The Braves started the scoring in the bottom of the first behind the speed of Michael Bourn. A Dan Uggla broken bat fly ball to shallow left field was just deep enough to allow the speedster to tag and score. The run was facilitated by a Matt Garza throwing error into right centerfield when trying to turn a double play. The Braves then added to the lead in the second, when back-to-back infield hits by Gonzalez and Constanza led to runs.
Constanza then scored again in the fourth inning when he stole second and third and was driven in by a Michael Bourn broken bat flair. This stretched the lead to 4-0 Braves before the Cubs got their rally going. The Cubs were able to tie the game up in the top of the sixth with a four-run inning. Beachy gave up two singles and was pulled for Scott Linebrink. Just back from the disabled list, Linebrink showed some rust, giving up three straight singles of his own without getting an out. Arodys Vizcaino came in to strike out three batters, one of which reached first on a wild pitch. He was credited with two wild pitches during his two thirds of an inning, though one that allowed Alfonso Soriano to score probably should have been a passed ball on McCann.
Heyward in conjunction with poor Cubs fielding provided the Braves with the lead again in the bottom of the sixth. Heyward slapped a base knock into right field and stole second base. Alex Gonzalez hit an effective swinging bunt that Cubs’ pitcher, John Grabow, threw away allowing Heyward to come across. O’Flaherty gave up a big two run shot in the seventh to Carlos Pena to surrender the aforementioned lead and give the Cubs a 6-5 advantage that they would ultimately hold.
This Darwin Barney cat not only end Uggla’s hitting streak at 33 games with the most spectacular play of the weekend, but also went three for five and scored two of the Cubs’ runs today. Brandon Beachy looked good today, striking out eight in five and one third innings. O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel at one point struck out six straight batters to bring the Braves’ total to eighteen on the day.