ATLANTA - Bobby Cox reached another milestone. John Smoltz will have to wait to get his.
Cox became the 12th manager in major league history to win 1,800 games when the Atlanta Braves defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 Thursday night.
``It's an appropriate way to reach 1,800 - a shutout,'' said Cox, whose record is 1,800-1,400 in 21 seasons. ``The pitching around here has been so great for so long.''
Tom Glavine pitched six scoreless innings, tuning up for the playoffs, and Chipper Jones hit a three-run homer that broke the game open.
Smoltz didn't get a chance to go for his 53rd save. He remains one away from the NL record shared by Trevor Hoffman and Randy Myers, five away from the major league mark held by Bobby Thigpen.
Glavine called Cox's record ``a remarkable accomplishment. I'm happy to be part of the game he got it in. It wound have been even nicer if Smoltzie had gotten the save.''
Clubhouse manager Bill Acree had a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne, vintage 1993, waiting for Cox in the clubhouse. Cox sent it to his players, who drank from paper cups.
``I thank the organization for getting me the players and getting me the coaches,'' Cox said. ``The manager's just a small part of winning. Longevity is part of it, too. I've been able to hang around a long time.''
Glavine (18-10) has won two in a row since losing four straight starts for the first time in his career. Cox didn't want to overwork his left-hander with the playoffs less than two weeks away, so Glavine was lifted after throwing only 74 pitches.
``Tonight was as good as it's been, as good as it can be,'' he said. ``Six innings was certainly enough to keep me sharp. Obviously, I could have pitched a lot more, but that's one of the luxuries when you're already clinched the division. You can save a few pitches here and there.''
Glavine could get two more starts in the regular season. He'll need to win them both to reach 20 wins for the sixth time in his career.
If Cox decides to use Glavine in the playoff opener, he'll probably only make one more start, with a short relief stint thrown in to stay sharp.
``I would much rather pitch Game 1 of the postseason than go for 20 wins,'' Glavine said. ``It won't mean much either way if I don't win the next one.''
Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones each had three hits for the Braves, who maintained a 2.5-game lead over Arizona for best record in the National League.
The Phillies managed only four hits against Glavine. Chris Hammond, Kevin Gryboski and Mike Remlinger finished up with a scoreless inning apiece to complete Atlanta's NL-leading 15th shutout of the season.
The Braves jumped on Joe Roa (4-4) for two runs in the first. Rafael Furcal and Julio Franco began with back-to-back singles, Gary Sheffield hit a sacrifice fly and Javy Lopez added a two-out RBI single before the inning was done.
Roa began wearing glasses after the first and seemed to settle down, facing the minimum over the next four innings.
``The light was a little bad,'' Roa said. ``In some parks, I have to wear them. I told (catcher Mike Lieberthal) I was having trouble seeing his signs. I had my glasses in the dugout.''
The Braves knocked him out in the sixth. Franco walked, Sheffield singled to left and Chipper Jones hit a 1-1 fastball over the wall in left-center for his 25th homer of the season.
Jones didn't realize until after the game that Cox had reached 1,800 victories.
``That's a lot of wins, a lot of successful teams,'' Jones said. ``It's a good thing I didn't know about it before the game. I probably would have been trying too hard to get it for him.''
After Roa was pulled, the Braves added another run against Jose Santiago. Pinch-hitter Keith Lockhart had an RBI single with two outs.
NOTES: Phillies RF Bobby Abreu was scratched just before the game. Manager Larry Bowa said afterward that his player's hamstring ``was a little tight,'' but he'll be back in the lineup Friday. ... The Braves took two of three from Philadelphia, improving their series record at Turner Field to 16-1-2 since May 10. The Phillies are the only visiting team to take a series in Atlanta during that stretch, winning two of three July 26-28. ... Cox's record as the Braves manager is 1,445-1,108. ... CF Andruw Jones made another brilliant catch to end the seventh, diving headfirst to snare a liner by Tomas Perez. ... Hammond lowered his ERA to 0.995 by working a scoreless inning. ... Phillies C Johnny Estrada was back with the team after missing the last two games for personal reasons.
Monday
April 14th, 2025
4:31PM
