NL RECAP ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs completed a pleasant journey down south with another impressive start from Terry Mulholland. The versatile Mulholland allowed only an unearned run in 7 2/3 innings and was aided by three homers, including a mammoth blast by Sammy Sosa, as the Cubs defeated the Atlanta Braves, 5-1. Jose Hernandez and Sosa hit back-to-back homers in the first and Henry Rodriguez added a two-run shot in the sixth for the Cubs, who won six of seven games on a road trip that began with three wins against the Florida Marlins. "Four out of the five runs scored today were home runs," Cubc manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's a real weapon." The Cubs also went 6-1 on a road trip from May 11-17, 1998 against Arizona, Colorado and Cincinnati. All three of the homers came off starter Odalis Perez (2-2), who was tagged for five runs and six hits in six innings. Mulholland, making his fifth start in 14 appearances, allowed five hits and a walk with three strikeouts. He did not allow a runner as far as second base until the seventh inning. "I just felt really confident from the start. The fact that we got two runs early and added a third helped us," Mulholland said. "I had a good idea of what I wanted to do. It was a good day to be on the hill." Terry Adams pitched the final 1 2/3 innings. The 36-year-old Mulholland has been used in various roles for the injury-plagued Cubs and has been especially effective as a starter. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of his five starts. The lefthander could remain in the rotation with the acquisition of reliever Rick Aguilera on Friday. Riggleman plans to keep Mulholland as a starter as long as he is not needed in the bullpen. "Terry's a guy we want to put in (the rotation)," Riggleman said. "We just realize the importance of getting out guys with a tough lefthanded pitcher." Mulholland was 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in six starts last season to help the Cubs capture the wild-card berth. Perez retired the first two batters of the game before Hernandez hit his sixth homer to left field on a 1-1 pitch. Sosa followed with a 443-foot blast to left-center field on a full count, his 14th of the year and 10th in the last 18 games. The only longer homer at Turner Field was his 444-foot shot last May. "I knew I had pretty good contact. I never looked at what happened," Sosa said. "I know I had a good swing and did I what I had to do to run the bases." Former Brave Jeff Blauser made it 3-0 with a run-scoring single in the fifth. Rodriguez hit a two-run homer to right field in the sixth that scored Sosa, who singled to open the inning. Rodriguez has hit five of his seven homers in his last 11 games. The Braves scored their only run in the eighth when Brian Hunter reached on an error by third baseman Manny Alexander and later scored on a bunt single by Otis Nixon. "We got down five runs and it's hard to bounce back from that," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "(Mulholland) had no problems and had complete command. He made it look easy." The Cubs won five of seven games in the season series that ended today and have taken 10 of the last 12 regular-season meetings. Atlanta, however, swept a three-game division series last year. The Braves had won four straight games before losing three of four to Chicago. "You want to be in first place playing good, not playing bad," Atlanta catcher Javy Lopez said. --=-=-- 