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ASSOCIATED PRESS Cubs manager Dusty Baker congratulated pitcher Jerome Williams on a fine game before lifting him yesterday.

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Williams back
in the groove

CHICAGO » Jerome Williams pitched with emotion.

Williams shut down the Atlanta Braves with his pitching arm, hurt them with his bat and left to a loud ovation -- the loudest cheers presumably coming from his father Glenn Sr., who underwent a kidney and liver transplant in February.

With his dad in the stands for the first time this season, Waipahu's Jerome Williams took a no-hit bid into the fifth inning and had the first multihit game of his career to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 10-1 victory last night.

"(After) spring training and the trouble my family went through, just seeing my dad out there -- just to know that he's here and supporting me -- I had to step up," said Williams, who began the season with the San Francisco Giants. "I had to get onboard, have a good start."

Williams (4-6) did just that.

He allowed one run and three hits in 7 2/3 innings, his longest outing this season. After walking Rafael Furcal leading off the game, he retired 11 in a row before Andruw Jones led off the fifth with his 40th homer.

At the plate, Williams was 2-for-4 with a single, a double and a run.

After going 0-3 in his previous four starts, Williams threw 112 pitches -- 68 for strikes. He left after allowing a single by Johnny Estrada and walking Peter Orr. Reliever Roberto Novoa retired Marcus Giles on a groundout to end the eighth.

For Williams, it was an emotional and gratifying night.

"It was just hard," he said. "I was worrying about my father a lot. He's the one that put me in playing baseball. I'm just happy father's here, my family's here."