Braves shut out by Phillies' Blanton

ATLANTA (AP) -- Randall Delgado was good.

The problem for the Braves
was that Joe Blanton was great.

Delgado threw eight
strong innings in the longest start of his career but was overshadowed
by Joe Blanton's three-hit shutout as Atlanta lost to the Philadelphia
Phillies 4-0 on Thursday.

Delgado (2-3) allowed only
six hits and two runs with no walks in eight innings. It was a loss, but
he lowered his ERA from 6.30 to 5.14 and gave Atlanta's bullpen a rest
one day after the team used eight pitchers in its 15-13 win in 11
innings.

"He deserved a better fate than what he
got," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He pitched great. He gave us
every opportunity to win this game, and we
didn't."

Blanton threw his first shutout in five
years, Shane Victorino hit a two-run homer and Laynce Nix also
homered.

Blanton (3-3) did not walk a batter and had
six strikeouts in his third career shutout, his first since June 2, 2007
for Oakland against Minnesota.

The Braves' only hits
were singles by Freddie Freeman in the first, David Ross in the fifth
and Michael Bourn in the ninth. Martin Prado then lined out into a
double play to end the game.

Delgado, 22, had not
lasted longer than 6 innings in the first 11 starts of his career in
2011 and this season.

"I felt more comfortable today,
maybe because it was a day game," he said.

"I just
tried to concentrate. I just followed (catcher) David
Ross."

Delgado's control improved after he issued 12
walks in his first four starts this season, including seven in his last
two games.

"He threw well," Ross said. "He found the
strike zone. I'm proud of him.

"He made a good
adjustment from the last outing. It just stinks we didn't score some
runs for him."

Blanton needed only 2 hours, 2 minutes
for his win in the noon start. It provided a dramatic reversal of the
Braves' 15-13 win in 11 innings on Wednesday night when the teams
combined for 36 hits.

Wednesday night's 4-hour game
lasted almost twice as long as Blanton's masterful
performance.

"I tried to use last night to my
advantage a little bit with an early 12 o'clock start today," Blanton
said. "I wanted to pound the zone a lot and hope that maybe they were
coming out a touch lethargic. I don't know if that was the case or
not."

The Braves barely had time to wake
up.

The win allowed the Phillies to take two of three
games in the first series between the NL East rivals. The Phillies were
12-6 against the Braves in 2011, including three-game sweeps in the
last two series.

"It's not a rivalry until we beat
them, and beat them consistently," said Atlanta's Chipper Jones. "Can we
play with them? Yes. Can we beat them? Yes. We just have to do it
consistently."

Delgado gave up a run in the first
when Jimmy Rollins singled, moved to second on Juan Pierre's bunt
single, advance to third on Victorino's fly out and scored on Hunter
Pence's sacrifice fly.

Delgado didn't allow another
run until the seventh, when Nix hit his second homer over the 400-foot
sign in center.

The Phillies added two runs off Livan
Hernandez in the ninth. Pierre singled and scored on Victorino's fifth
homer of the season.

Blanton had a base-running
blunder in the eighth. He singled to center with one out, but then took
off for second on Rollins' fly ball to left field. Martin Prado quickly
threw the ball to Dan Uggla, whose relay throw to first easily beat
Blanton for a double play.

NOTES:
Braves C Brian McCann had a scratch on the edge of his right eye when
Michael Bourn, attempting a high-five at the plate after McCann's grand
slam Wednesday night, accidently hit him in the face. McCann had the eye
examined Thursday morning. He said he feels some discomfort but said
there is no injury. He had a scheduled day off Thursday. ... Jones also
had a routine day off after his game-winning homer in 11th Wednesday
night. ... The Braves open a three-game series at Colorado on Friday
night with RHP Tim Hudson (1-0) making his second start against RHP
Guillermo Moscoso (0-1).