ATLANTA (AP) -- Two big swings and one last 98-mph
fastball left the Atlanta Braves with a giant sigh of
relief.
Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer and Michael
Bourn also went deep Tuesday night, leading the Braves to a 5-4 win over
the St. Louis Cardinals that snapped an eight-game losing streak --
Atlanta's longest in more than two years.
"This is
not an indication of what's going to happen the next day or the next
week or the next month," Uggla said. "But it definitely snaps the
feeling of, `Aww, man, are we ever going to win
again?'"
Bourn led off the bottom of the first with
his fifth homer of the season, tying a career high. Uggla made it 4-0 in
the third, sending one into the seats in left-center. The Cardinals
closed within a run in the seventh, but Eric O'Flaherty and Craig
Kimbrel each worked one perfect with two strikeouts to preserve the
win.
Kimbrel earned his 14th save in 15 chances,
ending the game by fanning Matt Holliday on a fastball that clocked 98
mph. The right-hander pumped his fist and slapped hands with his
teammates, everyone looking as though a weight had been
lifted.
"Everyone knows how bad we've been
scuffling," Uggla said. "When you get that first one, it eases the
tension, eases the pressure. We know what it feels like to win again. It
was obviously a big night for us."
Randall Delgado
(3-5) worked into the sixth, allowing three runs, and the Cardinals got
closer in the seventh on Yadier Molina's third RBI of the night, a
run-scoring single. He went 4-for-4, including a solo
homer.
Moline liked the previous day better, when he
had just one hit but the Cardinals won.
"I feel
good," said Molina, who is hitting .560 (14-for-25) with three homers
and 11 RBIs during a six-game hitting streak. "At the same time, I'd
trade my 1-for-5 from last night and the win and not take the 4-for- 4
and the loss."
Jake Westbrook (4-4) struggled to keep
his sinker down and lasted only five
innings.
"That's a couple of games in a row I've put
us in a hole," he said. "I've got to do a better job. With the sinker
that I have, that should keep the ball in the
yard."
The Braves shook things up before the game,
sending reliever Kris Medlen to the minors so he could stretch out his
arm and return to the big leagues as a starter. He was replaced on the
roster by speedy outfielder Jose Constanza, who started in left and
batted ninth -- ahead of Delgado -- as manager Fredi Gonzalez looked for
ways to shake the team out of its worst slump since a nine-game winless
stretch in April 2010.
"Why not?" Gonzalez
said.
The unusual lineup paid off in the fifth, when
Constanza led off with a single, moved to second on Westbrook's errant
throw to first, raced to third on Bourn's deep flyout and sped home on
Westbrook's wild pitch. That gave the Braves a 5-2 lead, which turned
out to be just enough to hold off the Cardinals.
"He
brings the team a little energy," Gonzalez said of Constanza, who also
sparked the Braves last season after being called
up.
Molina had his third four-hit game of the season.
He began the comeback with a run-scoring single in the fourth, when St.
Louis scored twice to halve Atlanta's lead to 4-2. Molina followed in
the sixth with his eighth homer, a one-out shot into the left-field
seats. Then, in the seventh, he came through again with an RBI single to
right off Jonny Venters, making it a one-run
game.
But Venters, whose struggles have apparently
cost him his role as the eighth-inning setup man to Kimbrel, escaped the
jam by striking out Matt Adams with runners at first and
third.
"Jonny made some strides," Gonzalez said. "He
got them hitting ground balls. Now we've got to work on getting them to
hit ground balls at somebody."
Westbrook gave up only
five hits, but the long ball sent him to his fourth straight start
without a win. Bourn drove a 2-2 pitch into the seats to start the
Atlanta first, tying the career high for homers that he set with Houston
in 2008. There's plenty of time to take down that mark, with four
months left in the season.
"I'm not trying to hit
home runs," Bourn said. "They just come when they
come."
Bourn took the more customary leadoff role in
the third, working Westbrook for a one-out walk. Martin Prado singled on
a hit-and-run and Brian McCann grounded out before Uggla came through
with his eighth homer.
NOTES: The
Cardinals outhit the Braves 10-5. ... Gonzalez didn't say who Medlen
will replace in the rotation once he returns from Triple-A Gwinnett, but
left-hander Mike Minor (2-4, 6.98 ERA) is the most likely candidate to
get bumped. ... Atlanta also snapped a streak of four straight games
giving up at least seven runs. ... Skip Schumaker's single in the fifth
extended his hitting streak to seven games.
