HOUSTON– The Braves hope they're finally seeing the return of Dan Uggla, and the Astros are happy they won't see Tommy Hanson again anytime soon.
Uggla hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Hanson had a career-high 14 strikeouts in seven innings of a 4-1 win against Houston on Sunday, as the Braves equaled a season-high six-game winning streak.
Brian McCann added a two-run homer for the Braves, who are 7-2 on a 10-game trip and go for a four-game sweep of the Astros on Monday night.
“We gave him a little cushion early, and then Mac added on to that,” Uggla said. “Tommy took care of the rest.”
Hanson (8-4) allowed three hits, one run and two walks while collecting the most strikeouts by a Braves pitcher since John Smoltz had 15 against the New York Mets on April 10, 2005.
“I felt really good out there; all my pitches were working,” said Hanson, who matched a Minute Maid Park strikeout record by Houston’s Bud Norris in 2010. “For whatever reason, I just throw well against them.”
The big redhead is 3-0 with a 0.97 ERA in five starts against the Astros, including two starts this season in which he’s allowed six hits and two walks with 24 strikeouts in 14 innings.
He struck out all three batters in the third inning and again in the seventh. Manager Fredi Gonzalez and pitching coach Roger McDowell discussed replacing Hanson after the sixth because of his climbing pitch count (he finished with 79 strikes in 112 pitches).
“Roger and I were trying to decide. He was borderline pitch count after six innings,” Gonzalez said. “[Hanson] said, ‘Oh, I’m good.’ And he was good. He finished the seventh inning and it was probably the best inning he had. We were able to do what we wanted with the bullpen by him going seven innings. He was outstanding.”
The Braves wanted to rest closer Craig Kimbrel after he threw 30 pitches in a two-hit, one-run 10th inning Saturday. Kimbrel rested Sunday and Jonny Venters got two strikeouts in the ninth for his second save in four days.
Uggla hadn’t homered in 77 at-bats and 21 games before crushing the eighth pitch of the game from Brett Myers (2-6). After Jordan Schafer’s leadoff single, Uggla blasted a 1-and-1 change-up off a stone wall beyond the left-field stands.
Uggla added a walk and a single in his next two at-bats to make him 4-for-6 with three walks in the past two games. This after batting a majors-worst .170 through Friday, and not having consecutive multi-hit games all season.
“Danny’s swinging the bat well. We’re starting to see some good signs,” Gonzalez said. “And Mac is doing what he does best.”
McCann homered for the second consecutive game, despite playing with a massive welt on his right shin and bruise on his right shoulder. The injuries occurred Saturday when he fouled a ball off his shin and took a foul tip in the shoulder – all before hitting his winning three-run homer in the 10th inning.
He’s hit .370 with nine doubles, seven homers and 17 RBIs in his past 20 games.
In what is considered one of the more hitter-friendly ballparks, Hanson has an 0.41 ERA in three starts at Minute Maid. He’s allowed one earned run and 10 hits with four walks and 25 strikeouts in 22 innings at the retractable-roof stadium.
“I love throwing indoors,” said the Southern California native. “Especially here. I don’t know why. Certain places, I don’t know if it’s the backdrop or what, but here the plate feels real close to me.”
He struck out four of the last five batters he faced after Carlos Lee’s RBI double in the sixth cut the lead to 4-1.
“He's aggressive and has really good stuff, and just knows how to use it,” said Astros first baseman Brett Wallace. “McCann's done a good job with working with him on a gameplan and he keeps guys off-balance."
Wallace went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Hanson, then struck out on three pitches against Venters to start the ninth.
Gonzalez now seems inclined to go with the original plan he had entering the season and have Kimbrel and Venters share the closer duties.
Venters had two strikeouts and ran his scoreless-innings streak to 22 while trimming his majors-leading ERA to 0.44.
“It’s a nice luxury to have,” Gonzalez said. “It’s not like it’s the old quarterback controversy or anything, it’s just a nice luxury.”
