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Russ Ortiz felt a little more confident when he saw the opponent.
Ortiz kept up his domination of the San Diego Padres, allowing just one run in 6 1-3 innings to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 homecoming win Tuesday night.
Damon Hollins had a career-high three RBIs with just one hit, while Johnny Estrada went 3-for-3 with a walk and scored three times.
Ortiz improved to 12-2 against the Padres in his career.
``I knew I was pitching against them, and I knew I had done well against them,'' he said. ``You get a little more confident. It definitely helps.''
The Braves played at Turner Field for the first time in 16 days following their longest road trip this season. They didn't make an error after being charged with seven -- tying a team record -- in Sunday's game at Colorado.
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Ortiz (3-3) bounced back from his worst start of the season to allow just four
hits, coming out after Jay Payton walked with one out in the seventh. Kevin
Gryboski ended any thoughts of a comeback by getting Ramon Hernandez to hit
into a double play.
John Smoltz pitched the ninth for his first save since April 17, despite giving up two hits and throwing a wild pitch that allowed a run to score. It was his fourth save overall.
Ortiz had given up seven runs in 3 1-3 innings in his last outing, a 10-7 loss at San Francisco. He was determined to be more aggressive -- even if meant getting a tongue-lashing from Estrada, his catcher.
``I told him to stay on me,'' Ortiz said. ``Get on my case if you need to. Give me a kick in the rear end. I need that sometimes.''
Hollins, called up from the minors last week when utilityman Eli Marrero went on the disabled list, started in place of Chipper Jones, also on the DL.
Hollins is back for his second stint with the Braves after playing with four other organizations. Approaching his 30th birthday, he's still a rookie, a guy still trying to make his mark.
Going 1-for-3, Hollins managed to eclipse his previous career best of two RBIs in a 1998 game for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He drove in two runs with infield grounders.
AP - May 4, 10:33 pm EDT
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``When you come up in a situation with runners at second and third and less
than two outs, you just want to hit the ball somewhere,'' Hollins said. ``They're
giving you the RBI.''
The injury-plagued Braves were missing three regulars. Shortstop Rafael Furcal didn't start because of a jammed finger, though he was able to pinch hit. Outfielder J.D. Drew was also scratched because of a sore neck.
``We're battling,'' Estrada said. ``This was a big win for us.''
The Braves went ahead in the second against Adam Eaton (1-2). Estrada led off with a single, moved up when Adam LaRoche doubled and scored on Hollins' groundout.
Atlanta made it 3-0 in the fourth, taking advantage of a throwing error by third baseman Sean Burroughs. Hollins drove in another run with an out, grounding into a force at second with the bases loaded. Jesse Garcia, filling in for Furcal, followed with an RBI single.
During the fourth, LaRoche loaded the bases with probably the longest single of the season. He hit a drive off the center-field wall -- right next to the 400-foot sign -- but Estrada lingered near second, thinking the ball might be caught. The slow-running catcher only got as far as third base, forcing Andruw Jones and LaRoche to scramble back to their respective bases.
``I told Adam I didn't think he could hit the ball that far,'' Estrada joked.
``Johnny is leading the team in RBIs,'' LaRoche responded in jest. ``He wants to protect his lead. Smart move.''
Eaton played with Estrada in the Phillies' minor league system.
``He has hit everywhere he's been, so I'm not surprised he's hitting now,'' Eaton said.
San Diego scored its only run in the sixth on Mark Loretta's two-out single, but the Braves got the run back in the bottom half on Hollins' third RBI -- a single up the middle with two outs that brought home Estrada.
Only two of the four runs off Eaton were earned, but he wasn't happy with the way he pitched during his seven-inning stint.
``From a numbers standpoint, I pitched pretty good,'' he said. ``From an execution standpoint, it wasn't very good.''
The Padres, one of baseball's most surprising teams the first month, lost their second in a row after a six-game winning streak.
Atlanta went 5-7 on its 12-game road trip, which stretched from one end ofthe country to the other.
Notes
San Diego began
a stretch in which they will play 19 of 25 games on theroad. ... Estrada's three
hits tied a career high.
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