Scherzer, Diamondbacks rout Braves, 12-0
By CHARLES ODUM, AP Sports Writer Sunday, May 17, 2009ATLANTA — Max Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings for his first major league win and Chris Snyder hit a grand slam in the ninth, capping the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 12-0 rout of the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night.
Snyder matched his career high with five RBIs, including the grand slam off Buddy Carlyle in a six-run ninth. Rookie Gerardo Parra drove in three runs with three hits as Arizona ended a four-game losing streak.
Scherzer (1-3) gave up four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Braves relievers walked eight batters in four innings. Jeff Bennett and Carlyle forced in runs with bases-loaded walks in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
Scherzer’s first win came in his 14th start. He lost his first seven decisions over two seasons and entered the game with a career 3.39 ERA in 22 games.
Poor baserunning hurt the Braves after Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones hit one-out singles in the first inning.
With runners on first and third, Scherzer’s pickoff throw to first caught Jones breaking to second. Shortstop Stephen Drew tagged Jones to end a brief rundown, and Drew threw to third where Mark Reynolds put the tag on Escobar trying to dive back to the bag.
Kenshin Kawakami (2-5) gave up five hits and three runs in five innings. He retired the last eight batters he faced before he was removed for a pinch hitter.
Four of Arizona’s five hits off Kawakami were extra-base hits, including back-to-back doubles by Reynolds and Eric Byrnes that gave the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead in the second. Byrnes scored later in the inning on Snyder’s sacrifice fly.
Felipe Lopez hit a third-inning double and scored on Parra’s single to center.
Kawakami has lost five of his last six starts and has not lasted more than six innings in any of his seven starts.
Atlanta reliever James Parr walked Chad Tracy and Snyder to start the seventh, setting up a two-run triple by Parra.
The control problems continued in the eighth, when Bennett walked four batters, including a bases-loaded pass to pinch-hitter Miguel Montero to force in a run.
Carlyle added two walks in the ninth. Byrnes had a run-scoring single before Snyder’s grand slam over the center-field wall.
Notes
Manager A.J. Hinch said RHP Brandon Webb, on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder since his opening day start, “did great” while throwing in the batting cage before the game. ... Braves LHP Tom Glavine will throw three innings in a simulated game on Monday as he continues his recovery from a sore left shoulder. ... Hinch said he met with LHP Doug Davis Saturday. Davis was upset that he was removed from Friday night’s game in the seventh after throwing only 80 pitches. “It’s done with as far as I’m concerned,” Hinch said. ... RHP Jorge Campillo (right rotator cuff tendinitis) gave up one hit in two scoreless innings in a minor league rehab start for Double-A Mississippi against Montgomery.
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