Giants Blast Glavine, Braves

Charlie Hayes' two-run single highlighted a four-run third inning and backed six solid innings by Mark Gardner as the San Francisco Giants defeated Tom Glavine and the Atlanta Braves 6-2 Wednesday night.

Glavine (16-6) failed to become the first NL pitcher with 17 wins and his scoreless streak of 23 innings was snapped in the first on Jeff Kent's RBI single.

The Atlanta left-hander remains tied in the wins race with teammate Greg Maddux and San Diego's Andy Ashby after giving up five runs on eight hits and four walks in five innings.

The Giants, who were 5-of-10 with runners in scoring position, broke it open in the third, taking advantage of back-to-back walks by Glavine after Rich Aurilia's one-out single.

Ellis Burks hit an infield single with the bases loaded to bring home a run, then Hayes bounced a hit past the glove of second baseman Keith Lockhart to make it 4-0. Joe Carter added a sacrifice fly.

Hayes went 2-for-5 , but saw his career average at Turner Field drop to .500 (6-of-12).

The Braves loaded the bases in the fourth, but Gardner (10-5) escaped when Javy Lopez grounded back to the mound, allowing the Giants pitcher to start an easy 1-2-3 double play.

The following inning, Atlanta loaded the bases again with no out and finally broke through against Gardner. Walt Weiss had a sacrifice fly and Chipper Jones hit a two-out double to left-center that cut the deficit to 5-2.

But Jones' hit skipped weirdly off the wall and into the stands for a ground-rule double, costing the Braves another run. Greg Colbrunn, who would have scored easily, had to go back to third and was stranded when Ryan Klesko flied out.

Gardner allowed seven hits and walked two without recording a strikeout. Still, he managed to become the second San Francisco pitcher with 10 wins, joining Kirk Rueter. Rich Rodriguez and Robb Nen retired the last nine Atlanta hitters.

The bottom of the ninth was delayed 54 minutes by rain. Once play resumed, it took only four minutes for Nen to get the final three outs.

The Giants added a run in the seventh against Dennis Martinez on Kent's second RBI single of the night.

All nine San Francisco starters reached base at least once, while the Braves managed just one extra-base hit after tying a team record with nine doubles on Tuesday.

Notes