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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Atlanta Braves are accustomed to seeing
good starting pitching. Only they're not used to seeing starting
pitchers dominate them, especially the way Kris Benson did.
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Furcal 22? Braves don't care
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The Braves don't seem especially concerned about a report that rookie shortstop Rafael Furcal is 22,
rather than the 19 he claims to be.
Furcal's mother, who lives in the Dominican Republic, said she
would forward a copy of Furcal's birth certificate to the Braves to
prove his age.
HBO reported earlier this week that Furcal is 22 years, 9 months old. The Braves list his age as 19, making him the majors' youngest starting player.
"If it is true that there is a different age than he is
believed to be, he won't be the first, nor will he be the 100th,"
Braves general manager John Schuerholz said during the team's
four-game series in Pittsburgh.
Even if he is 22, and not 19, Furcal would still be one of the
majors' youngest everyday players.
This is the second time this year that the age of a Dominican
player under contract to the Braves has been questioned.
The Braves were barred from signing or scouting any Dominican
players for six months, beginning March 1, after baseball's
investigation determined prospect Wilson Betemit was 14 when he
signed with Atlanta in 1996.
Betemit produced a birth certificate stating he was 16, the
minimum age a player can sign a contract.
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Benson, a former Atlanta-area high school star, pitched a
six-hitter for his first career shutout and drove in the first run
with an infield single, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates past the
Braves 2-0 Thursday night.
Benson (5-5), lowering his ERA to 2.08 ERA in his last 10
starts, held the middle of the Braves' order to one hit and
toughened up with runners on base to gain the Pirates a split in
the four-game series.
Benson got 18 groundball outs and struck out five in his fourth
career complete game. Not surprisingly, he was glad to get his
first shutout against the team he grew up watching in Marietta, Ga.
"I've been waiting for one of these for a long time," said
Benson, who got his first shutout in his 45th career start. "You
know when you pitch against the Braves that every pitch is going to
be a big one. I was able to get ahead of the hitters, and I was
fortunate I got a bunch of ground balls."
Andruw Jones said Benson pitched differently than he did in
losing a 4-2 decision to the Braves' Bruce Chen on April 22.
"He was working his sinker, and the ball was running down,"
Jones said. "You have to swing at it because it's a strike, but
you're just going to hit the top part of the ball, and that's why
he got all the ground balls.
"In Atlanta, it was all fastballs and sliders. Today, he had
everything going, and he really used his sinker."
Benson outdueled Kevin Millwood (4-6), who made his second start
of the series after lasting only one-third of an inning Monday,
mostly because of Benson's own two-out RBI single in the fourth.
Kevin Young started the inning with a double, extending his
hitting streak to 10 games. Bruce Aven ended a 0-for-15 streak with
a single to center.
Millwood, winless since May 17, got the next two hitters. But
Benson, with only two hits in 23 at-bats, hit a liner off the
outstretched glove of first baseman Wally Joyner. The ball
deflected to second baseman Quilvio Veras, but Benson easily beat
him to the bag as Millwood neglected to cover first.
"I've been leaving guys on all year, and I didn't want to do it
again," Benson said. "The guys on the bench said it was the
fastest they've seen me run to first all year."
Millwood said he made a mental mistake by failing to break for
the bag.
"I didn't know whether to back up the plate or break to first,
and I should have just gone to first," he said. "It cost me."
|  | | Atlanta's Kevin Millwood was good for for six innings, but the Pirates' Kris Benson was better. |
The Pirates added a run in the eighth against Chen on Brian
Giles' leadoff double and Pat Meares' two-out RBI infield single.
Millwood lost a career-high fourth consecutive decision despite
pitching much better than he did in the Braves' 10-8 victory
Monday, when he was chased after yielding five runs. Millwood had
allowed 14 runs in 4 1-3 innings in his previous two starts.
Benson's previous best outing this season was a three-hitter to
beat St. Louis 3-1 on May 19.
"He had more strikeouts (11) then, and when he has his good
stuff he can dominate a game," Pirates manager Gene Lamont said.
The Braves had several chances to get to Benson, who allowed two
earned runs or fewer for the eighth time in 10 starts. They had two
on with one out in the sixth, but Benson got Joyner on a flyout and
struck out Brian Jordan on a changeup.
In the seventh, Keith Lockhart hit his second double of the game
and pinch-hitter Andres Galarraga was nicked on the forearm by a
pitch, putting runners on first and second with two outs. But Veras
bounded harmlessly into a forceout at second to end the threat.
The Braves' 2-3-4-5 hitters -- Andruw and Chipper Jones, Joyner
and Jordan -- were a combined 1-for-15, with Chipper Jones' single
in the eighth as the only hit.
Millwood was the first Braves pitcher since knuckleballer Phil
Niekro in 1980 to start against the same team twice in a series.
Niekro started April 9 and 13, 1980, against Cincinnati, losing
both games.
The start of the game was delayed 55 minutes by rain.
Game notes
Millwood started because Terry Mulholland had tightness in
his hamstring, delaying Mulholland's next start until Saturday. ...
The Pirates had lost seven of 11. By winning, the Pirates avoided
dropping eight games below .500 for the second time this season.
... Chipper Jones' single ran his hitting streak to 13 games
(18-for-48, .375). ... Benson is 5-2 in his last 10 starts and has
yielded one run in 17 innings in his last two starts. ... Young is
16-for-42 (.381) during his hitting streak. ... The Pirates made a
post-game roster move by demoting rookie left-handed starter Jimmy
Anderson (1-5), who is winless since April 15, to Triple-A
Nashville. Jose Silva, scored upon only once in his last 16 relief
appearances, will make his first start of the season Monday in
Montreal.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Pittsburgh Clubhouse
RECAPS
Chi. White Sox 12
NY Yankees 3
Tampa Bay 2
Anaheim 1
Baltimore 10
Texas 1
Seattle 12
Minnesota 5
Colorado 5
Houston 4
Pittsburgh 2
Atlanta 0
Los Angeles 4
Arizona 0
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