ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Marlins at Braves – 09/22/2002

A landmark day. Greg Maddux got his 15th win of the season, the 15th season in a row he’s won 15 or more. Only Cy Young has done that before. And John Smoltz got his 53rd save, tying the NL record. He’ll probably hold it on his own at the end of the season, but with only two series left (plus a possible makeup game) I don’t see how he’ll get the major league record. Still, it’s pretty impressive.

The Braves won 4-1, getting al ltheir runs in the sixth. Lockhart, of all people, drove in two runs; he was 2-2 with a walk. He’s now hitting .218, and Vinny is at .227, so he’s still got a shot to be only the second-worst-hitting regular on the team. As bad as Lockhart is, I’d far rather have him at the plate than Vinny, at least against a righthander. Chipper had an RBI and a run scored on two hits. He needs four more RBI to reach 100 for the seventh consecutive year. He only has 87 runs so he probably won’t get 100 of those; he’s done that the last six years as well. Has anyone ever done both seven times in a row?

The Braves have a day off and then travel to Philadelphia. The Phillies are a game out of second and a game below .500, and might have some reason to want the wins… The Braves are currently three up on Arizona for the best record in the NL; the Diamondbacks’ game is just starting.