Vazquez's gem nearly lost

By DAVID O'BRIEN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Add Pedro Martinez to the list of streaking pitchers taken down by the Braves in eight days, and don’t write off their playoff aspirations just yet.

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Gregory Smith, AP Braves starter Javier Vazquez pitched seven shutout innings against the Phillies.

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Gregory Smith, AP Marietta tennis star Melanie Oudin, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch, his signed tennis balls into the crowd before the game.

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The Braves got another dominant start from Javier Vazquez and dealt Martinez his first loss with Philadelphia, keeping alive their slim postseason chances with a 6-4 win against the Phillies on Saturday night at Turner Field.

The only negatives for the Braves: Rafael Soriano’s four-run, ninth-inning misadventure, and Adam LaRoche’s sore back that forced him out after 6-1/2 innings and could keep him from Sunday’s series finale.

Vazquez (14-9) pitched seven scoreless innings (three hits, three walks, six strikeouts) and got the kind of run support the Braves failed to give him for most of the season, particularly in home games.

“Vazquez was just sensational — he picked up right where he left off in St. Louis,” manager Bobby Cox said of the right-hander, who took a three-hit shutout to the ninth inning of a complete-game seven-hitter last Sunday against the Cardinals.

Cox added: “Raffy had a rough ninth inning, for whatever reason.”

The Phillies scored all their runs against Soriano, including Ryan Howard’s eighth homer in as many games against the Braves. The potential tying run was at first when Ben Francisco flied out to end the game.

The Braves evened the series and send rookie sensation Tommy Hanson to the mound for Sunday’s rubber match against Phillies ace Cliff Lee.

The Phillies hold a commanding seven-game lead over Florida and 7-1/2-game edge over the Braves in the National League East, with only 14 to play for the Braves.

The Braves are fourth in the wild-card standings, 4-1/2 games behind leader Colorado, one game behind San Francisco, and a half-game behind Florida.

“We’ve just got to keep winning games and see where we are at the end of the season,” Vazquez said. “That’s the only thing we can control, winning games.”

Vazquez is doing his part, going 9-2 in his past 13 starts. He’s only 5-7 in 15 home starts despite a 2.85 home ERA, and the Braves scored one or no runs while he was in six of his previous nine home games.

“It’s much easier when the guys score some runs for you,” said Vazquez, who gave “props” to the Braves for giving him an early lead the second game in a row.

They racked up seven hits and three runs in the second and third innings against Martinez (5-1), who left after that with neck stiffness. It was the 100th loss of the three-time Cy Young Award winner’s career, against 219 wins.

Matt Diaz kept up his thing for Phillies pitching with a two-run homer off Chad Durbin in the fifth. Diaz has hit .419 with 14 extra-base hits (six homers) and 19 RBIs in his past 24 games against Philadelphia.

Martinez had his worst start since he signed with Philly after returning from shoulder surgery. He was 3-0 with a 1.66 ERA in his past three before Saturday, including eight scoreless innings in a 130-pitch outing Sunday against the Mets.

The Braves beat Cardinals pitchers Joel Pineiro and Chris Carpenter last weekend, snapping Pineiro’s 8-0 streak and Carpenter’s 11-0. They jumped on Martinez with three consecutive hits to start both the second and third.

Garret Anderson got it going in the second when he beat a defensive shift by punching a double through the wide-open gap at third base.

LaRoche had a pair of RBI singles in the second and third, two hits matching his previous career total in 21 at-bats against Martinez. Brian McCann had a run-scoring single in the third, giving him 12 RBIs in eight games.