DEL.ICIO.USPhillies hold off 9th-inning rally, rough up Reyes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/14/08
Philadelphia — These Braves are plumbing the depths of frustrating losses, one one-run defeat at a time.
They've played poorly and lost by one run. They've played OK and lost by one run. And occasionally they've even played well and lost by a run, like they did Tuesday night in a 5-4 defeat against the Philadelphia Phillies.
 Jerry Lodriguss/MCT | |||||
| Braves left fielder Gregor Blanco can't snare Jason Werth's RBI single in the seventh inning. | |||||
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After Brian McCann's two-out double off Phillies closer Brad Lidge in the ninth inning cut the lead to a run, Jeff Francoeur flied out with two runners on base to end the Braves' 11th loss in 12 one-run games.
"Same old story — can't win the one-runners," said third baseman Chipper Jones, who had three hits and flied out to the warning track with a runner on for the second out in the ninth.
The Braves scored three runs in the first inning, but Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick and two relievers shut them down over the next seven innings.
Atlanta absorbed its 16th consecutive one-run road loss going back to last season.
"We've won one one-run game all year," said Jones, who raised his major league-best average to .415 with his ninth three-hit game, the most in either league. "It seems like we can't get over the hump. But we played a lot better game than we have been.
"If we keep playing that way, we'll win our share."
The loss in the series opener at Citizens Bank Park dropped the Braves' major league-worst road record to 5-15. They are a majors-best 14-4 at home.
After dropping three of four games at Pittsburgh to begin a stretch of seven games on the road, the Braves lost their first game of the season against the Phillies to fall to 1-4 on the trip.
They didn't have an extra-base hit until McCann's ninth-inning double over the head of center fielder Jayson Werth, who might have caught the ball if he hadn't misread it off the bat and taken a few steps in before retreating.
But the Braves did have some things to be pleased about Tuesday, including the performance of rookie left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes (1-1).
His final pitching line wasn anything but spectacular — five runs allowed on 12 hits and 6 2/3 innings, career highs in hits and innings, with five strikeouts and no walks.
But he had his best control as a big-leaguer and hung in for 105 pitches after leaving his last start with a finger blister.
"He gave up 12 hits, but they dinked and dunked him," Jones said. "I thought he was outstanding."
So did manager Bobby Cox, who said, "I thought he had his best game. He had a good fastball and was hitting his spots most times. He just missed a couple of breaking balls with [Ryan] Howard."
Howard had a double in the two-run fourth inning and an RBI single in the two-run fifth. But the damaging blows were singles by Werth, who matched a career high with four RBIs, including a two-run single in the fourth and run-scoring singles in the fifth and seventh innings.
"To think that we battled to score a run off Lidge, and that little bleeder that Werth hit for an RBI for their fifth run is what beat us — that's a shame," Jones said. "Because quite honestly, I thought we outpitched 'em. I thought we outplayed 'em on D. And we put the big inning together in the first, and still didn't get a win.
"Got to give Kendrick a little credit, too. He settled down after a rough first."
The Braves haven't won a game all season when they've trailed after eight innings, but it looked like they might pull it off against an unlikely foe. Lidge had not allowed an earned run all season.
He hadn't even given up a walk in his last 10 appearances before Tuesday, recording 12 strikeouts in that span.
But Mark Kotsay drew a one-out walk against him. Then Jones flied out to the warning track before McCann's double.
Greg Norton drew another walk, but Francoeur's flyout brought a sigh of relief from a sellout crowd of 44,101.
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