Braves Give Nomo A Ride

In his first game since being dealt to the Atlanta Braves, Greg Myers took some of the sting out of the season-ending injury to Javy Lopez.

Myers went 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored and two RBIs and Atlanta hit four home runs Tuesday night to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 10-2.

"Lopez is definitely a big loss for the Braves and that adds a little pressure," Myers said. "It's a welcome situation. It's certainly better than the one I had in San Diego."

Gerald Williams hit a leadoff homer in the seventh off Eric Plunk as the Braves won their third straight.

Myers, reacquired by Atlanta from San Diego on Monday for a minor leaguer after the Braves learned Lopez needed season-ending knee surgery, blooped a single to left in his first at-bat in the second inning.

"It helped me relax. I took a deep breath and told myself that maybe I'd hit one hard eventually," said Myers, who hadn't faced major-league pitching since June 29 when he was placed on the 15-day DL with a right hamstring by the Padres.

"I felt pretty good. I thought I'd be a little rusty, but I saw the ball pretty good and got a couple of hits."

The Atlanta win extended their NL East lead to 1@1/2 games over the second-place Mets, who lost 5-1 to Pittsburgh. Atlanta has led the division since April 24.

The Braves haven't been out of first place this late in the season since 1994, when they finished behind Montreal during the strike-shortened season.

Kevin Millwood (12-5), Atlanta's sole All-Star pitcher, allowed two runs one earned and five hits in seven innings. It was Millwood's first win in three starts since the All-Star break.

Nomo gave up six runs and a season-high nine hits in six innings as Milwaukee lost its fifth straight.

"He (Nomo) ot the ball up over the plate and they hurt him with home runs," Milwaukee manager Phil Garner said. "He missed his location tonight, the first time this year he's done that. Tonight he needed some help from the offense, and he didn't get that."

Milwaukee managed an unnearned run in the first on a two-base throwing error by Simon at first and an RBI single by Alex Ochoa.

Simon doubled in a run in the second, but Geoff Jenkins' 16th homer put the Brewers ahead 2-1 in the fourth. Jones' 21st homer gave the Braves a 3-2 lead in the bottom half, Boone homered in the fifth and Simon's homer made it 6-2 in the sixth.

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