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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
BOSTON (AP) -- Terry Mulholland had Boston Red Sox batters
chasing breaking pitches. Javy Lopez just kept hitting them.
Lopez, who had two game-winning hits against Boston on breaking
pitches last season, jumped on another Saturday for a two-run homer
as the Atlanta Braves won 5-1.
"I'm not going to say anything. I don't want to tell them,"
Lopez said with grin. "It's like a combination of confidence with
a little guessing."
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It's bad news for
Boston's Crawford, Nixon
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BOSTON (AP) -- Rookie surprise Paxton Crawford figured to stay
with the Red Sox longer. Right fielder Trot Nixon hoped to
be back sooner.
But Saturday, the Red Sox sent Crawford back to Triple-A Pawtucket despite excelling in his first two
major-league starts. And Nixon, on the disabled list with a hamstring injury, had to
leave a Gulf Coast League game in Fort Myers, Fla.
Nixon was to return to Boston to have his condition
re-evaluated.
"He's not going to be able to keep playing down there,"
Williams said. "He had to come out of that game today because of
his leg."
Crawford, a ninth-round pick in 1995, got his chance when Pedro
Martinez went on the disabled list June 29 with a strained oblique
muscle in his left side. He's scheduled to come off it to pitch
Thursday against the Mets in Boston's first game after the
All-Star break.
"If I have to spend a month or two in Pawtucket, that's fine,"
Crawford said. "I know I'll be here sooner or later."
Crawford allowed two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 7-2 loss
to the White Sox in his debut July 1. He was even better
last Thursday when he got his first major-league win. He allowed
one run and six hits in seven innings of an 8-7 victory over
Minnesota.
"The kid did fine," Williams said, but "we have these other
pitchers to start after the break and he has to continue to start,
too. This will allow him to pitch, hopefully, next Thursday" for
Pawtucket.
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The Red Sox had scored 44 runs in a four-game sweep in Minnesota
last week. Then they played a much better team and managed only
seven hits in a 5-3 loss to Atlanta on Friday night, the same total
they had against Mulholland (9-8) Saturday.
"His breaking ball was pretty sharp," said Lopez, who caught
Mulholland. "He was controlling it."
Mulholland worked eight innings, striking out three, walking
none and allowing a run on Nomar Garciaparra's sacrifice fly in the
sixth. John Rocker finished with a perfect ninth.
"It was just a matter of trying to mix it up so they didn't get
used to one pitch," Mulholland said. "If they were chasing, I was
going to go outside."
Lopez drove in three runs with his 12th homer in the eighth and
a second-inning single, Chipper Jones walked in the seventh,
forcing in the run that broke a 1-1 tie, and Andruw Jones added his
23rd homer in the ninth.
The Red Sox wasted opportunities in the fourth and fifth when
the first two batters hit safely.
"We have to find a way to keep battling through the tough times
when four or five guys are struggling," Boston's Jason Varitek
said.
The Red Sox dropped their fifth straight series at Fenway Park.
The Braves lost three of four games before Tom Glavine's strong
performance Friday night got them on the winning track. Mulholland
was the second straight southpaw to stop Boston.
"I don't even know what our record is against lefties,"
manager Jimy Williams said. It's 7-12. Against righties, Boston is
35-29.
Boston nearly got out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh when
Bryce Florie got a 1-2 count on Chipper Jones. But he threw three
balls and Lopez, who had singled, trotted in with the go-ahead run.
On Friday night, Rocker and Kerry Ligtenberg each walked in a
run, prompting Atlanta manager Bobby Cox to say, "It just seems
like there's more walks this season than I've seen in my life."
Cox, who has been in professional baseball since 1960 as a
player and manager, saw more Saturday as Boston's Ramon Martinez
(6-5) walked five in six innings. He left reluctantly after walking
Bobby Bonilla in the seventh with the score 1-1.
"Whatever decision Jimy makes is his decision," Martinez said.
"Nothing I can do about it."
Mulholland has escaped the proliferation of free passes. He
hasn't walked a batter in 13 innings against Boston this season and
entered Saturday's game fifth in the NL in fewest walks per nine
innings, 1.9.
"He's had some great games this year, but that was probably his
best," Cox said.
Mulholland got some breathing room in the eighth when Florie
allowed a leadoff single to Andres Galarraga. Jeff Fassero, making
his first relief appearance of the season, got Wally Joyner to pop
out before Lopez homered.
The Braves had taken a 1-0 lead in the second on a double by
Brian Jordan and singles by Joyner and Lopez. Those were Atlanta's
only hits through six innings. On Friday, the second also was a big
inning for the Braves as they scored all their runs.
The Red Sox tied it in the sixth when one-out singles by Jeff
Frye and Carl Everett put runners at first and third. Garciaparra
came through with a sacrifice fly.
Game notes
Boston's Jose Offerman ended his 12-game hitting streak,
going 0-for-4. ... Martinez struck out three of the first eight
batters he faced but none of the last 18. ... One day after the Red
Sox streak of 23 games with at least one extra-base hit ended, they
had two doubles. ... Mulholland had given up at least 10 hits in
four of his previous five starts. ... For the second straight day,
Atlanta had a runner thrown out trying to steal in the first when
Varitek got Chipper Jones. Before the series, Varitek and Scott
Hatteberg had thrown out only 15 of 89 runners.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Boston Clubhouse
RECAPS
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