Brooks Conrad made quite a first impression, keeping the Atlanta Braves' winning streak and pursuit of the NL East lead in tact. Conrad hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-8 on Friday night for their season-high fifth straight victory.

The Braves finally scored runs for Jair Jurrjens on Wednesday during an 11-1 win over the Phillies.

Jurrjens carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the victory. Manager Bobby Cox would have had a difficult decision if the no-hitter had continued.

"It would have been interesting what I was going to do after the seventh because his last start he threw, I think, 114 (pitches), and back-to-back, to get the no-hitter he would have been in the 120s," Cox said. "It would have been interesting if I'd had to make that decision."

Actually, though, Cox already knew what he would have done. "The player's arm comes first," he said emphatically. Luckily, he added, "Bako helped me out," referring to the seventh-inning hit by former Phillies catcher Paul Bako, a former...

A year after a 9-0 record in Atlanta helped give Philadelphia momentum for its World Series championship run, three straight losses at Turner Field left the Phillies feeling flawed. Matt Diaz drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning double and the Braves beat Philadelphia 5-2 on Thursday night to complete their first home sweep of the Phillies in four years.

Jair Jurrjens was given an ovation after the right-hander gave up his only hit with two outs in the seventh inning. In the Atlanta Braves dugout, manager Bobby Cox cheered privately -- for the hitter who saved him from having to make a difficult decision about leaving Jurrjens in the game. The Braves finally provided some run support for Jurrjens, who combined with two relievers on a two-hitter and...

Martin Prado's 10th-inning single triggered a celebration on the field, and was only part of his terrific night. Prado drove in the winning run to finish with a career-best four hits and four RBIs, helping the Atlanta Braves beat Philadelphia 5-4 on Tuesday for their first home win over the Phillies since 2007.

Tommy Hanson was very much aware of who he'd be facing in these two starts. It didn't faze him a bit. The big right-hander became the first NL rookie to beat the New York Yankees and Boston in consecutive starts, throwing two-hit ball over six scoreless innings, and homers by Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson carried Atlanta past the Red Sox 2-1 on Sunday.

Who would've envisioned this: Tim Wakefield joining Roger Clemens in the Boston record book? The 42-year-old knuckleballer pitched six scoreless innings to beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 Saturday, a worthy performance for the game that tied him with Clemens for the most career starts by a Red Sox pitcher.

Josh Beckett wasn't feeling well. No problem when he's facing the Braves. Beckett pitched seven more scoreless innings against his favorite opponent and David Ortiz homered, leading the first-place Boston Red Sox past slumping Atlanta 4-1 on Friday night. Beckett (9-3) has faced the Braves twice in the past seven days and still hasn't given up a run.

Alex Rodriguez is starting to get his groove back. "We needed that," he said. "I needed it. I felt like my body was reacting pretty well." Rodriguez tied Reggie Jackson with his 563rd home run, and Mariano Rivera earned his 499th career save in the New York Yankees' 11-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.