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The Tomahawk Times - Francoeur homers twice, Braves win 10-2 over Nationals
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WASHINGTON D.C. -- A rain delay of roughly 90 minutes could do nothing to rain on the Atlanta Braves hit parade on Saturday. Jeff Francoeur homered twice and drove home seven runs as the Atlanta Braves handed the Washington Nationals their ninth straight defeat, by a 10-2 final score.
Atlanta broke out on top in support of John Smoltz (2-0), who went six innings and allowed just one run to pick up his second win in as many starts. Francoeur highlighted the four-run Atlanta first inning against Washington starter John Lannan (0-2) with a three-run homer into the stands in left.
Facing nemesis Jason Bergmann in the seventh, Francoeur connected for his second home run of the game, a two-run shot that made it a 9-1 Atlanta advantage. Francoeur was 3-for-5 on the day with the two homers and a career-high seven RBI.
Brian McCann enjoyed a fine day at the plate as well, going 3-for-4 and belting his third homer of the season. The blast off Bergmann in the seventh immediately following Francoeur's, giving the Braves their first back-to-back homers of the season.
Washington was unable to much of anything against Smoltz through the first six innings of the game. Willie Harris stroked a fourth inning triple that got Washington on the board, but they would muster just one more run off four Braves relievers.
Chipper Jones played through some mild soreness in his right quadriceps, an injury he said started bothering him during the series in Colorado. Jones scored twice, had a hit and drew a pair of walks before Martin Prado checked into the game at third in the bottom of the fifth with Atlanta up 7-1.
On Deck: Tom Glavine takes the mound for Atlanta, as the Braves look to sweep the struggling Washington Nationals. Tim Redding will oppose Glavine. Game time is set for 1:35 PM EST.
