Braves put away inept Nationals

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

WASHINGTON -- After beating good and bad teams to climb back into the wild-card race, the Braves can keep their dream alive by gorging wins during a potential end-of-season buffet against the worst team of all.

The Braves get to play the Washington Nationals seven times in their final 10 games and began that stretch with a 4-1 win against the bumbling hosts in Friday night’s series opener at Nationals Park.

Javier Vazquez (15-9) threw a three-hitter for his second complete game in two weeks, and the Braves benefited from early Washington blunders en route to their 12th win in 14 games to keep the pressure on wild-card leader Colorado.

“Just another normal Vazquez start,” manager Bobby Cox said after the veteran went to 4-0 with a 0.84 ERA in his past four starts, including complete games against the good (St. Louis) and the bad/ugly (Friday). “He’s finishing extremely strong.

So are the Braves, who sliced Colorado’s lead from 8-1/2 to 3-1/2 games in a two-week span. Friday’s win left them just three back before the Rockies pushed the lead back to 3-1/2 with a late victory against St. Louis, which all the Braves watched on TVs throughout the visitor’s clubhouse after their own game was completed.

“Right now it’s important for us to win every game, or at least as many as we can,” said Vazquez, who hasn’t lost a road game in more than three months. “We’re playing well. Guys are swinging the bats well and playing great defense.”

The bats and the defense haven’t been as consistent as the starting rotation, led by Vazquez, who has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 20 of 31 starts. He has all three Braves complete games.

“He’s been doing it all year long,” said Martin Prado, whose ninth-inning leadoff homer cushioned the lead to 4-1.

Vazquez, who had seven strikeouts with one walk, has allowed three hits or fewer in three of his past four starts. He notched his third 15-win season.

Prado missed the game in New York on Wednesday after getting hit by a line drive below his left knee during batting practice. X-rays were negative, and he was back in the lineup with a nasty bruise Friday.

“Everybody’s happy and playing good baseball. Pain is the last thing to worry about,” Prado said. “Whatever happens, whether we go home [after the regular season] or not, I want to think we gave our best effort.”

The Braves scored two unearned runs in the first, one on an error by second baseman Pete Orr and another when Garret Anderson’s routine fly fell between miscommunicating outfielders.

Cox is having fun

Cox signed a one-year contract extension Wednesday and announced he will retire from managing at the end of the 2010 season. A writer asked him Friday about his plans to be an advisor in the Braves organization after he leaves the dugout.

Cox said he would spend much of his time as an advisor in the minor leagues and easily drop in on the Class A team at Rome, 15 minutes from his farm in Adairsville, or the Class AAA team in Gwinnett (Cox has a home in Marietta).

“It’s fun,” he said of working with affiliates throughout the organization.

“This isn’t fun?” the writer asked.

“Oh, this is fun,” Cox said. “More than you can imagine. It’s the best time you ever have in your career, the September run to the playoffs and the World Series ... it’s incredibly fun. It gets the hair raising on your arms.”

Vazquez has two Z’s, more K’s

Vazquez has five or more strikeouts in each of his 31 starts this season, the fourth-longest streak of that kind since 1954, according to Stats Inc.

The three longer such streak: Randy Johnson did it in all of his 35 starts for Arizona in 1999; Bob Gibson did it in all 34 starts for St. Louis in 1970; and Curt Schilling did it in 33 starts with Arizona in 2002.