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Hampton, Francoeur help Braves end slide

Aug 17, 2008 - 4:29 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Mike Hampton picked up where he left off against the San Francisco Giants en route to winning his first home game in more than three years.

Hampton tossed six solid innings and Jeff Francoeur spearheaded a 16-hit attack by going 4-for-5 and driving in a pair of runs as the Atlanta Braves posted an 11-5 win over the Giants on Saturday night.

Greg Norton homered and Omar Infante had two hits and drove in two runs for the Braves, who snapped a five-game losing streak.

It has been a long road back for the 35-year-old Hampton (2-1), who missed the previous two seasons after undergoing two "Tommy John" surgeries on his left elbow and suffering injuries to his left oblique, left pectoral and hamstring.

But persistence has paid off for the oft-injured lefthander, who had joked that he was kept together by Superglue earlier this season. Hampton, who notched his first major league win in almost three years by defeating the Giants in San Francisco on August 5, finally got back into the win column at his home ballpark.

Hampton scattered two runs and seven hits while walking two and striking out four en route to his first victory at Turner Field since August 14, 2005. He hurled 58 of his 88 pitches for strikes while improving to 15-4 with a 3.59 ERA in 26 career games - 23 starts - against San Francisco.

"I noticed that," Hampton said of his success vs. the Giants. "I really don't have an explanation for it. The ball falls my way against them so far."

"I think he threw pretty good," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "He wasn't hit hard at all. He had some strikeouts tonight and only walked two. We had a lot of hitting tonight."

Atlanta entered the season with the potential of having four former 20-game winners in its rotation. But attrition has taken a toll on the Braves, who have lost John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Tim Hudson for the rest of the year, leaving Hampton as the last of the four standing.

"It's been a weird year," Hampton said. "I don't think anybody could have expected it. I wouldn't wish it on any pitching staff to go what we've gone through."

Francoeur, who is one of five current Braves who was on the team's active roster the last time that Hampton recorded a win here, led Atlanta out of its offensive daze, driving in the game's first run with a double in the second. He has recorded seven hits in his last 14 at-bats to raise his average nine points to .233.

"Francoeur had four hits, and they all were hit hard," Cox said. "I think he's found something. Let's hope."

Atlanta looked nothing like the club that did not hold a lead in the first four games of its woeful homestand, or the team that had lost 10 of its previous 13 games here. The Braves sent 10 batters to the plate in a four-run fourth to ruin the major league debut of Matt Palmer (0-1).

Norton added a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, in the fourth before Atlanta extended the lead to 9-2 with a run in the fifth. Francoeur scored the Braves' 10th run on a double by pinch hitter Ruben Gotay, who scored on Chipper Jones' groundout to make it 11-2.

"Pitching just wasn't there tonight," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. "There's not much else to say about this game."

Every Braves starter, including Hampton, notched at least one hit and had reached base at least once by the third inning.

Starting in place of Jonathan Sanchez, who was placed on the disabled list earlier in the day, Palmer was tagged for six runs and seven hits while walking four in just 2 1/3 frames.

"(Palmer's) game is command and getting ahead," Bochy said. "It wasn't there for him. Whether nerves played a part, I don't know. But that was a rough night for the staff. It makes it a little more difficult when your long man starts and we had to go get him early."

Rookie Pablo Sandoval collected the first three hits of his career, while Ivan Ochoa and Emmanuel Burriss each added two hits and an RBI for the Giants, who have dropped five of their last six games.

One familiar face was not perched in his familiar spot in Atlanta's dugout at the start of this one as Smoltz made his debut as a color analyst for the team's television network.

"He can stay up there, if that's the case," Francoeur joked, referring to his four-hit performance. "Who knows what he said. He was probably talking about my golf game."