Philly Long Ball Stuns Braves

On the night Hank Aaron was honored, it was only right that home runs helped decide the game.

Too bad for Aaron, his Atlanta Braves didn't win.

Scott Rolen and Rico Brogna hit solo homers and Paul Byrd shut down his former team on two hits in 7 1-3 innings as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Braves 6-3 Thursday night.

Before the game, Aaron was praised on the 25th anniversary of his 715th home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record. Commissioner Bud Selig, NL president Len Coleman and Al Downing, who surrendered the historic homer at Atlanta, were among those taking part in the 45-minute ceremony.

Aaron, now 65 and a Braves senior vice president, finished with 755 home runs. He was part of a sellout crowd of 47,225 that watched Brogna homer in the second and Rolen connect in the sixth off Millwood (0-1).

"Fortunately, we did hit some home runs that helped us win the game," Brogna said. "That was a tremendous tribute to Aaron. At times, it gave me chills."

Down 6-2 in the eighth, Atlanta scored once on an error by second baseman Marlon Anderson and loaded the bases with two outs. But Jeff Brantley came out of the bullpen the Phillies tied an NL record by using five pitchers in the inning and struck out Andruw Jones to preserve the lead.

Brantley closed for his second save as the Phillies split the season-opening, four-game series. He struck out three of his four batters.

Braves reliever Mark Wohlers, who walked four in only two-thirds of an inning in Monday's opener, made his second appearance of the season and was not as fortunate as Brantley.

Trying to solve control troubles that cost him his job as the Atlanta closer, Wohlers struggled after taking oveto pitch the ninth.

Wohlers walked leadoff hitter Alex Arias on four pitches, then lobbed Doug Glanville's sacrifice bunt over first baseman Ryan Klesko's head for an error. After another four-pitch walk to Anderson loaded the bases with no outs, Wohlers was pulled.

Rudy Seanez relieved Wohlers and escaped the jam without a run scoring.

Braves manager Bobby Cox appeared puzzled about Wohlers.

"I don't know. We'll just keep trying," he said. "The majority of his spring appearances he pitched great, but he's had three up here since we broke camp and they haven't been good."

Wohlers remained in the shower area and did not show up at his locker 20 minutes after the game. A Braves spokesman said the right-hander would not be available for comment.

Byrd (1-0) blanked the Braves on only one hit a third-inning double until the seventh when Atlanta scored twice on one hit.

Brian Jordan was hit by a pitch and Javy Lopez, setting up sacrifice flies by Klesko and Jones that closed Atlanta to 4-2.

Byrd, 28, was picked up on waivers from the Braves by the Phillies last Aug. 14. He went 5-2 with a 2.68 ERA down the stretch to earn a spot in the starting rotation this season.

The right-hander, who pitched for the New York Mets in 1995-96 and the Braves in 1997-98, walked three, hit a batter and struck out four.

Notes: The major league record for pitchers in an inning is six, set by Oakland against Cleveland on Sept. 3, 1983. Many NL teams have used five, most recently San Diego against Colorado on July 12, 1996. ... Rolen hit his second homer of the season.

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