From skid to sweep: Braves finish off Astros

By David O'Brien

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

If the Houston Astros accomplish nothing else -- a real possibility based on their play this weekend -- they at least can say they helped prevent the Braves from careening off the tracks early in Bobby Cox's farewell season.

After limping home from a winless road trip, the Braves came to life with a series sweep of the Astros, capped by Sunday's 7-1 win on a warm afternoon at Turner Field, when postseason goals suddenly didn't seem as preposterous as last week.

Jason Heyward and Melky Cabrera had three hits and two RBIs apiece for the Braves, who outscored the Astros 21-4 in the three-game series after being outscored 44-17 during a nine-game losing streak.

"That road trip was brutal," Braves catcher Brian McCann said of the 0-7 trip that ended on Thursday in St. Louis. "And to come back and play good baseball like we did, [and] start swinging the bats, it was a good sign. I think a lot of us are glad April is over. That road trip was not us; we know it."

They hit .211 in the final 13 games of April while failing to score more than four runs in any of them, including Friday's 4-2 opening win against Houston (8-16).

That's why Saturday and Sunday felt so good for the Braves, who racked up 24 hits while outscoring the Astros 17-2 in the final two games of the series.

"We did what we needed to do," said Heyward, who drove in the first two runs with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and an RBI double in the three-run fourth. "Everybody clicked at the same time. Our lineup, as a whole, [was] aggressive. We still took our walks but when we got opportunities we were aggressive."

The Braves (11-14) remained last in the National League East, two games behind Florida and Washington and farther behind New York and Philadelphia. The Braves are off on Monday before starting a nine-game trip on Tuesday at Washington.

"We're headed back on the road with some confidence, which we dearly needed," said Braves starter Derek Lowe (4-2), who allowed one run on six hits and one walk in five innings and received his usual robust run support. The Braves have scored 46 runs in his six starts and 52 runs in 19 other games.

Cabrera doubled his season RBI total, following Heyward with a RBI single in the fourth and a two-run double to cap the scoring in the three-run fifth.

Troy Glaus added two hits to make him 5-for-8 with four RBIs in two weekend games -- more hits and RBIs than he had in 10 home games during April.

"Guys are starting to pick it up a little bit and it's just what we needed," Cox said. "The pitching was good this series, the defense was spectacular and we did a lot of clutch hitting."

He added, "Jason just keeps going."

If Heyward has another month at his current pace they can probably start engraving the NL Rookie of the Year award. The 20-year-old phenom leads the Braves and major league rookies by wide margins in homers (seven) and RBIs (23).

"You look at when he's gotten some of his bigger hits, [and] they're not just meaningless, no-one-is-gonna-remember home runs or RBIs," Lowe said.

Heyward is hitting a league-best .500 (10-for-20) with runners in scoring position after getting two more of those hits on Sunday. He also ranks among NL leaders in go-ahead RBIs with six.

"He's getting a lot of opportunities and right now he's the guy you want up in those big opportunities," said Chipper Jones, who went 0-for-10 in the series as his average dropped to .206.

It's startling how much the Braves have depended upon Heyward, who's 4-for-41 (.098) with three RBIs in 13 losses, and 18-for-40 (.450) with 20 RBIs in 11 wins. He didn't play in one other game, which the Braves lost.

"Now I think it's getting to the point where you kind of expect this is who he is, that he's going to hit 25 home runs and drive in 125 runs in his first year, which is very impressive for anybody," Lowe said. "But that's the kind of player that I think he expects out of himself."