ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Javy Lopez drove in four runs, one more than he had in his last 19 games, and the Atlanta Braves extended their season-best winning streak to six games Sunday night with a 9-3 win over the Texas Rangers.
Vinny Castilla had two RBIs and scored two more runs to help the Braves become only the second NL team to sweep a series in Texas.
Lopez hit a 401-foot homer to left in the eighth, an inning after Gary Sheffield's ninth homer, a two-run shot.
The Braves never trailed after Castilla singled in a run in the fourth and scored on a sacrifice fly by Lopez for a 3-1 lead.
Jason Marquis (5-3) went seven innings, allowing just two runs while scattering eight hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Dave Burba (3-4), 0-4 in five starts since his last win May 11 against Detroit, gave up five runs and seven hits over six innings.
Even though the Rangers didn't have to face Greg Maddux or Tom Glavine, they were swept at home by a NL team for the first time since the Los Angeles Dodgers had a three-game sweep from June 30-July 2, 1998.
Texas has lost 12 of 16 games.
Atlanta extended its lead to 5-2 in the sixth when Andruw Jones and Castilla had consecutive singles before Lopez's two-run double into the right-center field gap.
Jones, who extended his hitting streak with his sixth-inning hit, walked in the second and scored on Castilla's double for the first Atlanta run.
Sheffield's homer came on the second pitch thrown by Todd Van Poppel, the second Texas reliever in the seventh. Darren Bragg drew a one-out walk off Juan Alvarez.
Before Lopez homered in the eighth, Julio Franco tripled and scored on Aaron Myette's wild pitch.
Texas tied the game at 1-all in the third when rookie Ryan Ludwick led off with a double and scored on Michael Young's single. The Rangers would have scored more if not for second baseman Jessie Garcia's nice play.
With two runners on, Ivan Rodriguez hit a lining one-hopper to Garcia, who went down to snag the ball and, while turning on his knee, threw to shortstop Rafael Furcal to start a double play.
Rafael Palmeiro led off the Rangers fourth with his 12th homer of the season, but first in 12 games. It was his 28th interleague homer, matching Ken Griffey Jr. for second-most behind Carlos Delgado's 29.
NOTES: LHP John Rocker, called up from the minors by Texas earlier Sunday, didn't pitch against his old team. He never even warmed up in the bullpen. ... Bragg, the Atlanta DH for the finale, had a streak of six straight hits snapped by a first-inning groundout. ... Burba is 10-5 in interleague play. Only five pitchers, including Maddux (13), have won more. ... Ludwick made his fourth straight start in center since making his major league debut as a defensive replacement in right Wednesday. ... Johnny Bench, who Ivan Rodriguez has matched with 10 straight Gold Gloves and nine straight All-Star Game starts, will be in Texas on Monday when Cincinnati begins a three-game series.
Monday
June 30th, 2025
10:48PM
