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The Tomahawk Times - Teixeira, Campillo help Braves beat Brewers, 8-1
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MILWAUKEE -- Yet another good start from Jorge Campillo, coupled with a big day at the plate for Mark Teixeira gave the Atlanta Braves everything they needed to salvage the finale of a three game set against the Milwaukee Brewers by an 8-1 final on Thursday.
After two consecutive strong starts by Braves hurlers went by the wayside in the first two games of the series, Campillo (2-0) struck out six Milwaukee Brewers over five innings and allowed just one run. The lone Brewers run came on a fifth inning homer by Russell Branyan, snapping Campillo's string of 14-consecutive shut-out innings since joining the starting rotation.
The Braves broke an 18 inning scorless streak when Teixeira singled in a run on an infield single that ended in a collision at first with Milwaukee starter Seth McClung. Both players remained in the game, and it was McClung who would be victimized by Teixeira's sixth homer of the season in the fifth.
Milwaukee elected to walk Chipper Jones intentionally, to put two men on with one out in the inning. Teixeira followed with a 372-foot homer to right field that gave the Braves a 4-0 lead.
McClung (2-2) continued to struggle that fifth inning, and was lifted from the game after giving up a double to Jeff Francoeur and issuing back-to-back walks to Gregor Blanco and Corky Miller to load the bases.
The unlikely hit of the game came off the bat of Campillo, who greeted new Milwaukee pitcher Tim Dillard with a 2-run single to right that broke the game open. It closed the book on McClung, who allowed six runs on eight hits and six walk over four and two thirds innings.
Another pair of Atlanta runs came across in the ninth inning. Kelly Johnson stroked a two-run single against Julian Tavarez to make it an 8-1 game.
Jones continues to sizzle at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a pair of walks and raising his Major League-best average to .420 on the year. Jones also paces the game with 79 hits, and a .500 OBP.
Atlanta's bullpen took over and tossed four shut-out innings, highlighted by a dominant performance from Manny Acosta. The 27-year old righty struck out all four men he faced after entering the game with two out in the seventh.
Rafael Soriano made his return for the Braves, tossing a scoreless ninth with a walk and a strikeout to close out the victory.
On Deck: The Braves travel to Cincinnati to begin a three-game weekend series with the Reds on Friday. Tom Glavine will face Edinson Volquez in the opener. Game time is set for 7:10 PM EST.
