Braves Stretch Out Lead Over Expos

The Atlanta Braves picked up right where they left off.

Andruw Jones and Gary Sheffield hit three-run home runs Thursday as the Atlanta Braves returned from the All-Star break by beating the Expos, 8-5, at Montreal.

Atlanta won for the 38th time in 49 games, opening a 10 1/2-game lead over second-place Montreal in the National League East and improving the best record in the major leagues to 57-32.

“We played so well in the first half and to open it up against a team in our division, it makes it really tough,” Sheffield said. “We got off to a good start.”

Kevin Millwood (7-5) won his fifth consecutive decision despite allowing three home runs, two to Vladimir Guerrero.

Millwood, who hasn’t lost since May 18, gave up four runs and six hits in six innings.

John Smoltz struck out the side in the ninth for his 32nd save, tying the Dodgers’ Eric Gagne for the major league lead.

“It’s a nice place to start the second half, especially with a team that’s going to make a charge,” Millwood said. “We want to keep moving.”

Following the game, the Expos acquired power-hitting outfielder Cliff Floyd from Florida.

Floyd, who began his career with the Expos and recently said he’d welcome a trade back to Montreal, was hitting .287 with 18 home runs and 57 runs batted in heading into the All-Star break.

“He’s going to be a help to their ballclub,” Sheffield said. “He’s an All-Star. He does it all.”

Sheffield hit an RBI single with one out in the first and Jones hit his 20th homer off Tony Armas Jr. (8-8) for a 4-0 lead.

“It’s awful tough against any ballclub but when you’re going against the best ballclub in the division and you spot them four, it’s tough to come back from that in the first inning,” Expo Manager Frank Robinson said.

Brian Schneider homered in the third and Guerrero in the fourth as the Expos closed to 4-2, but Sheffield homered in the fifth, his 16th of the season.

Guerrero hit a two-run homer in the sixth, giving him 17 multi-homer games in his career and 21 homers this season.

Pinch-hitter Andres Galarraga homered off Kevin Gryboski in the seventh.

“We had plenty of ballgames left and we tried to come back, but the three in the fifth kind of took us out of the game and there’s nothing you can do about that,” Robinson said.

New York 9, Philadelphia 1--Roberto Alomar doubled to key an eight-run burst in the eighth inning and capped it with an RBI single as the Mets won at New York. Mike Piazza and Timo Perez each drove in three runs for the Mets.

After the Phillies tied it in the top of the eighth with a run off Al Leiter, the Mets broke it open.

Alomar’s double scored Perez to start the scoring in the eighth. The Mets ripped off five hits in a row after that, including a two-run triple by Piazza. Perez hit a three-run double with two out and scored on a single by Alomar.

Houston 4, Cincinnati 3--Geoff Blum hit a three-run homer and Roy Oswalt pitched seven-plus innings to lead the Astros at Houston. Oswalt has won five of seven decisions. Billy Wagner pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 18 chances for the Astros, who have won nine of 11.

Aaron Boone gave Cincinnati a 1-0 lead with his 13th homer in the first inning, but Oswalt (10-5) then retired 13 of 15 batters until he walked two in the sixth and loaded the bases with one out. The Astros have won their last four series.

Pittsburgh 3, Milwaukee 2--Two days after the All-Star game finished in an unpopular, 11-inning tie at Miller Park, Brian Giles hit a home run in the 10th to help the Pirates win at Milwaukee. Giles hit his 23rd homer with one out off Mike DeJean (0-4). Milwaukee’s Jose Hernandez tied it at 2-2 in the eighth by hitting a 430-foot homer off Josh Fogg.

San Francisco 3, Colorado 2--With the score tied in the ninth inning, J.T. Snow hit a one-out triple off Jose Jimenez and Reggie Sanders followed with a groundball single to center to bring home the winning run for the Giants at San Francisco.