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 More Padres NewsBest of friends and fiercest of competitors, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux ensured that Wednesday night's much-hyped pitching matchup lived up to expectations. And with another of their now common two-out seventh-inning rallies against the Padres bullpen, the Braves gave their ageless right-hander an early birthday present in the form of a 3-2 win. "It was just as advertised -- two great performances by two Hall of Famers," said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who had the pleasure of having Smoltz and Maddux on the same pitching staff in Atlanta from 1993-2003. When Maddux came to the plate in the second inning, he opted to have some fun by attempting to blind his close friend by playfully raising his hat to expose the glare coming off his bald head. "When I made that pitch, I just yelled because I knew before it even got to the plate that it was going to be a bad pitch," Smoltz said of the delivery that Maddux lined into center field. Having some fun with the fact he'd recorded his first hit in seven career at-bats against Smoltz, Maddux asked to keep the baseball. |
