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Phillies try to bounce back after losing division lead

Jul 25, 2008 - 10:09 AM Atlanta (48-53) at Philadelphia (54-48) 7:05 p.m. EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- After falling out of first place in the National League East, the Philadelphia Phillies look to get back on track when they face the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

The Phillies owned a half-game lead over the New York Mets in the division entering the All-Star break. However, Philadelphia dropped two of three at Shea Stadium this week to fall one game back.

The Phillies are poised to bounce back against the Braves, who are 1-8 against Philadelphia and will be without All-Star Chipper Jones.

Jones leads the majors with a .369 average but injured his left hamstring during Wednesday's victory over the Florida Marlins. The veteran third baseman was running out a grounder to third base and grabbed the hamstring as he crossed the bag at first.

Jones told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he hopes to miss "a couple games" but would not rule out a trip to the disabled list.

"It's sore right now," Jones told the newspaper. "I don't know what the timetable's going to be. Hamstrings are a little more delicate than quads or groins."

The Braves are hoping Jair Jurrjens (9-5, 3.22 ERA) can help the lineup overcome the loss of Jones by calming the Phillies' attack.

Jurrjens has been inconsistent, alternating wins and losses over his last four starts. The 22-year-old righthander has surrendered nine runs and 16 hits in 13 1/3 innings during the setbacks while yielding one run and eight hits in 14 frames en route to the victories.

Kyle Kendrick (8-4, 4.87) counters for the Phillies and looks to rebound from his worst start . Kendrick allowed a season-high seven runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings during Saturday's 9-5 loss to the Florida Marlins.