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Braves rally in ninth, beat Rangers

Jun 19, 2008 - 4:31 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Omar Infante delivered a go-ahead RBI single as the Atlanta Braves rallied for three runs in the ninth inning en route to a 5-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.

Chipper Jones homered and Jo-Jo Reyes tossed seven stellar innings for the Braves, who benefited from the return of reliever Mike Gonzalez. In his first appearance in over a year, Gonzalez pitched a perfect ninth to pick up the save.

After Jeff Francoeur advanced to second on a throwing error by C.J. Wilson (0-2), Infante smacked a 2-1 offering from the Texas closer into right field, and Francoeur beat Josh Hamilton's throw home to give the Braves a 3-2 edge.

"I knew when the pitcher fielded the ball that I had a good chance as that's a pretty tough throw," Francoeur said of the play that started the rally in the ninth. "If the catcher fields it, he's got a better angle."

Rookie Gregor Blanco followed with an RBI triple and came around to score on Kelly Johnson's groundout to provide the final margin.

"That was a great way to end a well-pitched ballgame," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "Infante came up huge for us and I thought Reyes was just dynamite tonight."

Jones opened the scoring for Atlanta with a solo home run - his 16th blast of the season - in the first. He went 2-for-5, keeping his major league-best batting average at .400.

Reyes had another solid outing, yielding two runs - one earned - and five hits with four walks and three strikeouts. The lefthander has pitched at least six frames in each of his last five starts.

"I was able to make some adjustments tonight and I really found a good tempo my last couple of innings," Reyes said. "I had some walks but they didn't hurt me. I got a couple of big double plays behind me to help me out."

Jeff Bennett (1-4) benefited from the late offensive outburst, recording the win after tossing a scoreless eighth. Gonzalez then slammed the door in the ninth, easily disposing of the three batters he faced with one strikeout to post his first save since May 11, 2007.

"It was nice to go out there and not be thinking about pain," Gonzalez said of his return from "Tommy John" surgery. "I was told when I got here that Texas had the best hitters in the American League right now and I figured what better way to return than to face the best."

Texas rookie Eric Hurley was impressive in his second career start, allowing two runs and five hits with two walks and five strikeouts in five innings.

"They worked him tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "When you send youth out there, they're usually around 100 pitches by the fifth inning and he just ran out of gas in the sixth."

Hamilton had two hits and Gerald Laird and Brandon Boggs each drove in a run for the Rangers, who were without Milton Bradley. The temperamental outfielder leads the American League with a .330 batting average but was out with a strained left quadriceps.