Maddux, Braves Chop Down Giants

Greg Maddux struggling?

Forget it.

"It takes more than one poor game to put my brain in a funk," the four-time Cy Young Award winner said after leading the Atlanta Braves over the San Francisco Giants 6-2 Friday night.

Maddux was coming off his worst outing in two seasons, a 7-6 loss to Colorado last Sunday in which he allowed six runs and 10 hits in five innings.

"I didn't notice a lot of difference," Maddux said. "I had a little better heater, and I didn't leave many up high. Tonight wasn't a desperation situation."

Maddux (3-2) beat the Giants for the 11th time in his last 12 decisions against them and improved to 17-10 against San Francisco.

He gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, improving to 22-5 in his career in starts following a losing decision. Maddux had allowed 10 earned runs in 13 innings in his previous two starts.

Against Colorado, Maddux allowed four runs in the first inning for the first time in 218 starts since June 1991. This time, Barry Bonds hit a two-run homer in the first before Maddux settled down.

"Barry has good hands," Maddux said. ``He cut his swing short and still had enough left to hit it out of the park. He hit a good pitch, but one I intended to throw a little higher than where it wound up. There's no question, Bonds is one of the smartest hitters in baseball."

Bonds, who has eight homers and a .305 career average against Maddux, wasn't happy.

"If I face Maddux three times and hit three home runs, and we lose, it didn't mean a thing," he said. "I don't care what my stats are against Maddux, I care about winning. Maddux does seem to find a way to win."

Maddux threw 95 pitches, 62 for strikes, and got 13 groundouts. He struck out four and walked two.

Atlanta, 33-12 against the Giants since August 1993, has won four in a row overall and 13 of 16.

"We haven't been hitting as a team, but it is early," Bonds said. "We are not pressing. We know we are one of the better-hitting teams in the league. I don't know when or where, but we are going to explode."

The Braves backed Maddux with three home runs: Tony Graffanino hit a solo shot in the fourth, Andruw Jones hit a two-run drive later in the inning and pinch-hitter Michael Tucker connected with none on in the seventh.

Giants starter Kirk Rueter (3-2) allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings. He had won 11 of his previous 14 decisions.

Bonds, who failed to homer in his first 53 at-bats this season, hit his sixth in 52 at-bats.

Rueter allowed just one runner past firsbefore Graffanino's homer, which came after Andres Galarraga singled. Atlanta made it 5-2 in the sixth on run-scoring singles by Gerald Williams and Eddie Perez.

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