Jurrjens is king of the hill

On this night, The Freak was no match for surgin' Jurrjens and the Braves . Jurrjens took a two-hit shutout to the eighth inning, and the Braves knocked Tim "The Freak" Lincecum out after five in a 4-2 win against the San Francisco Giants at Turner Field, the 15th win in 21 games for the rejuvenated Braves . Yunel Escobar's three-run homer in the third inning provided enough run support for Jurrjens (9-7), who was charged with one run and three hits in 7 2/3 innings, the run scoring after he was out of the game. "I tried to just go pitch-for-pitch with him," said Jurrjens, who outpitched the 2008 National League Cy Young Award winner while improving to 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his past five starts. "When they gave me a couple of runs, I was working hard to try to keep it like that." The Braves , winners of six of seven since the All-Star break, trimmed Philadelphia's lead to 5 1/2 games in the National League East standings after the Phillies had a 10-game winning streak snapped Wednesday. Escobar, the reigning NL Player of the Week, has hit .480 with three homers and 12 RBIs in seven games since the All-Star break. His homer was the first by a right-handed batter against Lincecum this season. "We had a meeting after the All-Star break," Escobar said through an interpreter. "Not just individual accomplishments, but the way the team is playing --- hitting, pitching, defense --- it's very gratifying. "In the meeting we had, we talked about how we had a good club, and it was time to show what we can do." Lincecum (10-3) had been 5-0 in five career starts against the Braves and 7-1 with a 1.39 ERA over a stretch of 11 consecutive quality starts before Wednesday. The right-hander, who started last week's All-Star Game, gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings of his worst start in more than two months. Escobar is the third player ever to hit a three-run homer off Lincecum, joining Milwaukee's Ryan Braun (twice) and the Mets' Carlos Beltran. Jurrjens had one walk with nine strikeouts, and the run on his ledger scored after reliever Mike Gonzalez gave up a two-out single in the eighth. The Giants added a run in the ninth against Rafael Soriano when Travis Ishikawa hit a two-out fly that caromed off right fielder Ryan Church's glove and was ruled a hit. "His command got really good after the first two innings," manager Bobby Cox said of Jurrjens, who retired 17 consecutive batters --- eight via strikeouts --- between a pair of Bengie Molina singles in the second and seventh innings. Jurrjens has allowed only five hits and one run in 13 2/3 innings in his past two starts and one earned run in 20 2/3 innings in his past three home starts. "I tried to figure out some stuff in the bullpen, and it finally worked in the game," said Jurrjens, who slowed down his delivery and relied on more four-seam [straight] fastballs and fewer sinkers. Catcher Brian McCann, whose first-inning RBI single staked him to a 1-0 lead, called it one of the best outings by Jurrjens in two seasons with the Braves . "He pitched to both sides of the plate, commanded the strike zone with all three pitches, and kept them off balance all night," said McCann, who drove in Chipper Jones after Jones hit a two-out single and stole second. The Braves have scored four or more runs while Jurrjens was in four of his past six starts after scoring one or none while he was in seven of his previous 12. "We had probably not done right by J.J. all year long," Escobar said, referring to the lack of run support. "So it's very gratifying when he's throwing that good to give him a little breathing room." Lincecum, nicknamed "The Freak" for his unorthodox delivery and the huge power he generates from his slender frame, recorded nine strikeouts in five innings. Next for Braves Who: vs. Giants When: 1:10 p.m. today TV; radio: SPSO; 640, 96.1 Braves notes * Former Braves shortstop Renteria says Escobar is "the real deal." C3 * Refer text l XX