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Braves 14, Red Sox 0

BOSTON (AP) -- The way they pitched, John Smoltz and Daisuke Matsuzaka didn't need all of the hitting support they received.

Smoltz pitched seven shutout innings in a sometimes drenching rain as the Atlanta Braves gained a split of Saturday's day-night doubleheader with a 14-0 rout. Matsuzaka worked eight impressive innings in the Boston Red Sox's 13-3 romp in the opener.

"That was probably the weirdest doubleheader I've ever been a part of," said Atlanta's Kelly Johnson, who fell a single short of hitting the cycle and drove in five runs in the second game. "I think we got them overall. What was it, 27-13?"

Actually, it was just 17-13 and each team had 18 hits in their wins. Boston's Mike Lowell also drove in five runs in the Red Sox victory and had four hits, including a grand slam.

But the Braves needed a win badly after losing five of six games and having to face the team with baseball's best record (29-13).

"It was maybe one of the bigger games of the year," said Smoltz (6-2). "We were staring to slip a little bit in the standings. They were running away with it, so they could play relaxed."

Boston leads the AL East by 9 1/2 games over Baltimore. Atlanta is in second place in the NL East, 2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets.

Smoltz earned his 199th victory and the Braves had 12 extra-base hits -- one off the franchise record -- to hand the Boston Red Sox their worst shutout loss in 17 years. He allowed three hits and one walk and won for the first time since turning 40 last Tuesday.

"Every team's the same," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "You get that kind of starting pitching, you're going to win."

Smoltz remained unscored upon in all 20 2/3 innings he's pitched at Fenway Park. He struck out seven to move into 17th place on the career list with 2,833, one more than Mickey Lolich.

The Red Sox lost for the third time in their last 13 games. Boston's worst previous shutout loss was 16-0 to Minnesota on May 25, 1990.

Smoltz left his start last Monday after 6 2/3 innings when he dislocated his right pinkie tagging Washington's Austin Kearns. The finger felt like "a wooden block of wood" on Saturday, Smoltz said.

"I'd hate to see him with all of his fingers," Boston manager Terry Francona said.

After allowing a double to Coco Crisp and a walk to David Ortiz in the first, Smoltz retired 11 straight.

Johnson lined out to right in the ninth, missing a chance to become the second Braves player to hit for the cycle since 1910. The last to do it was Albert Hall in 1987.

But Brian McCann's two-run double in that inning gave the Braves their 12th extra-base hit, their most since they moved to Atlanta in 1966. The Milwaukee Braves had 13 against Brooklyn in 1954.

Devern Hansack (0-1) was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket before the second game and struggled from the start.

Chipper Jones hit a solo homer, his 12th of the year, in the first. The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the second on doubles by Scott Thorman and Matthew Diaz. They made it 4-0 in the fourth on Diaz's third homer and Johnson's RBI double.

Hansack left after the inning with a bruised finger on his right hand sustained when Edgar Renteria's inning-ending grounder hit it.

In the first game, Boston led 12-0 before Matsuzaka allowed three runs in the seventh.

Lowell is batting .333 with 35 RBIs in 40 games, the third time in the last four seasons he got off to a fast start.

What skills contribute to that?

"If I knew, I'd use them in July, August and September," he said.

Last season, Lowell was batting .331 on May 19 but finished at .284. Two years before that, with Florida, his average of .343 on May 19 dropped to .293 by the end of the season.

He anticipates no drop-off in his team's success, especially with cleanup hitter Manny Ramirez hitting .252 with six homers.

"Manny still hasn't gotten hot like you've seen him when he can just basically carry a team for like 10 days at a time," Lowell said. "We're playing good baseball, but I think we can actually do a little better."

Matsuzaka felt he could have gone nine innings.

"I think I can probably throw between 140 and 150 pitches," he said through a translator after throwing 104. "The manager came in and spoke to me and said that, given our big lead, go and get some rest."

He struck out six, allowed nine hits and didn't issue a walk for his second straight outing.

"He just moves the ball around so much," Atlanta's Jeff Francoeur said. "He's got so many pitches. Nothing seems to go straight. ... When he got a big lead, you could see he was getting more confident."

Matsuzaka gave up three runs in the seventh on a double by Jones, an RBI single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Francoeur's seventh homer of the season.

Julio Lugo, Kevin Youkilis and Wily Mo Pena also homered for the Red Sox, who knocked Anthony Lerew (0-2) out of his third major league start after just two innings. Youkilis extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games and sat out the second game.

Game notes

The doubleheader was caused by Friday night's rainout. ... Lowell's grand slam was the second by Boston this season. Pena hit one on April 26 to give Boston a 5-2 win six innings. ... Boston planned to return Hansack to Pawtucket and call up Kason Gabbard to pitch Sunday against Tim Hudson.