Pearl, Miss. -- He hit a home run in the first inning that was overruled and called a foul ball. Then he singled to the opposite field in the fourth and eventually scored. And for one night, no one booed him.

A disappointed Jeff Francoeur, the hometown flash from Parkview High School and Atlanta fan favorite, returned to Trustmark Park, the Mississippi Braves and the Class AA Southern League on Friday, exactly where he was three years ago this week, when he was summoned to make his major-league debut.

Statistically, he felt a little better: 2-for-5 with two singles, a walk and a run scored. Emotionally, 24 hours after his demotion, he felt a little of everything.

"I was upset [Thursday] night when I got home," Francoeur said. "[Friday] morning, when I woke up, it was anger that I was feeling. Then by the time I got here, I told myself, 'You know what? There's not a damn thing I can do about it now. So there's no reason to sit back and think about it.'

"My game plan is, if they have the confidence in me, which I hope they do, is to come back and start that Friday night after the All-Star break and get going and have a huge second half. Because I know I can."

Francoeur, who at 21 made a celebrated splash in his 2005 big-league debut, spent his first hour working out in the batting cage with Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman, who considers one of his primary swing coaches.

"I wouldn't say he's extremely happy," Mississippi manager Phillip Wellman said. "I don't think anybody would be. Play three years in the big leagues and show up in Double A the next day? I think he has the right to be a little upset.

"I wouldn't call it mad. I would say he was disappointed."

It seemed that way in the first inning, when Francoeur ripped an 0-2 fastball from Chattanooga left-hander Travis Wood over the left-field foul pole. Initially ruled a homer by plate umpire Chris Hakke, the play was overruled by ump Travis Wood on an appeal from Chattanooga manager Mike Goff.

Wellman was subsequently ejected for protesting the call, and Francoeur, recalled to the plate, worked a nine-pitch walk. In all, the right fielder reported feeling more comfortable at the plate but reiterated he had begun to feel better about his swing earlier in the week while still in Atlanta.

Francoeur learned of his demotion in a quick Thursday night postgame meeting with manager Bobby Cox, general manager Frank Wren, assistant manager Bruce Manno and coaches Terry Pendleton and Chino Cadahia.

"I felt so relaxed [at the plate Friday], but I felt really relaxed [Thursday]," Francoeur said. "And I told Frank that in the meeting. I feel good, I felt comfortable and really feel like I was that close to busting out. I think I showed [Friday night] I was kind of right. I don't think coming and the atmosphere was the reason I got two hits."

Francoeur turned down a long-term contract offer from the Braves last year and has had his contract renewed unilaterally each of the past two offseasons.

"I love playing for the city. I love playing for the fans and always have," said Francoeur, who grew up in Gwinnett County. "But I'm disappointed with the decision and how the whole process went down."

Francoeur said he thought he might have been warned ahead of time what the team was considering. He said Thursday's conversation -- which lasted maybe five minutes -- came as a surprise to him after he had played nearly every day for three seasons.

Francoeur had been hitting a season-low .234 with one home run in his past 106 at-bats. He was hitting .198 with runners in scoring postion.

He has missed only two starts in the past three seasons -- May 20 vs. the Mets and June 22 vs. the Mariners. This season he has played with a bruised hand (after he was hit by a pitch) and on a sore ankle, which he said likely will require surgery after the season.

Before the Braves' game Friday against the Houston Astros at Turner Field, Wren talked about the decision to demote Francoeur.

"It was tough on a lot of fronts," he said. "It's tough because you care about a player, you care about a team, and all the ramifications. But at the same time it's one of those tough decisions you've got to make because you do care. You see that he's not getting the results that he wants or we wants.

"We felt like as a group -- and I talked to a lot of people within the organization that have a lot of experience -- that the best thing for him was to get out of the pressure of the day-to-day major-league schedule and what all that means and get back to where he can relax and get his swing going again. It just was not happening at this level."

Francoeur said he was given the option of going to Class AAA Richmond or Class AA Mississippi. He chose Mississippi because of his relationship with Wellman, who was Francoeur's hitting coach when he was last in the minors, with Mississippi in 2005.

"It doesn't matter if it's Jeff Francoeur or Chipper Jones or Brandon Jones or whoever it may be," Wellman said. "When you struggle, the best approach is 'simplify to rectify.' The human brain works in mysterious ways and sometimes the reality of things is not what's always going on in the brain.

"The quicker you can simplify things, the quicker guys can rebound."

-- Staff writer Carroll Rogers contributed to this article from Atlanta.