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Thursday, Apr. 13 2:20pm ET
Cubs sweep Braves as Nieves comes through | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CHICAGO (AP) -- Here's how much a return home has revitalized the Chicago Cubs: Shortstop Ricky Gutierrez has hit twice as many homers the last two days at Wrigley Field as he did all of last season. Anywhere. Gutierrez tied the game off Greg Maddux with a solo shot in the sixth, and Jose Nieves, who lost his job to Gutierrez, hit a pinch-hit single to win it with two outs in the ninth as the Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep. "It's tough to say you're going to sweep the Braves, they're such a good team," Gutierrez said. "We had a tough road trip, but now we're playing together, starting to jell." Shane Andrews, whose three-run homer Monday sparked a four-run, ninth-inning rally, was hit by a pitch from Mike Remlinger (0-1) to start the bottom of the ninth and moved to second on Jeff Reed's sacrifice. Damon Buford struck out but Nieves made just his eighth at-bat of the season count, hitting the first pitch between first and second and again sending the Cubs out of their dugout in celebration. "It's been tough to digest what's been going on the last three days," Remlinger said. "I was just trying to knock Andrews back because he's been killing us all series. You can't leave it over the plate, so you gotta go in." Nieves is now the Cubs' utility infielder after being the starting shortstop the final one-third of last season. "When you're in a situation where the game is tied, you know you might have to pinch-hit, go in the field or pinch-run," Nieves said. "It's different from last year, I'm not going to play every day. But I worked in spring training getting used to that role." Mark Guthrie (2-1), who worked a perfect 1 2/3 innings of relief, got the victory on a day that started as a pitching duel between Maddux and Kevin Tapani. Gutierrez hit his second homer in as many games to tie the game at 2 in the sixth off Maddux, who was going for his third straight win. Gutierrez had one homer in 85 games with the Astros last season. "I was upset that I ran out of gas," Maddux said. "It was one of those kinda days where you know you're done. I threw a hanging slider to Gutierrez, not a good pitch." Eddie Perez hit his second two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. The Braves threatened in the eighth as Tapani hit Andres Galarraga in the helmet with a pitch and walked Andruw Jones before he was replaced by Guthrie. Perez popped out and Brian Hunter rolled to short to end the threat. Tapani, looking to end a 10-game losing streak, retired the first eight batters before Maddux rolled a single to center in the third. Tapani returned the favor in the bottom half. After Reed doubled and moved to third on a fly ball, Tapani hit an RBI single to left to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. The Braves tied it in the fourth as Bobby Bonilla drew a two-out walk and Andrew Jones and Perez followed with singles. Maddux worked seven innings, giving up five hits and two runs with no walks and six strikeouts. Tapani went 7 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and failing for the 13th start since last June 24 to get a victory. Game notesGalarraga left the game in the top of the eighth after the Tapani pitch hit him in the side of the batting helmet and knocked it off. Galarraga, who missed last season while battling cancer, was not seriously injured and walked off under his own power. "It hit my shoulder first," he said. "I tried to talk Bobby (Cox) into staying but he wanted to make sure everything was OK." Galarraga said he was checked out and cleared by Cubs doctors ... Sammy Sosa has nearly twice as many strikeouts (15) as hits (eight). He whiffed twice more Thursday before legging out an eighth-inning double . ... Maddux entered the game 7-2 lifetime against the Cubs, his former team, including 3-1 at Wrigley.. ... Chipper Jones had his eight-game season-opening hitting streak stopped with an 0-for-4. ... The Cubs have won 10 of last 11 regular-season games against the Braves at Wrigley Field. ... Gutierrez has an eight-game hitting streak. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Atlanta Clubhouse Chicago Cubs Clubhouse RECAPS Tampa Bay 6 Chi. White Sox 5
Chicago Cubs 3
Los Angeles 11 AUDIO/VIDEO   Jose Nieves discusses his pinch-hit single to win the game.wav: 78 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Beating the Braves is a big positive for Mark Grace.wav: 89 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6   | |||||