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Jones hits milestone homer as Braves win

Jun 6, 2008 - 4:12 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Chipper Jones notched another milestone in yet another home win for the Atlanta Braves.

Jones collected four hits while becoming the 43rd player in major league history to reach the 400-home run plateau, leading the Braves to a 7-5 win over the struggling Florida Marlins on Thursday.

"I guess I've seen every one of them," said Atlanta's Bobby Cox, the only manager for which Jones has played in the majors. "I don't remember missing a game. He's a great kid, a great player. He's been part of the face of this organization for a decade and a half."

Brian McCann and Yunel Escobar also homered for Atlanta, which improved to 25-8 at Turner Field.

Hanley Ramirez homered and Dan Uggla recorded three hits and scored a run for the floundering Marlins, who completed a 3-10 road trip against National League East Division opponents.

The 36-year-old Jones has had an MVP-caliber season thus far for Atlanta, leading the league in batting average and moving up in baseball's record books with reckless abandon.

On Tuesday, the switch-hitting slugger moved past Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews for second place on the franchise list with 2,202 hits. He also pulled even with Hall of Famer Al Kaline and former teammate Andres Galarraga for 43rd place on the all-time homers list with 399 blasts.

Jones wasted little time getting No. 400.

After receiving a day off on Wednesday, the 1999 NL MVP continued his hitting assault with another sensational night at the plate.

He hit singles in the first and third frames before flying out in the fifth. One inning later, this season's leading All-Star vote-getter smashed a 2-0 offering from Florida starter Ricky Nolasco (5-4) into the right field stands for his 400th career homer

"I'm glad it wasn't a wall-scraper," Jones said of his blast. "It was a huge monkey off of my back to get a hold of one.

"(Hitting No. 400 ranks) way up there. Probably one of the top one or two (moments of my career). With the World Series that I got in my rookie season, this would probably be my second."

Nolasco admitted that he left the pitch - a slider - over the middle of the plate.

"He makes you pay when you go over the middle of the plate," Nolasco said. "I made a mistake and he made me pay. He's been doing it for years, and he's not stopping anytime soon."

Jones, who strolled down the first base line admiring the towering 405-foot blast, rounded the bases to a standing ovation from the crowd of 27,238 before exchanging high-fives with teammates McCann and Mark Teixeira. With the crowd still on its feet, he emerged from the dugout and tipped his cap while waving to the Braves faithful.

Amazingly, Jones said it was only his second curtain call in his 16 seasons in Atlanta.

"This is a town that's laid back, and it fits my personality," said Jones, who claimed his only other curtain call came in a series against the Mets in 1999. "It was really nice. I truly appreciate it."

Also appreciating the blasts were Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens (6-3) and McCann - two players that grew up idolizing Jones and the Braves during the 1990s.

"When I was nine, 10, 11 years old, if you wanted to take your kid and show him what the correct way to hit is, you turned on the TV and watched him swing," McCann said. "I've been a little kid in his back pocket (since joining the Braves)."

"If you see the replay, I was one of the first ones jumping in the dugout," Jurrjens added. "It was fun. I'm the luckiest guy right now. I'm playing for my favorite team."

Jones, who registered his 29th multi-hit game of the season, capped the evening with a single and stolen base in the eighth. He finished 4-for-5 to raise his average to .418 and on-base percentage to .498 - both league bests.

"He's doing OK," deadpanned longtime teammate Tom Glavine. "Seems like he's figuring things out a little bit."

The Braves overcame a shaky start from rookie Jair Jurrjens (6-3), who allowed five runs and 11 hits while walking two and striking out four in six innings.

"I got away with one," Jurrjens said. "The team really picked me up today and gave me some run support."

Royce Ring and Jeff Bennett bridged the gap to Rafael Soriano, who worked around a hit in the ninth for his third save.

Florida batted around during a four-run fourth to take a 5-3 lead. But Atlanta halved the deficit in the bottom half, and McCann's two-run blast an inning later put the Braves ahead for good.

However, McCann was happy to be overshadowed by Jones after this one.

"I could care less about mine," McCann said of his homer. "Not many people are able to (hit 400 homers). Especially switch hitters. It's fun to watch every night."

Nolasco allowed seven runs, 11 hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings for the Marlins, who have dropped seven of their last nine games.