Big Cat Watches Braves Win

Andres Galarraga was feeling a bit of pressure Friday night. Cured of cancer and back in the Braves dugout for the first time this season, he didn't want to distract the hottest team in baseball.

Not to worry, Big Cat.

Kevin Millwood allowed only one hit through seven innings and had a two-run single, Andruw Jones homered and made another spectacular catch, and streaking Atlanta welcomed back Galarraga with a 7-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"I'm glad we won," said Galarraga, who plans to spend the rest of the season with the team though he won't attempt a comeback until 2000. "Everything has been going so well. I wanted them to continue winning while I was sitting on the bench."

With Millwood (15-7) on the mound, the chances were good. The right-hander has been on a sensational streak, allowing just 15 hits in his last five starts. That span, covering 41 innings, included a 10-inning, two-hit performance in his previous start at St. Louis in which he didn't receive a decision.

"I don't know what it is," Millwood said. "I'm making some good pitches, the guys are playing really good defense behind me."

No one has played better defense than Jones, who robbed Jay Bell of his 33rd homer with another Gold Glove catch in the first.

Running at full speed toward the wall in left-center, Jones timed his leap perfectly and snared the ball with his left arm extended a couple of feet above the yellow line.

"I think I should catch everything that comes my way," Jones said. "If it's in the air long enough, I should catch it."
Galarraga, the Braves' leading hitter last year, has missed the entire season while undergoing cancer treatment. But, with doctors saying his illness is cured, he returned to Atlanta and plans to spend the rest of the season providing moral support to his teammates.

Wearing his customary No. 14 uniform, Galarraga accompanied coach Pat Corrales to home plate for the exchange of lineup cards before the game, receiving a standing ovation from the Turner Field crowd of 38,389.

One fan held up a sign that said: "The Braves Big Cat Is Back. Welcome Back Andres."

"I feel like a little kid again," Galarraga said. "I couldn't wait till the day came when I could put uniform on and get back with my team."

Millwood retired the first nine hitters before Bell broke up the no-hitter with a fourth-inning single.

The Braves scored four runs in the fourth, getting back-to-back homers from Ryan Klesko and Jones, then turned the game into a rout with a three-run fifth.

Atlanta increased its NL East lead to 4 1/2 games over second-place New York, while Arizona's NL West cushion was cut to five games over second-place San Francisco.

Through seven innings, the Diamondbacks managed just one hit against Millwood. At that point, the Atlanta pitcher was outhitting the entire Arizona team, following up a third-inning single with a fifth-inning hit that brought home two runs.

In the eighth, Arizona finally put together four singles, breaking up the shutout with a run-scoring hit by Hanley Frias. But Millwood, who struck out 10 and walked none, got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with no further damage.

"Kevin Millwood has been doing that to everybody all year," Arizona manager Buck Showalter said. "We shouldn't feel singled out."

Showalter pondered the thought of facing Cy Young winners John Smoltz and Tom Glavine in the next two games of the series.

"They're pitching rich," Showalter said, "and getting richer."

Damion Miller hit a two-run single off Kevin McGlinchy in the ninth.

Arizona starter Armando Reynoso (10-3) was pounded for eight hits and four runs in 3 2-3 innings, which shouldn't have been surprising. His career record against the Braves, his original team, dropped to 0-8 as the Diamondbacks lost their third in a row.

"I was throwing some pitches too high," Renoso said. "You can't do that at this level."

Klesko led off the fourth with a 441-foot shot into the Atlanta bullpen, his 19th homer, and Jones followed with his 26th into the left-field seats. Gerald Williams and Chipper Jones added run-scoring singles that inning as the Braves batted around.

Notes