Martin Prado blasts Atlanta Braves past Philadelphia Phillies

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Martin Prado homered and drove in three runs, Jair Jurrjens took a perfect game into the sixth inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3, today.

Jurrjens (5-0) beat the Phillies for the second time in a week, following a 5-2 win in Philadelphia on Sunday. He gave up three hits and three runs, two earned, in 7 1/3 innings.

Jurrjens, who opened the season on the disabled list with a right oblique strain, has not allowed more than two earned runs in six starts.

Prado and Nate McLouth hit back-to-back homers in the first inning for the only runs allowed by Joe Blanton (1-2) in five innings.

Craig Kimbrel pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Prado has six homers, including three in the last five games -- one of them a grand slam. He added a two-run single in the sixth inning against Philadelphia.

Prado, Atlanta's leadoff hitter, pulled Blanton's second pitch of the game into the left-field seats. Only three pitches late, McLouth cleared the center-field wall to give the Braves back-to-back home runs for the first time this season.

The 2-0 lead stood until the sixth, when pinch-hitter Michael Martinez ended Jurrjens' perfect game with a two-out single to right field. Jimmy Rollins followed with a run-scoring double, but was caught in a rundown between second and third to end the inning.

Jurrjens was backed by the Braves' strong defense. In the sixth, Wilson Valdez hit a grounder off Jurrjens' foot that bounced toward second base. Dan Uggla made the barehanded scoop and threw out Valdez at first.

Ryan Howard hit a long drive off Jurrjens in the seventh, but McLouth made a running catch at the wall in center field to end the inning.

A controversial call by second-base umpire Gary Darling helped the Braves score three runs in the sixth. J.C. Romero issued a one-out walk to Uggla before Freddie Freeman hit a grounder that Rollins fielded at shortstop while running toward third base. He threw to second base, and Darling called Uggla safe.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel came out of the dugout to argue that Rollins' throw beat Uggla to the bag. Freeman was credited with an infield hit.

Darling's call proved crucial when Uggla scored from third on a two-out squeeze by David Ross against Kyle Kendrick, who slipped while attempting to field the ball. Ross, credited with a hit, moved to second when Kendrick walked Jurrjens. Prado followed with a two-run single to center for a 5-1 lead.

The Phillies scored two runs in the eighth. Raul Ibanez walked and scored on a double by Valdez, who moved to third on a passed ball by David Ross and scored on pinch-hitter John Mayberry's groundout.

Each team wore Negro Leagues throwback uniforms -- Atlanta Black Crackers and Philadelphia Stars -- as part of the Civil Rights Game weekend.

For Sunday's Civil Rights Game at Turner Field, the teams will wear throwback uniforms from 1974, the year Atlanta's Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career record with his 715th home run.

NOTES: Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino, who was 0 for 3, had his 15-game hitting streak end. He left the game in the eighth with a sore right hamstring. ... Braves RF Jason Heyward missed his fourth straight start with inflammation in his right shoulder but entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth.

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