Jurrjens, Braves shut down Phils, 11-1
Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins
gets tangled up with Atlanta Braves' Martin Prado
after forcing him out at second base on a
Garret Anderson ground ball in the third inning
of a baseball game in Atlanta, Tuesday June 30, 2009.
ATLANTA Jair Jurrjens allowed his first hit with two outs in the seventh inning on a night the Atlanta Braves finally gave him some run support, beating the reeling Philadelphia Phillies 11-1 on Wednesday.
Jurrjens (6-6) began the night with the seventh-lowest run support in the majors, including only five runs in his last four losses. That lack of support ended as the Braves scored seven runs off Cole Hamels (4-5), who left the game after giving up three hits and a walk in the fifth.
Matt Diaz had a two-run homer and Diory Hernandez hit his first major league home run, each off Tyler Walker in the six-run fifth inning. Diaz had three hits.
Jurrjens' bid to become the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter against the Phillies since the Cardinals' Bob Forsch on April 16, 1978, ended with Paul Bako's single with two outs in the seventh.
Jurrjens gave up one hit and four walks and one unearned run in seven innings. He struck out six while combining with relievers Kris Medlen and Manny Acosta on a two-hitter.
The Braves have won three straight. They are still three games under .500 but trail the first-place Phillies by only three games in the NL East.
Philadelphia has lost 11 of 14, including the first two games at Atlanta, where the Phillies were 9-0 last season. The Phillies lead Florida by only a half game.
Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins was 0 for 3 with a walk. He has no hits in his last 27 at-bats and is hitting only .205.
Jurrjens, who was 0-4 in June despite posting a 3.68 ERA in five starts, won for the first time since May 29.
The Braves scored only 41 runs for Jurrjens in his first 16 starts before jumping on Hamels.
Martin Prado, who set career highs with four hits and four RBIs in a 5-4 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night, hit a two-run double in the Braves' three-run third inning. Chipper Jones then drove in Prado with a single. Jones drove in three runs with two hits.
The Phillies scored their only run off Jurrjens in the fourth. With one out, Jayson Werth walked and moved to third on Jurrjens' throwing error. Werth scored the unearned run on Greg Dobbs' flyball to left field.
Jones had a two-run double and Brian McCann added a run-scoring single in the fifth, ending Hamels' night. Hamels has failed to complete the fifth inning in two straight losses.
Hamels gave up nine hits and seven runs in four innings. His ERA rose from 4.44 to 4.98. He was 14-10 with a 3.09 ERA in 2008.
The Braves added two runs in the eighth off Jack Taschner.
NOTES: Braves RHP Tim Hudson's first injury rehab assignment has been set for July 19 at Class A Myrtle Beach. Hudson is recovering from elbow ligament-replacement surgery on July 27, 2008. ... RHP Rodrigo Lopez will be recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to pitch for the Phillies against the Mets on Friday night. The 33-year-old Lopez hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007, when he was 5-4 with Colorado.
