Smoltz shuts out Pirates

Tuesday, August 22, 2006 The Atlanta pitcher won his fifth straight home start, blanking Pittsburgh, 3-0. ATLANTA (AP) — John Smoltz know the Atlanta Braves may not make it to the playoffs this year. "If nothing else, let's find a way to get to .500 and see what happens," he said Monday night after pitching the Braves to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Smoltz (11-6) won his fifth straight home start, taking a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and combining on a four-hitter. "He's amazing," 22-year-old catcher Brian McCann said of the 39-year-old Smoltz. "He's the captain of this team. We needed a big performance from him to start the homestand." Smoltz struck out 10, allowing three hits and one walk in eight innings in his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season, the 40th of his career. "We've come to expect that kind of outing out of him every time," Chipper Jones said. Trailing Reds Atlanta (59-65) is 5 1/2 games behind Cincinnati, the NL wild-card leader, with less than six weeks to play. The Braves have won 14 consecutive division titles — all with Smoltz. "We're too good of a team not to be at least .500," he said. "We may not be a great team. We may not make the playoffs, but we have to get to .500. That should be the focus." Smoltz retired 14 consecutive batters starting with the final out of the first. "I really think that John mislocated only two pitches all night," Pittsburgh manager Jim Tracy said. "He used very little of the plate all night long." Last Wednesday at Washington, Smoltz allowed six runs in a 9-6 loss — his only defeat since June 13. "I was pretty embarrassed about my last game," he said. "I felt like I let the team down. I don't know if this will make sense, but I was into every pitch as much as I've ever been in my life today, just to turn it around." Threw lots of strikes Smoltz put more emphasis on his splitter and saved his curveball for his last two innings. He threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of 29 hitters. "I felt like I was strike one on almost everybody," Smoltz said. Pittsburgh's only hits off Smoltz were singles by Chris Duffy in the sixth and by Jose Castillo and Duffy with two outs in the eighth. Smoltz then retired Jack Wilson on a groundout. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.