Hanson strikes out 11 in Braves' win

By CARROLL ROGERS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tommy Hanson’s performance Monday night is just what Braves fans had been waiting for from the former top prospect in all of the minor leagues.

Certainly, the 23-year-old had won four times in his first five starts in the major leagues and put up the kind of ERA that let him fit right into one of the top-performing rotations in the National League.

But if they were waiting for one that really set the 6-foot-6 Californian apart, they got it in Hanson’s 11-strikeout game to beat the Giants 11-3.

The 11 strikeouts were the most ever by an Atlanta Braves rookie and the eighth double-digit strikeout game by a rookie in franchise history.

“Hanson had his best all-around stuff,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “He was around the plate all night, went ‘strike one’ many times and used his fastball to set up the breaking balls. He had them guessing just about all night long what he was going to throw. I thought it was dominating stuff tonight.”

Hanson allowed three runs in seven innings but actually had to sweat out a win. He had lost a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh after Nate McLouth lost a fly ball in the lights for a triple. But the Braves got it back for him and quite a bit more in the bottom of the seventh after Randy Winn lost a ball in the lights himself.

Yunel Escobar’s single in front of Winn open the floodgates to a six-run rally as the Braves batted around to bring home their fourth win in five games since the All-Star break.

“I felt terrible,” said McLouth, who lost the ball in the backdrop of a gray dusk sky. “To come out and drop six real quick right after that was awesome.”

Matt Diaz drove in the first two runs on a triple, after attempting to bunt on his first two strikes and driving the next pitch into right-center gap. Casey Kotchman, Ryan Church and Brian McCann all followed with run-scoring hits. Church’s was his first home run as a Brave, a pinch-hit two-run shot.

“When I was in eighth grade, I made the varsity team and I had 30 sac bunts that year,” Diaz said. “... It’s embarrassing that I can’t do it in the big leagues. . . . It worked out well but it won’t always. So needless to say there will be extra bunting practice in my near future.”

The Braves got home runs from Church, Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson and scored in double-digits for the second time in four games. Still, they trail the Phillies by 6-1/2 games after the Phillies won their ninth in a row Monday.

Pitching against Jonathan Sanchez, who was coming off a no-hitter for the Giants, Hanson was nastier. Sanchez had eight strikeouts of his own and held the Braves to four hits in six innings.

When Hanson really needed a strikeout, it was in the seventh with Juan Uribe representing the tying run at third base on a triple. Aaron Rowand instead reached Hanson for a sacrifice fly to knot it at 3-3. But the Braves weren’t about to let that ruin his night, scoring eight runs on the Giants bullpen to move Hanson to 5-0 with a 3.00 ERA in eight starts.

Hanson, who hadn’t pitched since July 9, gave up two runs in the second on a Winn double after walking the pitcher but retired the next 14 batters in a row, including seven by strikeout.

“My arm felt great today, with the days off, being able to rest a little bit,” Hanson said. “Early in the game, I was just battling, trying to find my release point. Once I figured that out and dialed that in a little bit, my arm felt great and everything felt really good today.”