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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- Greg Maddux seemed well on his way to beating the
Marlins. Then Florida woke up and gave Chuck Smith, a 30-year-old
rookie, his first major league win.
|  | | Braves pitcher Greg Maddux reacts after the Florida Marlins scored a run in the sixth inning. Maddux gave up six runs in 6-2/3 innings (four earned) and fell to 12-5. |
"Pitching against somebody I idolize and someone I want to
pitch like some day, it's as good as it gets," Smith said after
the Marlins rallied past Maddux and the Atlanta Braves 12-4
Thursday night. "The team did a good job, and I kept us in there
long enough to keep it close."
Smith (1-3) gave up two runs and six hits in five innings,
walked four and struck out two, helping Florida stop a five-game
losing streak.
Cliff Floyd homered in a three-run sixth inning to start
Florida's comeback, and Mike Lowell hit a grand slam off Jason
Marquis.
"For the first five innings, Greg Maddux was Greg Maddux,"
Lowell said. "But we didn't panic. We took a good approach. We
battled and battled by getting some hits the opposite way."
Maddux (12-5) allowed only one runner past first base in the
first five innings and led 2-0.
Florida, which outhit the Braves 15-8, tied it in the sixth on
Floyd's one-out homer, the 15th off off Maddux this season, and
consecutive two-out singles by Lowell, Derrek Lee and Alex
Gonzalez, the latter a one-hopper over third baseman Chipper Jones.
Ramon Castro's bloop single to right scored Lee for a 3-2 lead.
"I was throwing good, but you have to keep the ball down to be
effective," Maddux said. "I got some balls up, and they found
some holes. You can say that some of them were bleeders, but I was
missing location. If you throw the ball where you want to, you're
liable to get hurt."
Atlanta manager Bobby Cox saw it differently. "Mad Dog was completely unlucky," Cox said. "There was a lot
of chinking going on out there." Maddux gave up three more runs in the seventh. Preston Wilson
hit an RBI single and Reggie Sanders dropped Lee's fly to right for
a three-base error as two runs scored.
"I think it was a sign of experience, a sign of maturity,"
Lowell said. "You've got to be aggressive against Maddux but
you've got to pick your spots. He's not going to miss inside and
he's not going to miss down the middle."
Maddux, 9-4 against the Marlins, lost his second straight start,
giving up six runs -- four earned -- and 10 hits in 6 2-3 innings. "You've got to pitch nine innings, not four or five," he said.
"It's not what you do in the early innings. It's what you do for
the game. You'd rather be wild early and better late, rather than
the other way around."
Atlanta closed to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh when Paul
Bako, released by Florida on July 21, hit his first homer since
July 23, 1999, and Andruw Jones had an RBI single.
Marquis forced in a run by walking Wilson with the bases loaded
in the eighth and Lowell, who went 3-for-4, followed with his
second career slam for an 11-4 lead. Mark Kotsay added an RBI
double in the ninth.
"It's tremendous, just what we've been looking for," Marlins
manager John Boles said. "When you bang out a lot of hits, like
we've been doing, but failing to bring guys home, it's a mental
drain -- really bothersome."
Atlanta built its early lead on Bobby Bonilla's RBI single in
the first and Rafael Furcal's run-scoring triple in the fifth,
which drove in Maddux, who had singled.
Game notes
Gonzalez left after six innings with a sprained left knee.
He is to be examined Friday by a team orthopedist. ... Luis
Castillo's infield single in the ninth improved his hitting streak
to 18 games. ... Atlanta CF Andruw Jones saved a potential run when
he charged in and made a diving catch to rob Floyd of a bloop
single in the seventh. ... Bako got his first hit as a Brave by
doubling in the fifth, but he was thrown out at the plate by Wilson
trying to score on Maddux's single to center.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Florida Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Tampa Bay 8
Kansas City 5
Minnesota 9
NY Yankees 3
Texas 7
Detroit 3
Chi. White Sox 6
Anaheim 5
Boston 5
Oakland 4
Toronto 7
Seattle 2
NY Mets 4
Montreal 3
(2nd game)
NY Mets 9
Montreal 8
Chicago Cubs 4
Philadelphia 1
Los Angeles 16
Colorado 11
Milwaukee 4
Pittsburgh 3
Florida 12
Atlanta 4
Arizona 17
St. Louis 5
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