Rollins had an RBI double, Shane Victorino an RBI grounder before Chase Utley blasted a two-run home run into the right field seats off Glavine. Jeff Bennett replaced Glavine later in the frame and got the third out.

"You have that mentality of 'You've got a big lead, don't walk guys' and then you get on the defensive," Glavine said. "I made a stupid pitch to Utley and one that I probably wouldn't have made in a one-run game."

Glavine (1-1) went 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The lefthander won his 29th career game against Philadelphia.

"(Glavine) was just fantastic the first five (innings)," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "(In the sixth), he gave up a groundball hit, then he walked a guy and that kind of opened it up with a team like (the Phillies).

"Glad to see Tommy get his first (win). He deserved it."

Ryan Howard hit a two-out, solo home run off Royce Ring in the eighth inning. Blaine Boyer came on and got the final out in the eighth and survived an RBI single by Rollins in the ninth before getting Victorino on a flyout with two runners on to record his first save.

Myers (2-4) lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed eight runs - six earned - on nine hits. The righthander walked three and struck out six in suffering his fourth straight loss.

"It's frustrating. I'm not giving the team an opportunity to win," Myers said. "Disappointed in myself. Disappointed in letting my teammates down. Disappointed that the fans have to watch that."

"I don't know what we can do," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Just send him out there and see how it goes. It seemed like they were on everything he threw tonight. His command just wasn't good."

For the second straight game, Atlanta jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Escobar drove Myers' second pitch of the game into the left seats for a solo home run. Two batters later, Jones hit the first pitch to left center for a solo blast to make it, 2-0. With one out in the second, Johnson made it, 3-0, by also hitting a first-pitch offering over the left-center field fence.

"(Leading 3-0) turned out to be huge," Jones said. "We see Brett four, five times a year. We're all familiar with him. We just came out and looked for pitches and got them. Didn't miss them."

The Braves added two unearned runs in the third inning on a two-out, two-run double by McCann. Atlanta then chased Myers with three runs in the fifth.

"(Myers) is such a good pitcher that if you're gonna get to him, you got to get to him early," McCann said. "If he gets in a groove and he gets through the first three (innings), you're looking for a long night."

McCann's RBI single gave the Braves a 6-0 advantage before Ryan Madson came on for Myers and surrendered a a two-out, two-run single to Gregor Blanco that gave the Braves a commanding 8-0 lead.

"Guys did a outstanding job of swinging the bats against a really good pitcher," Jones said. "Turns out we needed every one of (those runs)."