Maddux, Braves Shutout Devil Rays

Greg Maddux was just getting started when Rolando Arrojo faded.

Maddux

"You've got to take advantage when you face hitters that haven't seen you. It gives you a slight advantage," said Maddux, who has shutouts in three of four starts against AL opponents this season.

The four-time Cy Young winner beat Baltimore 9-0 on June 7, defeated Toronto 2-0 on June 27 and shut down the Devil Rays on five hits -- none after the sixth inning.

"He was throwing the ball where he wanted right from the start. You could see the movement ... That's what makes him what he is," Tampa Bay manager Larry Rothschild said.

Maddux (12-2), the winningest pitcher in the majors, has won 10 consecutive decisions, the longest current streak in the majors. He struck out eight and walked one in the 27th shutout of his career.

The right-hander, who has six complete games and four shutouts this year, has pitched 18 consecutive scoreless innings. A hit batter and two-out walk in the ninth gave the Devil Rays their only runners after the sixth.

"I'm getting a lot of runs," Maddux said, explaining his recent success. "I've had a lot of games where I've had six or more runs, and that helps. Teams aren't as likely to hit-and-run and steal and bunt and all when they're down three or four runs. I think that has a lot to do with it."

Keith Lockhart homeretwice, a solo shot in the sixth off Arrojo (10-5) and a three-run drive of Jim Mecir in the ninth. Chipper Jones also hit a solo homer as the Braves swept the three-game series and finished interleague play 9-7.

Lockhart, who had his first multihomer game this season and the second of his career, broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with his homer off Arrojo, who became the first rookie pitcher on an expansion team to make an All-Star team.

Jones, who beat Tampa Bay with a ninth-inning homer on Wednesday night, hit his third in two games for a 3-0 lead in the eighth. Arrojo, who allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked two in 7 1-3 innings, left three batters later.

The matchup of all-star pitchers wouldn't have occurred if not for a passport problem the Devil Rays feared might keep Arrojo from accompanying the team to Toronto for a weekend series.

The Cuban defector was scheduled to face the Blue Jays on Friday night. However, a Costa Rican passport he obtained in 1996 has expired and Devil Rays officials weren't sure how quickly it would be renewed.

"It was exciting for me," Arrojo said through a team interpreter. "It was a good game. I faced a great pitcher and a great team. Somebody had to win and somebody had to lose. It was a great game to be in."

Jones had the lone hit off Arrojo in the first five innings, a two-out triple in the first. The rookie right-hander retired 14 of the next 16 batters -- allowing only two walks during the stretch - before Lockhart homered.

Jones beat out an infield single, went to second when Andres Galarraga was hit by a pitch for the third straight game and scored on Randall Simon's single that made it 2-0.

Maddux hit Rich Butler with a pitch with two outs in the seventh, then struck out Kevin Stocker, the Devil Rays' No. 9 hitter, to end the inning.

Rothschild complained to plate umpire John Shulock that Maddux hit Butler on purpose and should have been thrown out of the game.

"They'll never say it. He will never say it, but it's my feeling," the manager said. "It happens in baseball."

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