After the Braves retired Bobby Cox's No. 6 in a pregame ceremony Friday night, they gave the iconic ex-manager plenty more to enjoy by pounding five homers off Carlos Zambrano in a 10-4 thrashing of the Chicago Cubs, including two homers by record-streaking Dan Uggla.
Uggla hit a leadoff homer in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 32 games, moving past Rico Carty’s 31-game streak in 1970 to set a new Atlanta Braves record.
“Definitely a lot more fun when you get it out of the way early, especially with a homer,' said Uggla, who went 3-for-3 and has a .370 average with 13 homers and 31 RBIs during his 32-game streak.
It's the longest in the majors this season and five behind Tommy Holmes’ franchise-record 37-game hitting streak for the 1945 Boston Braves.
Chipper Jones, Jose Constanza and Freddie Freeman added home runs for the Braves, who topped their previous season high for homers (four) and collected their fifth consecutive win and 11th in their past 16 games, accomplished in front of a sellout crowd of 50,146 at Turner Field.
"There were a lot of guys feeling good tonight," said Jones, whose homer was his 1,000th career extra-base hit. "It was a playoff-type atmosphere. I think everybody was kind of jacked up. We knew we were having a packed housea, and honoring Bobby all day ... we played accordingly.
“Still trying to make [Cox] proud any way I can. I hope he goes home happy. It’s a perfect topper to an awesome day.
Freeman and Uggla hit consecutive homers with one out in the fifth inning to push the lead to 8-1 and push Zambrano from simmer to boil.
The combustible Cubs pitcher threw consecutive inside pitches to the next batter, Jones, who hit a towering three-run homer to straightaway center field in his previous at-bat in the third inning.
Zambrano was ejected by home-plate umpire Tim Timmons immediately after the second pitch, which barely missed Jones’ midsection as he stepped back to avoid it.
Braves players spilled from the dugout onto the field, but none crossed the first-base line. Cubs players seemed disinterested in confrontation for Zambrano’s actions. Their backups stayed in the visitors’ dugout.
In his past two starts at Turner Field, Zambrano has allowed 14 hits, 16 earned runs and seven homers in a total of 5 2/3 innings. The burly right-hander gave up eight runs, six hits and two homers while recording four outs in the Braves’ home opener last season.
Since winning his first two starts against the Braves in 2002, Zambrano is 0-5 with a 6.97 ERA in his past 11 starts against them.
Jones and Zambrano stared at each other as the pitcher walked off the field, then Zambrano stood in the dugout for a moment and smiled before going to the clubhouse. He didn’t pause to destroy anything in the dugout, as he has been known to do, and when reporters entered the clubhouse they found his locker had been cleared out.
Some Cubs teammates reportedly said Zambrano told them he was going to retire.
“I hit that ball good -- real good," said Jones, who said he wasn't sure if Zambrano was throwing at him. “He threw me a split first pitch down for a strike, then he threw me two cutters [inside]. If they were straight balls I would have said, yeah [he’s throwing at him], but I don’t know. You could tell the tension was mounting with him out there. We had some good swings on him tonight.
"But we’re playing for something. It’d be foolish of me to do something stupid and get hurt, or get someone else hurt, get suspended or whatnot. We’ll take our ‘W' and win with class, and come out tomorrow... Carlos, he’s an intense guy. He’s a really good competitor. A guy you like to have in your corner every fifth day because of his intensity. Sometimes it works against him.”
Braves rookie starter Mike Minor (2-2) was charged with three runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, including two runs in the sixth on a two-out double by Alfonso Soriano.
Arodys Vizcaino, a top Braves prospect called up Wednesday from Triple-A Gwinnett, had an impressive second outing with one hit and no walks allowed in two innings. He had one strikeout, and 15 of his 24 pitches were clocked at 96-97 mph.
Constanza's homer was an opposite-field shot down the left-field line in the fourth inning, the second homer for the 160-pound, 27-year-old rookie who has been a fall-from-the-skies success since arriving from Triple-A two weeks ago. The outfielder has hit .408 in his first 13 big-league games.
"We were able to manufacture some runs, and we [also] hit the ball out of the ballpark with runners on base," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez, who was particularly pleased to win big on his mentor's Braves Hall of Fame induction day.
"A lot of good stuff today, one of my [most enjoyable] games ever, watching and everything, from the luncheon on. Good ending to a good day.”
About the Author
