In a makeup game from June 4th, the Atlanta Braves held the Chicago Cubs without an extra base hit during their 2-0 win on Monday evening from Turner Field.

Chicago had an early chance to take the lead in the 1st after Jake Fox & Derrek Lee hit back-to-back 2-out singles against Atlanta starter Javier Vazquez.

Micah Hoffpauir then struck out to end the scoring threat.

The Braves then took the lead in the 3rd after Diory Hernandez drew a lead-off walk from Cubs starter Ryan Dempster.

Javier Vazquez then laid down a sacrifice bunt, which advanced Hernandez to 2nd base with just 1 out.

Nate McLouth then hit an RBI single to score Hernandez from 2nd, which gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead.

McLouth then stole 2nd base during Kelly Johnson’s at-bat, who walked to put runners on 1st & 2nd with just 1 out for Chipper Jones.

Jones then struck out, as Geovany Soto fired to Mike Fontenot at 3rd base in time to nail McLouth for an inning-ending doubleplay.

The Braves then had a chance to add onto their lead in the 4th after Garrett Anderson hit a 1-out double against Dempster.

Casey Kotchman then reached 1st base safely on a fielder’s choice, but Anderson was thrown out at 3rd base.

Jeff Francouer then doubled, which put runners at 2nd & 3rd with 2 outs for Diory Hernandez.

Hernandez then struck out looking to end the scoring chance.

The Cubs then had another chance to score in the top of the 5th after Andres Blanco hit a lead-off single against Vazquez.

Ryan Dempster then laid down a sacrifice bunt, which advanced Blanco to 2nd with just 1 out.

Ryan Theriot then grounded out to Kelly Johnson at 2nd base, but advanced Blanco to 3rd base on the play.

That left it up to Kosuke Fukudome, who flied out to Jeff Francouer in right field to end the scoring chance.

The Braves had a chance to add onto their lead in the bottom of the 5th after Kelly Johnson drew a 2-out walk from Dempster.

Chipper Jones then hit a double to right center, which put runners on 2nd & 3rd with 2 outs for Brian McCann.

McCann then hit a sharp liner right to Derrek Lee at 1st base to end the inning.

Chicago had another scoring chance in the top of the 6th after Micah Hoffpauir & Geovany Soto hit back-to-back 2-out singles against Vazquez.

Mike Fontenot then drew a walk, which loaded the bases with 2 outs for Andres Blanco.

Blanco then flied out to Nate McLouth in centerfield to end the scoring threat.

Atlanta then put together another rally in the bottom of the 6th after Garrett Anderson hit a lead-off single against Dempster.

2 batters later, Jeff Francouer singled to put runners on 1st & 2nd with just 1 out for Diory Hernandez.

Hernandez then hit into a doubleplay to end the inning.

Chicago had yet another chance to score in the top of the 7th after Kosuke Fukudome drew a 2-out walk from Vazquez.

Jake Fox then reached safely on an infield single, which put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Derrek Lee.

Lee then flied out to Jeff Francouer in right field against Atlanta reliever Jake Moylan, which ended the inning.

The Braves then added another run in the bottom of the 7th after Nate McLouth hit a 1-out double against Dempster.

Martin Prado then singled, which put runners on 1st & 3rd with just 1 out for Chipper Jones.

Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to Kosuke Fukudome in deep centerfield, which scored McLouth from 3rd base & gave Atlanta a 2-0 lead.

Prado was able to advance to 2nd on the play.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella then went to his bullpen & called upon lefthander Sean Marshall to face Brian McCann, who grounded out to Andres Blanco at 2nd base to end the inning.

Chicago then had a final scoring chance in the 9th after Andres Blanco hit a 1-out single against Atlanta reliever Rafael Soriano.

2 batters later, Kosuke Fukdome then drew a walk which put runners on 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Jake Fox.

Fox then struck out looking to end the game.

Javier Vazquez (5-6) gets the win for Atlanta after pitching 6 2/3 innings & allowed no runs on 9 hits while walking two & striking out five.

Ryan Dempster (4-5) takes the loss for the Cubs after allowing 2 runs on 8 hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.

Rafael Soriano struck out 3 batters in the 9th for his 6th save of the season.

Chicago will now travel to their 3rd different day in the last 3 days with a trip to CoAmerica Park for Tuesday evening’s interleague series with the Detroit Tigers.

Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano (4-2, 3.44) will face off against Tigers righthander Edwin Jackson (6-4, 2.39) tomorrow night.

Zambrano is 3-1 in 6 road starts with a 2.58 ERA & will face Detroit for the first time in his career on Tuesday.

Jackson will face the Cubs for the first time on Tuesday & is 3-1 in 6 home starts with a 3.00 ERA.

Signing off for now,

Matt T for Cubshub.com