University of North Carolina Athletics
Bynum Shuts Down Braves
August 23, 2002 | Baseball
Aug 23, 2002
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Former UNC standout Mike Bynum got his first major league victory against the team he grew up idolizing.
Bynum shut down the Atlanta Braves on Thursday for the San Diego Padres to win 9-2 in just his second big league start.
"It means a lot. I'm ecstatic," the 24-year-old left-hander said after the Padres took two of three from the Braves. "It couldn't have come against a better team."
The Braves are baseball's best team, with an 81-45 record, but Bynum held them to two runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings, struck out four and walked two.
"It was pretty nerve-wracking, but it was fun, going out there competing against those guys I'd grown up watching," said Bynum, who made just his second big league start.
Bynum watched the Braves on television while growing up in Jacksonville, Fla. His idol was Tom Glavine, also a lefty. Bynum was the 49th pick overall in the June 1999 draft, and was promoted from Triple-A on Friday. He made his big league debut Saturday at Montreal, getting a no-decision.
Bynum is among 10 pitchers who've made their first starts in the major leagues with San Diego this year.
His only rough inning was the fifth, when he allowed two runs on a hit batter, a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly. But he came back for a 1-2-3 sixth.
"He had a good presence on the mound," catcher Tom Lampkin said. "He didn't seem nervous."
Bynum was promoted after Bobby J. Jones was put on the disabled list. Rookie left-hander Oliver Perez was supposed to come off the DL and start Thursday, but had discomfort in his left shoulder, which he hurt sliding into first base on Aug. 6.
The game was costly to the Braves. Starter Jason Marquis left with a bruised left calf after he was hit by Phil Nevin's line drive in the third inning, and four-time Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones strained his left shoulder and right wrist making a diving catch of Bynum's flyball in the sixth.
Marquis (8-8) was turning to try to get out of the way of Nevin's comebacker when he was hit. Marquis dropped his glove, but retrieved the ball and threw out Nevin at first. The pitcher then bent over in pain and, after being looked at by the trainer, was relieved by Kerry Ligtenberg.
Jones finished the sixth but was replaced by Darren Bragg, who committed one of the Braves' two errors in the seventh.
Jones aggravated a shoulder injury he sustained on June 26 at Shea Stadium while leaping at the fence trying to catch Jay Payton's home run.
"I told myself not to dive, but it was a reaction," Jones said. "That's the way you play the game. It just happened."
Jones said he was tempted to dive on Ryan Klesko's fly to shallow center in the third, but stopped himself and the ball fell just in front of him for an RBI single.
Marquis and Jones will be examined Friday.
Gene Kingsale went 3-for-4 with a walk, scored four runs and made a nice over-the-shoulder catch of Chipper Jones' flyball in the sixth before bouncing off the soft inner fence.
Kingsale singled and scored in San Diego's two-run first, hit an RBI triple and scored in the two-run third, and hit a leadoff single and scored in the seventh when Bragg dropped a flyball in the seventh, although the official scorer gave Nevin credit for a sacrifice fly. Kingsale also scored on Bubba Trammell's two-run single in the eighth.
The Braves scored their two runs in the fifth on just one hit. Bynum hit Mark DeRosa on the right leg, then walked Marcus Giles. Rafael Furcal, who went 4-for-5, hit an RBI single and Julio Franco added a sacrifice fly.
