NewsBraves do little things right, sweep Nats
McCann's theft opens three-run inning; Frenchy triples twice
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
04/12/09 6:36 PM ET
ATLANTA -- Even with the newly-svelte form he gained during the offseason, Brian McCann will never be considered anything other than speed-challenged. But the cerebral Braves catcher has managed to prove that stealing bases doesn't necessarily require speed.McCann produced the element of surprise with a fourth-inning stolen base that kick-started a string of two-out fortune that the Braves utilized to complete a three-game series sweep of the Nationals with an 8-5 win on Sunday afternoon at Turner Field.
"We laugh, but Mac's stolen base is really what got things going today," said Jeff Francoeur, who created his own rarity with a pair of triples. "Before that, it was kind of a dead game from both standpoints. ... As much as we joke about his speed, it ended up working out for us."
Nationals starter Scott Olsen had surrendered just one hit before issuing a fourth-inning, two-out walk to McCann, who took off for second base when first baseman Adam Dunn chose to play behind him. The All-Star catcher's ninth stolen base in 11 career attempts sparked the Braves, who saw Matt Diaz, Francoeur and Martin Prado follow with three consecutive run-scoring hits.
Diaz's RBI double, the first of Francoeur's two triples and Prado's RBI single started a trend for the Braves, who scored each of their first five runs with two outs.
"Clutch hits are the big ones, and we got plenty of those," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who also saw Chipper Jones and McCann produce successive two-out RBI singles off Olsen in the fifth inning.
While the clutch hits were key, the afternoon's most encouraging development occurred when Rafael Soriano registered two strikeouts in a perfect ninth to record his first save of the season. Coming back from an August surgical procedure that repaired a nerve in his right elbow, Soriano made just four appearances during the exhibition season.
But having allowed just one hit in the four scoreless innings he's pitched during the first week of the regular season, Soriano has been the club's most consistent reliever. He was provided this save opportunity because Cox didn't want to pitch Peter Moylan or Mike Gonzalez, who had both appeared in the first two games of the series.
"I think Soriano is getting back," Cox said. "He's really looking good."
Soriano's latest outing allowed Jair Jurrjens to notch his second win of the young season. The 23-year-old right-hander worked a perfect first inning and then encountered some control issues that led to him issuing five walks in 5 1/3 innings. Of the four runs -- three earned -- that he surrendered, just one of them came as a result of one of those free passes.
Elijah Dukes' two-out, two-run double highlighted a three-run fifth inning, during which the Nationals tied the game on a Ryan Zimmerman grounder that eluded Prado, who was making a rare appearance at first base. Jurrjens issued back-to-back walks after the Prado error and then escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout of Josh Willingham.
"The first couple of innings things clicked, and then after that, I tried to be too perfect and not pitch to contact," Jurrjens said. "When you fall behind and have to throw a strike, that's when you're going to get hurt."
Unlike Jurrjens, Olsen wasn't able to find similar fortune when he was one pitch away from escaping trouble. The Nationals left-hander had retired nine straight before issuing a four-pitch walk that allowed McCann the opportunity to attempt his club's first stolen base of the season.
"He's real smart," Cox said of McCann, who was successful with each of his five stolen-base attempts last year. "He knows when to go. I give him the green light, and when he thinks he can steal a base, I let him go. He steals it when he knows he can."
After McCann slid in safely, Diaz followed with a double that put him in position to score on the first of Francoeur's two triples. The 25-year-old's second triple came in the eighth inning when Nationals right fielder Austin Kearns lost a rather routine fly ball in the sun.
"I'll never do that again," Francoeur said. "I can't remember the last time I had one triple, much less two triples in a game."
It's understandable if Francoeur forgot that he had three triples last year. Like the rest of his teammates, he's attempting to put 2008 in the past and simply enjoy the 5-1 start that has accompanied the '09 season.
"It's good to get off to a good start," Cox said. "If you get off 1-5, instead of 5-1 or something, it's hard to crawl back up. So we'll take the start that we have."
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
