Given how this Braves season has deteriorated, it seemed fitting that an award received by Chipper Jones on Monday also served to underscore the team's recent woes.

The major league batting leader was named National League Player of the Week, just one day after it was announced that Jones has a slight tear of his right quadriceps muscle and could miss most or all of a three-game series against Chicago beginning tonight.

Jason Getz/AJC (ENLARGE)

While the Braves season deteriorates, Chipper Jones continues to shine.

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His stratospheric .420 batting average has drawn steadily increased national attention — a Sports Illustrated story was scheduled to run next week — and Jones has been able to remain relatively healthy for the first 10 weeks of the season, missing just five starts because of injuries and one start for rest.

The 36-year-old third baseman's resounding individual performance has been one of the few bright spots in a mostly disappointing season for a team beset by other injuries and undermined by dismal results on the road (a majors-worst 7-21 record) and in one-run games (3-17).

Lately even their home-field magic appears to be wearing off — the Braves have dropped six of their past 11 games at Turner Field after a torrid 19-3 stretch at home.

They had a day off Monday to ponder what had been a lost and damaging weekend that saw the Braves swept at home by National League East leader Philadelphia. The series seemed to turn on Kelly Johnson's dropped popup when the Braves were one out from a win in the series opener Friday.

After that stunning error by the second baseman, it was a weekend marked by bullpen meltdowns and poor clutch hitting by the home team. The power-laden Phillies left Atlanta with a 6 1/2-game lead over the third-place Braves, who had gone into the series with such high aspirations.

Now the Braves venture back to the cruel road for a 10-day, 10-game, four-city trip that starts with consecutive series against leaders of the NL Central, the Cubs, and the American League West, the Los Angeles Angels.

From there, the Braves head to Denver for a one-day stop to make up an April snowed-out game, then on to Texas for three games with the slugging Rangers.

The Braves might be forced to do the first leg without the searing-hot bat of Jones, who has a team-high 15 homers and leads the majors in average (by 48 points over Houston's Lance Berkman), on-base percentage (.504, 30 points ahead of St. Louis' Albert Pujols) and on-base plus slugging percentage (1.184).

In his last four games before the injury, Jones had nine hits, three home runs and six RBIs. He regained his power stroke, but the switch-hitter felt a pull in the quadriceps when he tried to beat out a ground ball late in Saturday's game.

Since April 12, Jones has hit .432 with 14 homers, 32 RBIs, 36 walks and a .541 OBP in 48 games. The Braves were 28-20 in that stretch when he was in the lineup, and 0-6 when he was not.

Last year in early June he was on the disabled list for bone bruises in his hands, and Jones hasn't been disabled since. He returned from that DL stint on June 13, 2007, and since then he's hit .379 in 150 games.

The Braves are 80-70 in games he's played in that stretch, and 1-10 in games he has not.

Jones was told by the Braves doctor that he might be able to play by Thursday or Friday. The interleague games at Anaheim and Texas will present the opportunity for Jones to be used as a designated hitter, if the Braves think that might reduce the likelihood of further injury.

As a designated hitter, Jones has a .324 career average (23-for-71) with six homers and 11 RBIs.

If he's got to miss any games, Chicago might be the preferable spot. Jones has hit .201 with 11 extra-base hits in 45 games at venerable Wrigley Field, where he's posted a lower average and slugging percentage (.373) than at any of the other 27 ballparks where he's played 10 or more games.

Then again, the Cubs have the NL's best home record (26-8) and an eight-game home winning streak. They are 15-2 at home since May 9.

The Braves would have faced a tough task even if their best hitter wasn't hurt.