Woodard Whacks Braves 7-1

When Steve Woodard was a child, he attended numerous Atlanta Braves games with his father. It was only a three-hour drive from their home in Alabama.

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The Milwaukee right-hander, cheered on by a contingent of family and friends from his hometown of Hartselle, Ala., allowed only three hits in eight shutout innings and drove in two runs as the Brewers beat Atlanta 7-1.

"I had location. I had all four of my pitches working. Any time I needed to, I could throw them for strikes," Woodard said. "That's the best stuff I've had in a long time."

Even though Woodard used to attend games at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, he had no sentimental feelings about the Braves.

"I was a Dodgers fan growing up," the 23-year-old said.

Woodard, winning his fourth straight decision, retired the first 13 hitters before Ryan Klesko doubled to the gap in right-center. Klesko was thrown out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.

Andruw Jones provided the only real Atlanta scoring chance against Woodard in the eighth, doubling after Michael Tucker reached on second baseman Fernando Vina's first error in 67 games. With runners at second and third, Woodard (7-5) retired pinch-hitter Curtis Pride on another grounder to Vina.

"He wasn't throwing anything over the middle of the plate," Klesko said. "He kept hitters off balance. He got ahead early and that was the main thing. I felt like I was down in the count 0-2 and 1-2 all night. That's the sign of a good pitcher."

Mik Matheny had a career-high four hits, including three doubles for Milwaukee, and Vina had three hits -- including his fifth homer -- and three RBIs.

Woodard had his RBIs on a groundout in the second and a single in the eighth, breaking an 0-for-22 hitting slump by Brewers pitchers.

"I just try to put the ball in play," Woodard said. "When I get behind in the count, I choke up and just try to slap the ball somewhere."

Woodard struck out seven and didn't walk anyone, going to three balls twice. Bronswell Patrick worked the ninth and gave up an RBI double to Chipper Jones.

It was the best performance by Woodard since his major league debut last season, when he pitched one-hit ball for eight innings and struck out 12 to beat Roger Clemens and the Toronto Blue Jays.

At the other end of the scale was Atlanta's Mark Wohlers, who made his second appearance since coming back from a miserable stint in the minors. The Braves' former closer worked the ninth and continued to struggle, giving up two runs on a walk and a pair of doubles.

Wohlers, whose ERA climbed to 6.88, was encouraged that 15 of his 22 pitches were strikes and none went to the backstop like a night earlier.

"Besides giving up two runs, I think it was a step in the right direction," he said. "I was more in control of my pitches. I'm pleased. It was definitely an improvement, definitely a step in the right direction."

The Brewers went up 2-0 in the second. Matheny singled with one out, moved to third on Jose Valentin's double and scored on Woodard's slow roller to second. Valentin came home on Vina's single to left.

Vina padded the lead in the fifth, stroking a 3-2 pitch into the right-field seats, and the Brewers sealed the victory with a two-run eighth, keyed by Woodard's two-out, run-scoring single to left against Russ Springer.

Kevin Millwood (10-5) made his first start for Atlanta since July 4. He went six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits.

"I didn't feel like I threw too bad," he said. "That guy (Woodard) just went out there and threw better. He pitched a great game."

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