Friday, June 17, 2005
Braves back Sosa in win over Rangers
ARLINGTON -- Jorge Sosa gave the Braves just what they needed in his first start of the season.
Sosa tossed five solid innings and struck out seven to lead Atlanta to a 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday in front of 30,221 fans at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
"He did a great job for us, and we really needed someone to do a great job," manager Bobby Cox said. "He had a good pitch count, the whole works. A bunch of punch-outs, he was throwing good. He didn't walk anybody, and that's the key when you're spot-starting like that."
Sosa made 21 appearances out of the bullpen this year and was asked to start Tuesday due to injuries in the starting rotation. With the performance, Sosa will get another start in Cincinnati.
"The Braves put confidence in me to start a game. I hadn't started in a while and it feels good," Sosa said through a translator. "It's my first start in a while and I felt good, but I understood that five innings and the amount of pitches were fine."
Sosa didn't allow a walk for the first time in 42 career starts. He upped his record to 3-0 on the season with a 2.79 ERA.
The bullpen completed the game with four shutout innings. Adam Bernero and Chris Reitsma each tossed a pair of innings and moved the bullpen's scoreless string to eight frames.
Sosa looked shaky in the first inning. He gave up a single to Michael Young, then allowed a two-run home run to Mark Teixeira. The runs were all Texas would get as Sosa didn't allow another runner past second base.
"He's got really good stuff," Young said. "We couldn't get anything going aside from the two-run home run in the first inning. He pretty much just shut us down after that."
Sosa received plenty of run support throughout the game, but especially from the top three spots in the order. Kelly Johnson, Marcus Giles and Julio Franco combined to go 8-for-12 with six RBI and four runs scored.
Johnson had recorded two hits in his previous 12 games with Atlanta, but was a triple away from the cycle on Tuesday.
"Everybody knows they can hit and it's a matter of fighting through it," said the 23-year old Johnson, who was hitting .059 going into Tuesday's contest. "The guys that stick around the longest can fight through these times."
Not to be outdone by the youngster, the 46-year old Franco posted three RBIs on a trio of hits.
The Braves offense struck early. Johnson led off the game with a double and Giles sacrificed him to third. Franco drove in the run with a single up the middle.
After the Teixeira home run, both sides went quietly the next three innings. Down 2-1 in the fifth, the Braves posted a five spot to take the lead for good.
Kelly Johnson / SS
Born: 02/22/82
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 205 lbs
Bats: L / Throws: R
More info:
Player page
Stats | Splits
Gallery
Team Site | Shop
With one out in the fifth, Ryan Langerhans and Wilson Betemit reached base to set the stage for Johnson's first career Major League home run. Johnson took Pedro Astacio's 1-1 change-up 411 feet over the right-center field wall to put the Braves up, 4-2.
"We know Kelly can hit and he was getting tough luck immediately when he got called up," Cox said. "He's really starting to stroke it nice, really nice."
On the next pitch, Giles lined a single to right field. He scored two pitches later when Franco delivered a two-run home run into the center-field grass to put the Braves up, 6-2. The homer was Franco's third of the year.
"It feels good to contribute because I haven't been hitting the ball well," Franco said.
Atlanta went up, 7-2, in the sixth with a Johnny Estrada double into the right-center field gap and an Andy Marte single to left field.
The win ended Atlanta's two-game losing skid and kept the hopes alive of breaking its string of losing five consecutive series.
"There are a lot of factors that make this a really sweet win," said Johnson, who resides in Austin, Texas in the offseason. "I had a day that I can look back and kind of remember. Just kind of breaking me out of what's been going on. On top of that, being in my home state and having friends and family in town, it feels great. It's been a good road trip so far."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
Sosa tossed five solid innings and struck out seven to lead Atlanta to a 7-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday in front of 30,221 fans at Ameriquest Field in Arlington.
"He did a great job for us, and we really needed someone to do a great job," manager Bobby Cox said. "He had a good pitch count, the whole works. A bunch of punch-outs, he was throwing good. He didn't walk anybody, and that's the key when you're spot-starting like that."
Sosa made 21 appearances out of the bullpen this year and was asked to start Tuesday due to injuries in the starting rotation. With the performance, Sosa will get another start in Cincinnati.
"The Braves put confidence in me to start a game. I hadn't started in a while and it feels good," Sosa said through a translator. "It's my first start in a while and I felt good, but I understood that five innings and the amount of pitches were fine."
Sosa didn't allow a walk for the first time in 42 career starts. He upped his record to 3-0 on the season with a 2.79 ERA.
The bullpen completed the game with four shutout innings. Adam Bernero and Chris Reitsma each tossed a pair of innings and moved the bullpen's scoreless string to eight frames.
Sosa looked shaky in the first inning. He gave up a single to Michael Young, then allowed a two-run home run to Mark Teixeira. The runs were all Texas would get as Sosa didn't allow another runner past second base.
"He's got really good stuff," Young said. "We couldn't get anything going aside from the two-run home run in the first inning. He pretty much just shut us down after that."
Sosa received plenty of run support throughout the game, but especially from the top three spots in the order. Kelly Johnson, Marcus Giles and Julio Franco combined to go 8-for-12 with six RBI and four runs scored.
Johnson had recorded two hits in his previous 12 games with Atlanta, but was a triple away from the cycle on Tuesday.
"Everybody knows they can hit and it's a matter of fighting through it," said the 23-year old Johnson, who was hitting .059 going into Tuesday's contest. "The guys that stick around the longest can fight through these times."
Not to be outdone by the youngster, the 46-year old Franco posted three RBIs on a trio of hits.
The Braves offense struck early. Johnson led off the game with a double and Giles sacrificed him to third. Franco drove in the run with a single up the middle.
After the Teixeira home run, both sides went quietly the next three innings. Down 2-1 in the fifth, the Braves posted a five spot to take the lead for good.
Kelly Johnson / SS
Born: 02/22/82
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 205 lbs
Bats: L / Throws: R
More info:
Player page
Stats | Splits
Gallery
Team Site | Shop
With one out in the fifth, Ryan Langerhans and Wilson Betemit reached base to set the stage for Johnson's first career Major League home run. Johnson took Pedro Astacio's 1-1 change-up 411 feet over the right-center field wall to put the Braves up, 4-2.
"We know Kelly can hit and he was getting tough luck immediately when he got called up," Cox said. "He's really starting to stroke it nice, really nice."
On the next pitch, Giles lined a single to right field. He scored two pitches later when Franco delivered a two-run home run into the center-field grass to put the Braves up, 6-2. The homer was Franco's third of the year.
"It feels good to contribute because I haven't been hitting the ball well," Franco said.
Atlanta went up, 7-2, in the sixth with a Johnny Estrada double into the right-center field gap and an Andy Marte single to left field.
The win ended Atlanta's two-game losing skid and kept the hopes alive of breaking its string of losing five consecutive series.
"There are a lot of factors that make this a really sweet win," said Johnson, who resides in Austin, Texas in the offseason. "I had a day that I can look back and kind of remember. Just kind of breaking me out of what's been going on. On top of that, being in my home state and having friends and family in town, it feels great. It's been a good road trip so far."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
