Chipper Jones has stepped forward after hitting his 372nd home run against the Dodgers to claim his mark in the Atlanta Braves history book, moving past Dale Murphy, to be the Braves All-Time Home Run Hitter. Since coming off the disabled list on June 13, Chipper Jones has proven to be a consistent offensive threat who was desperately seeking to regain his patented power stroke. Jones, with his second two-homer performance of the season, catapulted the Braves to a resounding 8-6 win over the Dodgers.
Chipper Jones moved into first on Atlanta’s all-time list with a pair of homers on Thursday. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)
In asking Jones what it meant to him in setting the record, he said “It’s extra special, but it wasn’t exactly the pitchers’ duel that we were expecting. … You just knew when it came down to the bullpens it was going to come down to one swing of the bat.”
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, Jones wouldn’t wait nearly as long to raise this season’s homer total to 15. The veteran third baseman directed right-handed reliever Chin-hui Tsao’s first pitch of the eighth inning over the right-center-field wall to mark the first time since July 5, 2000, that he homered from both sides of the plate in a game.
In passing Murph’s previous record, Jones said, “Murph was the first guy I met when I walked in the clubhouse in Atlanta after I got drafted. He’s still the man in Atlanta. Every time he walks in that stadium or walks into that clubhouse, he commands respect. He’s a two-time MVP and everybody loves him. When you think of people who are identified with the Braves, you think of Hank and you think of Murph.”
“Just to be in the same breath as those guys, Hank, Murph and Eddie Mathews, it’s a tremendous honor,” Jones said. “I’ve been very blessed. I’ll shoot for some more numbers.”
There are those that may say that Redman hasn’t had his day, even after his 5 starts, but then the stats from each game say something quite different with his ERA rising to 10.62 after Tuesday’s loss to the Phillies. It was hoped that Redman would provide some consistence at the backend of the starting rotation. As he was sent back after the first three innings, it was hard to see that consistency after the early three run lead was quickly lost to the Phillies. It was difficult to see Chipper Jones’ first of two homers quickly lost with a four-run inning the Phillies were able to grab off of Redman.
Brave’s manager, Bobby Cox, indicated that he would have to consider removing Redman from the starting rotation, but his immediate thoughts are more focused on having an able-bodied catcher ready to finish out the series.
Mac Thompson has decided to continue blogging at Braves Journal. We sincerely wish him the best and thank him for all his great work in providing his insights and thoughts about our favorite team. Braves.net has decided to continue sponsoring a great blog here at Braves.net Blog and is looking for authors interested in being apart of creating a new legacy.
Anyone interested in being an author and writing your thoughts about America’s Greatest Baseball Team - the Atlanta Braves, please contact me at Braves.net [at] gmail.com.
Well, that was a Whew! game. The Braves led 4-1 after one and 5-2 after five, but Kyle Davies tired and the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. But a two-out rally in the seventh and a lot of luck from the dregs of the pen in the eighth secured the win.
Davies allowed a homer to Mark DeRosa, of all people, in the first, but pitched pretty well otherwise through the fifth. The Braves got their four runs in the bottom of the inning on a Renteria single, an Andruw walk, an RBI single from McCann, and a rocket homer from Francoeur.
Davies allowed a triple that was converted to a run in the third, but in the fifth Thorman got the run back with a homer. In the sixth, Bobby waited too long again, though Davies was only at 98 pitches, and let the Cubs get a run back and runners at second and third. Kali came on and did a good job in the pressure situation, getting out of it with only one more run scoring and holding the lead at 5-4.
Gonzalez is either hurt or buried, and Soriano wasn’t available, so Bobby turned to the Vulture to pitch the seventh. He got two out sandwiching a walk, then allowed a game-tying double to Lee; McCann mishandled the throw home allowing him to get to third. Villarreal then threw a wild pitch to allow the leading run to score.
Scott Eyre got the seemingly dangerous hitters, McCann and Francoeur (Francoeur took what appeared to be a ball for strike three) but walked Thorman. Diaz, pinch-hitting for He Whom Must Be Destroyed, reached on an “infield single” which was really a routine grounder to shortstop that Izturis lollygagged on, and Woodward worked a walk. KJ laced a single to score two runs and take the lead, and Renteria singled for an insurance run.
So Bobby takes a look to his bullpen. He doesn’t have Soriano and won’t use Gonzalez for whatever reason. He doesn’t want to ask Wickman to go two. So he calls on Steve Colyer of all people to pitch the eighth. Colyer, predictably, walks the first guy he sees, then gives up a hit. He gets one out, then Moylan, of all people, comes in to relieve him, and walks the first guy he sees, but somehow gets a double play to get out of it. Wickman got the Cubs 1-2-3 in the ninth.
Everyone reached base at least twice except Francoeur, who saw his walk streak end, the pitcher, and naturally Langerhans (who must be destroyed) though even he reached once on a HBP. I’d call Thorman the MVP, 2-3 with a homer and scoring the game-tying run after the walk.
So, our left fielder can play defense but can’t hit, and our shortstop can hit but can’t play defense. This is backwards, right?
Edgar Renteria had an awful game. I was talking to Alex on the phone earlier (he was two seconds ahead so could tell me that the Braves had just made another error before I could see it!) and actually uttered the words “Get Woodward in there.” It was that bad. In the third, leading 4-0, he threw a ball away on an infield single to let a run score; if he’d just put it in his pocket the shutout could have been maintained. In the sixth, he made another error, letting a ball roll up his arm and into left field allowing a second run to score all the way from second. In the seventh, after a Chipper error, he got eaten up on a ball that should have been a double play. It was scored a hit, allowing another run to score and the tying run to second, the lead run to first, with nobody out.
And yet, the Braves won. Soriano entered the game an inning too early, threw a ton of pitches to get out of the jam, then pitched the eighth. He needed 33 pitches, and probably won’t be available tomorrow, but was easily the MVP of this game. Wickman picked up the save with three fly ball outs.
Oh, the offense. The Braves got three in the first on four straight singles and a throwing error, followed by a walk to McCann and a sac fly by Francoeur. Francoeur (who also walked again and got his OBP up to .358) singled home McCann in the third. In the seventh, McCann singled home KJ, and Chipper had an insurance homer leading off the ninth. KJ had a huge game, 4-5, and may be entering one of his hot streaks.
Smoltz went six to get the win, but started the seventh when he was clearly tiring and probably should have sat. Two of his four runs allowed were unearned.
Oh, the offense. The Braves got three in the first on four straight singles and a throwing error, followed by a walk to McCann and a sac fly by Francoeur. Francoeur (who also walked again and got his OBP up to .358) singled home McCann in the third. In the seventh, McCann singled home KJ, and Chipper had an insurance homer leading off the ninth. KJ had a huge game, 4-5, and may be entering one of his hot streaks.
