Sunday, June 12, 2005
Braves satisfy a victory Jones
ATLANTA -- When the Braves were burdened with a number of injuries to their top players last year, Andruw Jones admittedly put too much pressure on himself and consequently struggled.
Unfortunately this year, he once again finds himself in the middle of a youthful, and once again, injury-plagued clubhouse. Thus the need for veterans like himself and John Smoltz -- two of the Braves' three longest-tenured players, along with Chipper Jones -- to carry the load has become a necessity.
So when Jones backed up Smoltz's first complete game in more than six years with a two-homer performance in the Braves' 5-3 win over the A's at Turner Field on Saturday afternoon, a team that has had its share of misfortunes once again had reason to smile and enjoy the contributions of its leaders.
"I'm just happy that we won and went out there and performed like we did today," said Jones, whose second multi-homer performance of the year lifted the Braves to just their ninth win in 24 games.
Jones' two-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings were enough for Smoltz, who allowed just five hits and three earned runs, while tossing his first complete game since April 30, 1999.
"He pitched a great game and I was just honored to be back there catching him," said 21-year-old Brian McCann, who followed Jones's sixth-inning game-decider with a solo shot to right field that gave him his first big league homer just six at-bats into his career.
Smoltz's effort was much more dominant than his line might indicate. Remove the four consecutive singles he allowed in the A's three-run sixth inning and it was basically an afternoon of futility for the Oakland offense. Their only other hit came courtesy of Nick Swisher's second-inning infield single, and they produced just one baserunner in the final three innings.
"I'm glad I'm not talking about a stupid loss because of one bad inning," said Smoltz, who has won three of his past four starts and allowed runs in just six of the past 31 innings in which he's appeared.
After Jones had given Smoltz a two-run lead with his fourth-inning shot off A's starter Kirk Saarloos, the veteran hurler stayed in command until Mark Ellis, Bobby Kielty and Mark Kotsay began the sixth with singles. Marco Scutaro followed with a two-run double to deep center field, and it looked like the Braves were reliving an event from earlier in the week.
In Smoltz's previous start, he began with 4 2/3 perfect innings and still found himself charged with 13 hits and four earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. But fortunately for Smoltz and the Braves, there wouldn't be any further reason to make a deja vu reference.
"When I get a lead, I pride myself on keeping a lead," Smoltz said. "I didn't do that very well. But at the same time, [I] prevented a huge inning and gave us a chance to come back and score those three, which for a pitcher is like a B-12 shot."
Adam LaRoche, who contributed three hits, began the Braves' sixth-inning charge with a one-out single. One batter later, Jones drilled a Justin Duchscherer fastball into the left-field seats for his team-leading 14th homer of the season.
"It was huge, because we expect so much out of Andruw that it's almost unfair to think he can do that all of the time," Smoltz said of Jones's first multi-homer game since May 14.
Jones, who at 28 years old was the oldest position player in the Braves' starting lineup, came into this game struggling. He hadn't homered since May 18, and his most recent multi-hit game had come on May 15. In his previous 23 games, Jones had hit .179 (15-for-84) and seen his batting average fall from .294 to .249.
The rapid decline in production has been a part of Jones' inconsistent nature over the years. But this year, with Chipper Jones out of a youthful lineup that during each of the past two days has featured four rookies, he's doing everything he can to not add any pressure upon himself.
"I went through that last year and it really went bad for me," Jones said. "So this year, I just go out there and let it happen. If you don't do it, somebody else will do it."
McCann might be the man who provides Jones some of that assistance in the very near future. He had a two-hit performance in his big-league debut on Friday night, and with his homer on Saturday gave the Braves even more reason to keep him around to serve as a backup when Johnny Estrada returns on Monday.
"This is the first time in a long time at this time of the year that I've thrown to a young catcher," Smoltz said. "He really did a great job."
Smoltz admitted that McCann, who first career homer fell just over the right-center field wall, inspired him throughout the game with his youthful energy.
But McCann, who grew up 20 minutes north of Atlanta as a big Braves fan, might have had the most glowing recount of the afternoon in which the veterans provided the leadership and the youths responded favorably.
"Today was unbelievable," McCann said. "I got to catch one of my childhood idols."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
Unfortunately this year, he once again finds himself in the middle of a youthful, and once again, injury-plagued clubhouse. Thus the need for veterans like himself and John Smoltz -- two of the Braves' three longest-tenured players, along with Chipper Jones -- to carry the load has become a necessity.
So when Jones backed up Smoltz's first complete game in more than six years with a two-homer performance in the Braves' 5-3 win over the A's at Turner Field on Saturday afternoon, a team that has had its share of misfortunes once again had reason to smile and enjoy the contributions of its leaders.
"I'm just happy that we won and went out there and performed like we did today," said Jones, whose second multi-homer performance of the year lifted the Braves to just their ninth win in 24 games.
Jones' two-run homers in the fourth and sixth innings were enough for Smoltz, who allowed just five hits and three earned runs, while tossing his first complete game since April 30, 1999.
"He pitched a great game and I was just honored to be back there catching him," said 21-year-old Brian McCann, who followed Jones's sixth-inning game-decider with a solo shot to right field that gave him his first big league homer just six at-bats into his career.
Smoltz's effort was much more dominant than his line might indicate. Remove the four consecutive singles he allowed in the A's three-run sixth inning and it was basically an afternoon of futility for the Oakland offense. Their only other hit came courtesy of Nick Swisher's second-inning infield single, and they produced just one baserunner in the final three innings.
"I'm glad I'm not talking about a stupid loss because of one bad inning," said Smoltz, who has won three of his past four starts and allowed runs in just six of the past 31 innings in which he's appeared.
After Jones had given Smoltz a two-run lead with his fourth-inning shot off A's starter Kirk Saarloos, the veteran hurler stayed in command until Mark Ellis, Bobby Kielty and Mark Kotsay began the sixth with singles. Marco Scutaro followed with a two-run double to deep center field, and it looked like the Braves were reliving an event from earlier in the week.
In Smoltz's previous start, he began with 4 2/3 perfect innings and still found himself charged with 13 hits and four earned runs in 8 1/3 innings. But fortunately for Smoltz and the Braves, there wouldn't be any further reason to make a deja vu reference.
"When I get a lead, I pride myself on keeping a lead," Smoltz said. "I didn't do that very well. But at the same time, [I] prevented a huge inning and gave us a chance to come back and score those three, which for a pitcher is like a B-12 shot."
Adam LaRoche, who contributed three hits, began the Braves' sixth-inning charge with a one-out single. One batter later, Jones drilled a Justin Duchscherer fastball into the left-field seats for his team-leading 14th homer of the season.
"It was huge, because we expect so much out of Andruw that it's almost unfair to think he can do that all of the time," Smoltz said of Jones's first multi-homer game since May 14.
Jones, who at 28 years old was the oldest position player in the Braves' starting lineup, came into this game struggling. He hadn't homered since May 18, and his most recent multi-hit game had come on May 15. In his previous 23 games, Jones had hit .179 (15-for-84) and seen his batting average fall from .294 to .249.
The rapid decline in production has been a part of Jones' inconsistent nature over the years. But this year, with Chipper Jones out of a youthful lineup that during each of the past two days has featured four rookies, he's doing everything he can to not add any pressure upon himself.
"I went through that last year and it really went bad for me," Jones said. "So this year, I just go out there and let it happen. If you don't do it, somebody else will do it."
McCann might be the man who provides Jones some of that assistance in the very near future. He had a two-hit performance in his big-league debut on Friday night, and with his homer on Saturday gave the Braves even more reason to keep him around to serve as a backup when Johnny Estrada returns on Monday.
"This is the first time in a long time at this time of the year that I've thrown to a young catcher," Smoltz said. "He really did a great job."
Smoltz admitted that McCann, who first career homer fell just over the right-center field wall, inspired him throughout the game with his youthful energy.
But McCann, who grew up 20 minutes north of Atlanta as a big Braves fan, might have had the most glowing recount of the afternoon in which the veterans provided the leadership and the youths responded favorably.
"Today was unbelievable," McCann said. "I got to catch one of my childhood idols."
Source: http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/
