Late Homer by Chipper Jones Leads Braves Over Mets

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The New York Sun

ATLANTA – Notorious Met killer Chipper Jones hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning and drove in three runs, leading the Atlanta Braves over the Mets 4-2 yesterday.


Andruw Jones also hit his major league-leading 45th homer for the Braves, who improved to 49-20 against the Mets at Turner Field.


Chipper Jones hit an RBI double that tied the score in the first and homered in the eighth against Steve Trachsel (1-1). Jones has 34 homers against the Mets, second among active players to Barry Bonds’s 35, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He also has a .337 career average in 531 at-bats against New York with 102 RBI.


“It just so happens that when we play each other a lot late in the season over the last few years, I’ve had some pretty meaningful hits,” said Jones.


Chipper and Andruw Jones homered in the same game for the 48th time, most among active teammates.


The Mets have lost five of six and seven of nine after going 9-2 from August 19-26. The Mets began the day 2 1/2 games behind Philadelphia, the NL wild-card leader.


Andruw Jones’s homer gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead in the fourth, but New York tied the score in the eighth when David Wright tagged up and beat Jones’s throw from center on Ramon Castro’s sacrifice fly against Blaine Boyer (2-1). The rookie right-hander had pitched 15 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.


Kyle Farnsworth pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 chances, going 4- for-4 for Atlanta.


Trachsel, making his second straight since returning from back surgery, allowed four runs, seven hits, and two walks in 7 1/3 innings. He gave up Rafael Furcal’s leadoff single in the eighth, caught Marcus Giles’s bunt attempt, then gave up Chipper Jones’s 16th home run of the season.


“It was a fastball down,” Trachsel said. “No pitch is ever exactly where you want it, but that one wasn’t belt high, right down the middle. It’s not just Chipper. It’s all those guys. You can never relax against them.”


A day after Dan Kolb allowed five runs in the 12th inning of an 8-3 loss to Cincinnati, Atlanta’s bullpen labored. Kyle Davies, who pitched two innings, was helped in the seventh when right fielder Jeff Francoeur caught Carlos Beltran’s fly ball in shallow right with the bases loaded and one out and threw a perfect strike to catcher Johnny Estrada, who tagged out Victor Diaz.


Francoeur, who was called up July 7, has 11 assists, tying New York’s Cliff Floyd and Florida’s Miguel Cabrera for the NL lead among outfielders.


“Just because he’s tied for the league lead, that doesn’t mean you can’t run on him,” Mets third-base coach Manny Acta said. “So what are you going to do? He made a good throw. You gave to give credit to him.”


Beltran put the Mets ahead with an RBI double in the first.


Before the game, the Mets purchased the contract of reliever Danny Graves from Triple-A Norfolk. Graves went 0-2 with an 18.00 ERA in five games with Norfolk.


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