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Johnson, Jones help hand Rockies another loss

Sep 11, 2008 - 4:08 AM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- Kelly Johnson and Chipper Jones helped overcome a sub-par effort by the Atlanta Braves' bullpen.

Johnson continued his recent hot streak by homering twice and Jones added three hits, including a solo shot, to lead the Braves to a 9-5 win over the struggling Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.

Brian McCann added three hits and drove in a run and rookie James Parr tossed six scoreless innings for Atlanta, which has won two or more in a row for just the fourth time since the All-Star break.

"Kelly had a great night," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "A lot of guys (did) with the hitting. His two home runs, they were smoked."

Johnson deposited a shot four rows deep into the right field bleachers in the first inning to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. He capped his first multi-homer effort of the season and fourth career in the seventh after Atlanta's porous bullpen squandered a 4-0 advantage in the top of the frame by allowing four runs.

The hot-hitting second baseman snapped the tie by launching a 2-2 offering from Luis Vizcaino (1-1) midway up the right field stands for his 11th shot of the season.

"It feels good," said Johnson, who is batting .515 (17-for-33) with two homers and 12 RBI over his last nine games. "It's definitely one of those streaks that you go through."

Jones followed Johnson's second homer with one of his own, giving Atlanta a 6-4 advantage. It was the 407th blast of Jones' career, tying him with Duke Snider for 42nd place on the all-time list.

"It means I'm old," the 36-year-old Jones joked. "Hopefully, I've got a few more in me. Anytime that you tie or pass a Hall of Famer, it's an honor. It was a long time coming."

In adding two singles, Jones raised his average to .363, moving ahead of St. Louis' Albert Pujols (.362) in the National League batting race. Jones battled Colorado's Matt Holliday for the crown into the final week of the 2007 season before finishing second.

"I had a blast last year," Jones said. "It's hard not to be a little selfish when your team is out of the pennant race. Last year was fun."

The Braves, who sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh, put the game out of reach by plating three more runs on an RBI double by Brandon Jones and a two-run single by Josh Anderson.

Jeff Bennett (3-6) recorded the final two outs of the seventh to record the win despite allowing all three of his inherited runners to score.

The late-inning heroics came too late to make a winner of Parr, who was dominant in his second career start. The 22-year-old, who has not allowed a run over his first 12 major league innings, scattered five hits while striking out five without a walk.

"I've always been able to play above my age level," said Parr, who is auditioning for a spot in the rotation next season. "I'm making some adjustments and staying consistent. I expect this out of myself."

Parr became the first Braves pitcher since Larry McWilliams in July 1978 to hurl at least six scoreless frames in each of his first two starts. Including his last three outings in the minors, Parr has allowed just one run over his last 29 innings.

"It's awesome," he said. "I carried it over from Class AAA. ... I just came up here and I wanted to give our team a chance to win every time I go out."

Staked to the 4-0 lead, Parr watched Atlanta's overworked relievers quickly squander the advantage in the seventh.

Blaine Boyer, who was making his 75th appearance this year, served up a homer by rookie Ian Stewart before allowing a walk and a hit. Jeff Baker plated two more runs with a single off Bennett before Brad Hawpe tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

"Blaine had a rough seventh," Chipper Jones said. "(But) we came back and had a big inning of our own."

Colorado (67-79), which won 13 of 14 to erase a 6 1/2-game deficit in the wild card race last year and streaked its way to the World Series, will need another miracle comeback to repeat as NL champions. The Rockies have dropped four straight to fall 7 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (74-71) in the weak NL West.

"Our window of opportunity is pretty small now," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "We need to win ballgames. It was a tough (loss) for our team."

Livan Hernandez allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings for the Rockies, who have lost 14 of their last 17 games at Turner Field.