ATLANTA, July 18 (UPI) -- Lefthander Tom Glavine, winless in his previous five starts, allowed onerun and five hits over 5 2/3 innings Thursday as the Atlanta Braves posted a 3-1 triumph over the Florida Marlins.
The Braves swept the brief two-game series and improved baseball's best record to 61-35. The win assured Atlanta of its 20th consecutive non-losing series, setting a franchise record.
The Marlins dropped their eighth straight game and fell to 0-7 since trading outfielder Cliff Floyd to the Montreal Expos.
Glavine (12-5) struggled with his control at times, walking four and striking our five, but earned his first win since June 11. He had been 0-2 with a 6.57 ERA over his previous five outings.
Glavine was bothered by a blister on his left index finger in starts against Milwaukee and the Chicago Cubs on July 1 and 6. The blister had healed for his last appearanace at Montreal on Saturday, but Glavine struggled with mechanics that were altered
while he had the blister.
He surrendered six runs over 4 2/3 innings in a 6-3 loss to the Expos and gave up three homers in an inning for the first time in his career.
Thursday, the Braves gave Glavine all the support he needed with three runs in the bottom of the first inning off Julian Tavarez (7-6), who allowed the first four batters to reachsafely.
After giving up a double to Rafael Furcal and a single to Matt Franco, Tavarez hit Gary Sheffield to load the bases. Chipper Jones followed with a two-run single and the Braves got their third run when Andruw Jones hit into a double play.
The Braves, who have won 20 of their last 26 games and improved to 42-14 since May 15, got all four of their hits in the first inning.
Glavine blanked the Marlins until tiring in the sixth and left after issuing two-out walks to Derrek Lee and Kevin Millar. Kevin Gryboski yielded an RBI single to Mike Redmond, but worked out of a first-and-second jam by striking out pinch hitter Tim
Raines.
Gryboski, Chris Hammond,, Mike Remlinger and John Smoltz combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Smoltz recorded the final three outs for his major league-leading 34th save.
