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ATLANTA(AP)
Prince Fielder
is still looking for the first three-homer performance of his career, but he'll settle for a nice defensive play as his third
game highlight.
Fielder's third two-homer game of the season gave the
Milwaukee Brewers
all the offense they needed and he threw a runner out at the plate in a 3-0 win over the punchless
Atlanta Braves
on Saturday night.
Jeff Suppan
(4-4) gave up six hits in 5 1-3 innings as the Brewers took their second straight shutout win over Atlanta and extended the
Braves' streak of scoreless innings to 22.
Milwaukee manager
Ken Macha
called the back-to-back shutouts ''very welcome.''
''The pitching coach is making the manager look good,'' Macha said of
Bill Castro
.
The first-place Brewers moved two games ahead of St. Louis in the NL Central.
Fielder has 15 career two-homer games, but never has hit more than two in a game. He led off the ninth with a walk from
Rafael Soriano
.
''I wasn't thinking three home runs,'' said Fielder of his last at-bat.
Fielder gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead with his homer off
Javier Vazquez
(4-5) in the fifth, hitting a hanging changeup.
''A mistake pitch,'' Vazquez said. ''He's locked in right now.''
Milwaukee added a run in the sixth when
Jason Kendall
singled to right and scored on
Craig Counsell
's double.
Fielder hit Eric O'Flaherty's first pitch in the seventh over the wall in right-center for his 15th.
The Braves were held to a season-low two hits in Friday night's 4-0 loss to Milwaukee. Atlanta's scoring woes continued even
after
Brian McCann
led off the sixth with his second career triple.
Ryan Braun
lost McCann's flyball in the lights in left field. With Braun holding his hands out, the ball landed behind him, a few feet
in front of the warning track. McCann was safe at third with a head-first slide.
McCann took off for the plate on
Garret Anderson
's grounder to first, but was thrown out by Fielder's throw to catcher
Jason Kendall
.
''It means a lot to me to be able to help my team both ways,'' Fielder said of his contributions on offense and in the field.
The Braves loaded the bases after Fielder's play.
Suppan left the game after walking
Jeff Francoeur
.
Todd Coffey
struck out
Martin Prado
but walked pinch-hitter
Greg Norton
to load the bases. Left-hander
Mitch Stetter
struck out
Kelly Johnson
on three pitches to end the inning.
''I was looking for something over the plate,'' Johnson said. ''The pitches were there, but (Stetter) is a funky guy. I've
seen him maybe once before. I'm just looking for him to make a mistake that I'm looking for. For whatever reason, the pitches
I got, I didn't pull the trigger.''
The Braves have lost three straight, and
Chipper Jones
left in the fifth with dizziness but left word he expects to be able to play Sunday.
Milwaukee's
Mike Cameron
was ejected by plate umpire Marvin Hudson for arguing a called third strike in the ninth. Hudson's cap was pushed back as
the two argued face to face.
''He said I bumped him,'' Cameron said. ''I didn't move. I just said it wasn't a strike. It wasn't a ... strike.''
Added Macha: ''I didn't see what happened. It may have been hat-to-hat contact.''
Trevor Hoffman
, Milwaukee's fourth reliever, pitched the ninth for his 15th straight save.
Vazquez gave up four hits and two runs in six innings and has a losing record despite his 3.54 ERA.
''You would think that you'd scratch some runs together and give some support to Javier,'' Johnson said. ''He pitched really
well. Three runs, we should at least be in the mix there.''
The Braves, who had their NL-leading seventh shutout loss, also were shut out in back-to-back games by Pittsburgh on April
17-18.
''Hopefully we can pull out of this funk,'' Vazquez said. ''I've always said if your offense is good or not, you have to go
out there and throw your game.''
Notes: The Braves' top pitching prospect,
Tommy Hanson
, will start Sunday's game in his major league debut. ... 1B
Casey Kotchman
missed his fourth straight game with a strained right calf and severe bruise on his right shin. ... RHP
Buddy Carlyle
, placed on the 15-day DL on May 26 with an upper back strain, has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes after his sudden loss
of about 15 pounds, according to manager
Bobby Cox
.
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