LVP: J.J. Hardy (-.063)
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It was the Prince Fielder show in Atlanta tonight, as the big fella hit two solo homers and made a key defensive play to back Jeff Suppan, who gritted his way through 5.1 innings scoreless innings full of baserunners.
Todd Coffey and Mitch Stetter helped Suppan get out of the 6th unscathed, though Ryan Braun certainly didn't. Braun lost Brian McCann's high flyball in the evening haze, resulting in a gift leadoff triple for the Braves. Garret Anderson followed that with a hot shot to first that Fielder, playing well behind the bag, quickly rifled home to nab the oncoming McCann. After Soup walked the unwalkable Jeff Francoeur and was removed, Coffey struck out Martin Prado and walked pinch hitter Greg Norton before yielding to Stetter, who fanned Kelly Johnson on three pitches to get out of the bases-loaded jam.
Stetter stayed in to toss a 1-2-3 7th, the first such inning for the Brewers on the night, and Carlos Villanueva and Trevor Hoffman pitched the 8th and 9th innings, respectively, to lock down the Brewers' second consecutive shutout of the Braves.
Other contributors were Craig Counsell, who pitched in with an RBI double, and Corey Hart, who made a nice defensive play in the 5th, deking Yunel Escobar on Nate McLouth's short fly to right and forcing Escobar at second.
*executive decision: Jeff Suppan was +.202, but I think you'll agree with my call.