WASHINGTON -- The Joneses would not allow the
Washington Nationals to rally for another win.
Chipper and Andruw Jones hit back-to-back homers in the ninth
inning as the Atlanta Braves pulled out a wild 9-7 victory over
the Nationals in the rubber game of the three-game series.
After scoring four times in the eighth inning to take Friday's
opener 8-6, Washington made a bid to capture the season series
when it jumped all over the Atlanta bullpen for five runs in the
eighth. Included in that rally was an RBIs single by rookie
Ryan Zimmerman - the team's top pick in the June draft - that
put the Nationals ahead, 7-6.
After closer Chad Cordero (2-4) came on for Washington, Chipper
Jones crushed an 0-2 delivery with two outs into right-center
field for a two-run homer and an 8-7 lead.
"I was thinking about hitting a two-run homer," Chipper Jones
said. "I knew I was going to get something to hit with Andruw
batting behind me."
Chipper Jones, who missed nearly a month and a half with a
partial ligament tear in his left foot, is hitting .358
(47-for-131) with nine homers and 34 RBIs in his last 37 games.
It is the second-best average since July 27 behind Cleveland's
Victor Martinez (.368).
"Since he has come back (from injury), he's on every pitch,
hitting great, fielding great," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said.
"It's the best run that he's had."
Andruw Jones, who established a new franchise record with his
48th homer in the third, followed with a shot that went into the
upper deck in left for his fourth homer in three games.
"It seems like Andruw's totals go up by one or two everyday,"
Cox said. "He's completely locked in. He's truly a star right
now, he's truly a star."
One of the top candidates for the National League MVP, Andruw
Jones posted his ninth multi-homer game of the season en route
to passing Hall of Famers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron on the
Braves' single-season home run list.
"A record is a record," said Andruw Jones, who leads the major
leagues in homers. "When you are done playing, you notice the
records. Right now, I'm just going out and playing to help my
team win."
It was the eighth time that the Braves have had back-to-back
homers this season.
"Very shocking. I messed up again," said Cordero, who absorbed
his sixth blown save and second in his last four appearances.
"We battled all the way back in that eighth inning and I blew
it, I messed up.
"It (stinks), especially doing it twice during the homestand.
It's terrible. I feel bad. All the guys we ran out there
today, they battled and I come out there for one inning and I
blew it."
Macay McBride (1-0) picked up the win after getting the final
out of the eighth and closer Kyle Farnsworth struck out two in a
perfect ninth for his 12th save and sixth with Atlanta.
With the win, the Braves captured the season series, 10-9.
Held to just two runs over the first seven innings by John
Smoltz, the Nationals took advantage of consecutive walks by
Blaine Boyer to start the eighth. After Boyer was replaced by
John Foster, Brad Wilkerson hit an RBIs single.
Rick Short was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Nick
Johnson, who ripped a line drive down the first base line that
took a tough bounce, hitting Adam LaRoche in the face and
scoring two runs.
After a sacrifice fly by Ryan Church scored Short to tie the
score at 6-6, Zimmerman singled into center field.
"It was a colossal breakdown by our bullpen again," Chipper
Jones said. "There's no defense for walks. We have the best
defense in baseball and you can't throw strikes. You can't
continue to do that, teams are going to beat you."
The meltdown ruined a another strong outing by Smoltz, who
allowed three hits with five strikeouts.
His only mistakes came in the sixth, when Short and Johnson hit
back-to-back homers to cut the Nationals' deficit to 6-2.
Losing for the fifth time in its last six games, Washington
missed a great opportunity to pick up a game in the National
League wild card standings on the Houston Astros, who lost 4-2
to Milwaukee on Sunday.
Washington remains four games back for the final postseason spot
in the NL with 18 games to play.
"They feel worse, these kind (of losses) feel worse because you
had it in your back pocket," Nationals manager Frank Robinson
said. "You need three outs going into the inning, you get two
of them. You feel very confident about it. You got your closer
out there on the mound, you have been very successful ... you
feel like that's a game you have in the win column."