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06/11/2002 02:04 am ET
Maddux rebounds after rough start
By Todd Lorenz / MLB.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- When Greg Maddux starts a game, the rest of the Atlanta Braves normally spend most of their postgame rap sessions with the media talking about another successful performance.
After Monday's 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins in 15 innings the Atlanta
clubhouse had a bit of a "Bizzaro World" feeling as the Maddux spent time
apologizing for his performance.
In the opening frame, Maddux allowed five consecutive singles before recording
his first out. By the time the inning was over, Minnesota had sent nine men to
the plate en route to a five-run inning.
"I think if I would have done better in the first inning things would have gone
a little differently," Maddux said. "I have to tip my hat to my teammates. I put
them in the hole."
However it wasn't a hole that they couldn't escape.
The Braves stormed back with three runs in the fifth and Chipper Jones belted
a two-run homer, his first since May 9, to tie the game at 5-5 in the sixth.
"To battle back the way they did after that shows a lot of character and I think
that's a reason we've been good for so long," Maddux said.
While Maddux complimented the character of his offense, he showed as much
determination as anyone on the field. After battling through the five-run first,
Maddux allowed just four more hits and held the Twins scoreless over the next six innings.
"I located the ball just a little bit better, got the ball down a little bit
better and they hit it at people," Maddux said. "I mean there's always somebody
up next and you've got to get ready to try to get them out. Unfortunately, I had
to do that too many times in the first inning."
Just as Maddux rolled through the rest of his outing, so did the Braves bullpen.
Mike Remlinger, Chris Hammond, Kevin Gryboski, Darren Holmes and Kerry
Lightenberg combined to shut the Twins out for seven more innings before
Cristian Guzman followed Tom Prince's infield single by stroking a game-winning, two-out RBI double off the right-field baggie.
"You don't ever want to lose," said Lightenberg, who fell to 0-3 with the loss.
"Epecially as well as we played and with a chance to win the game. The way it
ended kind of sucked.
Just one pitch. I don't even know if it was a bad pitch .It was just a pitch
that got hit. With the runner moving it was gonna be a bang-bang play."
It looked like the Braves might have a chance to catch Prince at the plate as
right fielder Gary Sheffield made a strong throw towards the plate, but first
baseman Wes Helms cut the throw before making a high and late relay to home.
"I thought [the throw] was on line," Lightenberg said. "It was close. I couldn't
really tell because I was running, but even when Wes cut it if he would have made a
low throw it would have been close."
Braves skipper Bobby Cox, who was ejected for arguing with first base-umpire
Mike Fichter in the eighth, didn't think the game should have even got to that
point.
The Braves put a runner at second base in the eighth, 10th, and 14th frames, but
their best chance came in the 11th when Chipper Jones reached third base with
just one out. Unfortunately for the Atlanta faithful, Vinny Castilla and Helms
stranded Jones with back-to-back ground outs.
"We had all kinds of chances to win this game," Cox said. "It seemed like we had
runners in scoring position almost every inning. We just couldn't get the big
hit tonight."
Despite seeing their winning streak come to a disappointing end after six games,
the Braves still feel that they showed something in the loss.
"I didn't think any of us quit after the first inning," Maddux said. "If you're
going to beat us it's not going to be easy. I was glad to see the way everybody
played. I just wish I could have done a little bit better for them."
Todd Lorenz is an editorial producer for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League baseball or its clubs.
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