Originally created 07/16/04

Giles, Braves whip Expos



ATLANTA - In his first game in nearly nine weeks, Marcus Giles sparked a pair of rallies with run-scoring doubles and seven different hitters knocked in runs as the Braves picked up where they left off before the All-Star break with an 8-0 drubbing of the Expos before a crowd of 33,883 fans.

Winners of seven of eight and 13 of 16, the Braves moved four games over .500 (46-42) and upped their record to 8-2 against the last-place Expos this year.

Jaret Wright benefited from the Braves' big bats, cruising through seven innings and allowing only three hits. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound right-hander, 5-0 in his past 10 starts, improved to 7-5.

Giles' return was impressive, but Chipper Jones' emergence from a two-month slump was more encouraging. Atlanta's cleanup hitter had a pair of doubles and a single in five trips, knocked in a run, and scored one as the Braves collected 11 hits, five for extra bases.

The Braves started Giles for the first time since May 15, and he doubled in a run in the three-run third. But Andruw Jones' patience was the catalyst to the rally.

He worked Expos starter Livan Hernandez for a walk to open the frame, Charles Thomas delivered a single to center, and Wright advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt. Rafael Furcal's sacrifice fly then sent in Jones, Giles laced a double over center fielder Endy Chavez's head, and J.D. Drew followed with a run-scoring smash off first baseman Nick Johnson to make it 3-0.

The Braves scored four more times in the fifth, when Hernandez was pulled with one out. A perfectly executed hit-and-run double by Giles accounted for one run, then Chipper Jones and Johnny Estrada followed with back-to-back RBI doubles that spelled the end of the evening for Montreal's lone All-Star.

Hernandez is now 2-12 in 17 career games against the Braves, 88-76 against the rest of baseball.

Reliever T.J. Tucker did nothing to help the Expos' cause. He walked Adam LaRoche, plunked Andruw Jones with a pitch, then gave up a bases-loaded single to Thomas to make it 7-0.

After Wright - a 14-2 winner over Hernandez and the Expos in San Juan - gave up a double to Jose Vidro in the first, he didn't allow another hit until the sixth.

Wright gave way to reliever Kevin Gryboski after seven, having thrown 99 pitches, 60 for strikes.

Reach Bill at BZack30143@aol.com.