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| Jones homers twice as Braves sink Dodgers ATLANTA 6, LA DODGERS 1 |
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By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Chipper Jones knows that he is in one of those hot streaks that comes around every once in a while. His early-season heroics could not have come at a better time for the Atlanta Braves. Jones continued his torrid April by smashing two homers and driving in four runs to power the Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. "I've been fortunate enough to go through some pretty good streaks," said Jones, who is batting a National League-best .455. "I'm in one of them. I'm going to ride it as long as I can." The 1999 National League MVP golfed a sinker off Los Angeles starter Derek Lowe (1-1) in the fifth inning 423 feet over the center field fence to give Atlanta a 5-0 lead. Two frames later, Jones smashed a solo shot into the right field bleachers off reliever Chan Ho Park for his sixth homer of the season. "I've seen him in New York (hot) like this, at Shea (Stadium), when he was the Mets killer there," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "His stroke is so pretty. He's got a great stroke." It was the 38th multi-home run game of the 13-year career of Jones, who also homered twice, drove in three runs and collected four hits in Atlanta's 8-0 win over the Florida Marlins on Thursday. However, it was only the second time in Jones' impressive 16-year career that he smacked two homers on consecutive nights. Jones also had back-to-back multiple homer games on July 6-7, 2003, against the Montreal Expos and New York Mets. "I wish I could explain or begin to illustrate how awesome the last couple of nights have been," Jones said. "It's one of those streaks you get in once every couple of years. Not only are you getting pitches to hit. Not only are you not missing. You're doing damage." Jones, who failed to notch his first National League batting title last season after losing by three percentage points to Colorado's Matt Holiday, has been a man on a mission in April. The 35-year-old switch hitter entered this one batting a league-best .443 with a league-leading 27 hits and hitting safely in 14 of Atlanta's first 15 games. Jones padded those totals even further Friday, moving into a four-way tie amongst the senior circuit's leaders in homers and passing Philadelphia's Pat Burrell for the NL with 18 RBIs. "When (Chipper Jones) gets hot, he gets hot," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "You certainly don't want to put him in (a position where he can hit a three-run homer)." Jeff Bennett started for Atlanta and allowed two hits, walked three and struck out four, but was yanked by Braves manager Bobby Cox one out away from qualifying for the win. He was replaced by reliever Will Ohman (1-0), who worked out of a first-and-second, two-out jam in the fifth and hurled a perfect sixth to notch the victory. Lowe allowed five runs three earned and eight hits, walked four and struck out two in 4 1/3 frames. Before Jones' heroics, it looked like Atlanta was going to win this one with small ball, opening a 2-0 advantage in the second thanks to an error and two infield hits. Mark Teixeira reached on Jeff Kent's fielding error and advanced to third base on Brian McCann's double. Jeff Francoeur followed with a hard smash to third base, which bounced off Nomar Garciaparra, plating Teixeira for Atlanta's first run. After Mark Kotsay grounded into a double play, moving McCann to third, rookie Gregor Blanco smashed a shot off the leg of Lowe, plating McCann. Andruw Jones, who was greeted with a smattering of cheers and boos in his return to Atlanta, clubbed a double in the ninth off Braves closer Manny Acosta. "It felt good playing in the stadium you played in forever," said Andruw Jones, who begrudgingly signed with the Dodgers after the Braves cut ties with him in the offseason. "It was good all around, seeing former teammates and family." "It was weird," said Chipper Jones, who was a teammate of Andruw Jones for 12 seasons. "I was glad to see him get a hit. I think the ovation he got at the beginning of the ballgame was nice. They turned into boos at the end of the game, which I don't necessarily agree with." However, the ever-aloof Andruw Jones shrugged off the catcalls. "It didn't bother me," he said. "If they boo you, they care about you. If they don't boo you, they don't." Juan Pierre drove in the Dodgers' lone run with a pinch-hit single in the seventh for Los Angeles, which fell to 0-8 when trailing after seven frames this season. |
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