ATLANTA - JULY 3: Zach Britton #53 of the Baltimore Orioles is congratulated by teammates after hitting a 3rd inning home run against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on July 3, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
Scott Proctor certainly isn't becoming a favorite among Braves fans.
Brandon Beachy kept the Braves in the game despite allowing a home run to pitcher Zach Britton, but the Orioles avoid the sweep with a late-inning home run from Mark Reynolds for a 5-4 victory.
Normally, AL pitchers aren't very good hitters, but Britton lifted a pitch over the right field wall in the third inning for his first major-league home run. The Orioles added another run on a sacrifice fly from Mark Reynolds. They extended their lead to 3-0 with an RBI double by Nick Markakis in the fifth. Markakis finished the game with five hits, setting a career high.
Beachy allowed seven hits and recorded six strikeouts in his five innings. He did not issue a walk.
The Braves offense couldn't do much against Britton. They only recorded two hits and a walk against him through the first four innings, but threatened to score in the fifth. Atlanta loaded the bases with one out on a walk and a pair of singles and Jason Heyward batting, but he hit into an easy double play to squander the threat.
The offense did not, however, fail to capitalize in the sixth against the young lefty. Freddie Freeman smacked an RBI single to score Chipper Jones and with the bases loaded, Brian McCann scored on Julio Lugo's groundout. Eric Hinske came off the bench and delivered a two-run single to give the Braves a 4-3 lead.
Proctor was called on in the seventh inning and looked to have an easy outing after a pair of strikeouts, but with one on, he grooved a fastball to Mark Reynolds and Reynolds launched it for a two-run home run, thereby coughing up the lead. The home run was his third of the series.
Chipper batted with two outs in the ninth and with a 3-1 count, Kevin Gregg struck him out looking on ball four and ball five, but both were called strikes to end the game.


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