ESPN.com – MLB – Recap – Giants at Braves – 10/02/2002

I can’t stand it. Tom Glavine had nothing and gave up six runs in five innings. And Chris Hammond gave up two of his own, after pitching basically shutout ball for two months. And he had to leave the game with a sprained neck, and might be out for awhile. Unbelievable, and it’s 8-2 only because Tom had driven in two.

The Braves came back with three runs in the eighth, and it was 8-5, and those two runs off Hammond loomed pretty large. Then the first two runners got on in the ninth. But Julio Franco — inexplicably starting at first base, especially with a lefty pitching tomorrow — popped out, and Gary Sheffield, who had homered earlier, grounded into a double play. Argh.

Good game for Andruw, who scored two runs and stole a homer from Bonds. Matt Franco, the third-best hitter on the team in the regular season, never got to swing the bat, being lifted after coming in to pinch-hit when the Giants changed relievers. In the end, the Braves got ten hits; if Millwood and Maddux are effective and the Braves hit like that, they’ll be okay… Night game tomorrow, Millwood versus Kirk Rueter. Here’s hoping it’s just the Marlins who have Kevin’s number.