Chipper Jones came out of the dugout for what he said was only the second curtain call of his career.
You’d think after 400 home runs he’d have gotten a little more love.
The Atlanta slugger became the third switch-hitter to crack the 400 milestone, following Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Eddie Murray, and finished with four hits to raise his major league-leading average to .418 in a 7-5 victory over the Florida Marlins on Thursday night.
“To be lumped in with those guys is what I’m shooting for,” Jones said. “This is a step closer but still a long, long way from those guys. They set the bar really high.”
The 36-year-old Jones lifted his batting average from .409 by going 4-for-5 with singles in the first, third and eighth. He hit his 14th homer of the season about 10 rows deep into the right-field seats with two outs in the sixth.
As the video board replayed the shot, fans called Jones out of the dugout.
“That was my second curtain call here in Atlanta,” he said, before reciting details of a three-run homer off New York Mets pitcher Al Leiter in 1999.
Only two curtain calls? Jones said that’s fine with him.
“This is a town that’s laid back and it fits my personality,” he said.
The last time a major leaguer was hitting .418 or better through games of June 5 was in 1994, when Paul O’Neill of the New York Yankees had a .430 average on that date, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The last major leaguer to hit .400 for a season was Boston’s Ted Williams, who batted .406 in 1941.
In other NL games, it was San Diego 2, the New York Mets 1; the Chicago Cubs 5, the Los Angeles Dodgers 4; Philadelphia 5, Cincinnati 0; Pittsburgh 4, Houston 3; and the Nationals and Cardinals split a day-night header, St. Louis winning the opener 4-1 before Washington took the nightcap 10-9 in 10 innings.
Brian McCann gave the Braves a 6-5 lead in the fifth with a two-run shot, and Yunel Escobar also connected along with Jones.
The three homers came off the Marlins’ Ricky Nolasco (5-4), who gave up 12 hits and seven runs in 5 2-3 innings, ending his bid for his fifth straight win.
Nolasco noted he is only the latest to give up a homer to Jones.
“He makes you pay when you go over the middle of the plate,” Nolasco said. “He’s been doing it for years, and he’s not going to stop anytime soon.”
Jair Jurrjens (6-3) gave up a season-high 11 hits and five runs in six innings but won as the Braves rallied from a 5-3 deficit.
Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his third save, one night after Atlanta’s Manny Acosta gave up four runs in the ninth inning to blow a two-run lead.
Florida’s Hanley Ramirez led off the first inning with his third homer in two games.
Padres 2, Mets 1
At San Diego, Scott Schoeneweis (0-2) hit Paul McAnulty with a pitch to drive in the winning run with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.
Scott Hairston led off the ninth with a walk off Schoeneweis. Brian Giles also walked, his fourth straight. Adrian Gonzalez advanced the runners on a groundout before Schoeneweis intentionally walked Kevin Kouzmanoff to load the bases for McAnulty.
Trevor Hoffman (1-4) pitched a perfect ninth for the win, completing the five-hitter.
Cubs 5, Dodgers 4
At Los Angeles, Kosuke Fukudome opened the scoring with a solo homer and drove in the game-winning run against Dodgers closer Takashi Saito (3-2) with one out in the ninth inning.
The Cubs have won 10 of 11 and lead the majors with a 39-22 record, their best start since 1977 when they had an identical record. They began this recent surge with a three-game sweep of the Dodgers at Wrigley Field, and are 17-3 against NL West teams.
Bob Howry (2-2) earned the victory after pitching one inning. Kerry Wood escaped his own bases-loaded jam in the ninth by striking out Matt Kemp to record his 17th save in 21 chances.
Phillies 5, Reds 0
At Philadelphia, Cole Hamels (6-4) pitched a three-hitter for his second career shutout and the Phillies took advantage of two dropped balls to beat the Reds.
Ken Griffey Jr. remained one shy of 600 home runs, going 1-for-4 in his first start in four games. He also dropped a ball that led to a pair of unearned runs against Homer Bailey (0-1).
Geoff Jenkins hit a solo shot for the NL East-leading Phillies, who won for the ninth time in 11 games. Hamels (6-4) struck out four and walked three.
Pirates 4, Astros 3
At Pittsburgh, Paul Maholm (4-5) pitched eight strong innings, Jason Michaels hit a three-run homer and the Pirates beat the Astros for the second consecutive night.
Jason Bay added a run-scoring triple to break a 3-3 tie in the fifth.
The Astros have lost seven of eight, even though they scored more than two runs for the first time during the stretch, and dropped one game above .500 for the first time since May 8.
Brandon Backe (4-7) lasted six innings, allowing all four runs on nine hits.
Cardinals 4, Nationals 1, 1st Game
Nationals 10, Cardinals 9, 10 innings, 2nd Game
At Washington, Todd Wellemeyer (7-1) won his fifth straight decision, Troy Glaus hit a two-run homer and Albert Pujols had the first pinch-hit homer of his career to lead St. Louis in the opener of a day-night doubleheader.
In the second game, Elijah Dukes’ two-run, 10th-inning home run gave the Nationals a win. Brian Sanches (1-1) got the victory despite allowing Joe Mather’s homer in the 10th.
The Nationals’ John Lannan (4-6) took the loss in the opener, and St. Louis reliever Ryan Franklin (2-2) got the loss in the nightcap.
Add A Comment