Braves Stay Tied For First

For one night, Coors Field played like a normal ballpark.

After a length pregame storm, five pitchers held off Atlanta despite allowing 10 hits as the Colorado Rockies beat the Braves 3-2 Tuesday night.

A relatively high 63 percent humidity in Denver turned the ballpark into a pitching paradise. The five runs marked the fewest at Coors Field since Darryl Kile two-hit the New York Mets in a 3-1 win last Sept. 10.

Wright, winless in five starts since last Sept. 6, allowed one run and seven hits in five innings.

"Remember the no-hitter Hideo Nomo threw at us in 1995," Wright said. "We had a rain delay. So it helps."

David Lee (2-0) allowed one run and three hits in 1 1-3 innings in relief of Wright, and Dave Veres got five outs for his 23rd save in 28 chances.

"Everything begins with pitching in this ballpark," Colorado manager Jim Leyland said. "Jamey gave us what we needed, our bullpen came through and we got just enough offense."

Edgard Clemente went 3-for-3 with two doubles. Neifi Perez homered for the Rockies, while Jose Hernandez connected for second straight night for the Braves.

"Wright did a good job of making pitches when he had to," Atlanta thid baseman Chipper Jones said, "He was effectively wild, too and kept us off balance."

Atlanta, which remained tied for first in the NL East with the Mets, lost for just the second time in eight games.

Terry Mulholland (7-7) allowed all three runs and seven hits in seven innings, dropping to 1-6 at Coors Field, where he has a 8.57 ERA.

"Terry pitched a great ballgame," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "He can't help that we didn't win."

Larry Walker went 0-for-4, dropping his league-leading average to .359.

After walking Chipper Jones with two outs in the ninth, Veres retired Brian Jordan on a game-ending grounder. The Braves stranded 11 runners.

Perez, 3-for-4 with two RBIs, hit a run-scoring single in the third, but Ryan Klesko's run-scoring grounder tied the score in the fifth and Hernandez homered off David Lee in the sixth for a 2-1 lead.

Colorado went ahead in the bottom half on Perez's ninth homer, which matched his career high, and Dante Bichette's sacrifice fly.

"He'd thrown me almost all curveballs on my first two at-bats," Perez said. "I looked for it, got it on the first pitch and jumped on it."

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