Escobar needs, gets a night off

Washington — If ever there was a game to give Yunel Escobar off to clear his head, Saturday night was it. And Bobby Cox did, resting the shortstop against the Nationals.

Escobar bounced into a franchise record-matching three double plays Friday in a 7-3 loss, including one with the bases loaded in the first inning.

Cox said he had dropped Escobar lower in the order Friday because he had been hitting into double plays in front of Chipper Jones. But the tactic didn’t work with Escobar hitting fifth either.

Escobar has hit into 23 double plays on the season, one shy of the Atlanta record held by Andruw Jones (2004) and Dale Murphy (1988). The next highest Brave is Brian McCann with 17.

“Just give him a breather,” said Cox, who also held Jeff Francoeur out of the lineup for the fourth time in the past 20 games. “Escobar hasn’t missed anything for a long time.”

Escobar has missed only 18 games this season, the previous 17 for injuries.

He missed about two weeks with a jammed shoulder that nearly sent him to the disabled list and recently sat out after taking a pitch on the elbow. He also missed games early in the season against the Mets after getting hit in the finger by a pitch and banging his knee on a collision with Ryan Church.

“I think he’s swinging the bat fine,” Cox said. “It’s not like he’s going up there striking out. He’s hitting the ball good.”

Escobar declined comment on Saturday.

Jones nursing sore elbow

Part of playing every day at age 36 means Chipper Jones is nursing multiple injuries at any given time. In addition to the quadriceps and hamstring problems, Jones has battled tendinitis in his throwing elbow.

Jones said it’s been bothering him for over a month and affects him mostly on throws. He said the only time it bothers him hitting is when he overextends his elbow rolling over a changeup.

“I had some pain in my shoulder and I think to compensate for it have put some stress on my elbow,” Jones said. “It’s getting more and more difficult to get the ball across the infield. It’s affected a couple of throws here and there.”

Jones pointed to one Friday night that pulled Martin Prado off the bag and another one in New York Aug. 20.

“It’s really painful on do-or-die barehand throws,” said Jones, who’s just got to play through it. “It’s not like this is anything structural or that’s going to hinder me past this year.”

He said getting a cortisone shot wasn’t an option.

“It’s not an area they want to shoot,” Jones said. “I’ve taken a dose pack [of anti-inflammatories] and that’s six days long, I felt better for about three or four days after I took the dose pack, and then it came back.”

Southern League pitcher of year

Braves minor-leaguer Todd Redmond was recently named most outstanding pitcher in the Southern League for AA Mississippi.

Redmond, whom the Braves acquired from Pittsburgh in the Tyler Yates trade, set Mississippi records for wins (13), strikeouts (128) and innings pitched (160 1/3).

Matt Diaz saw Redmond pitch during a minor-league rehabilitation stint and came away impressed.

“He doesn’t have dominating stuff, but he’s got enough stuff that he knows how to use it,” Diaz said. “He’s truly a pitcher, which in Double A will get you a long way. He’s ahead of the curve, and he knows how to pitch. He pitches to his strength, which is keeping the ball down. When he pitched it would be quick games, he was pitching to contact, not trying to strike everybody out. It was nice. We got in, we got out, then we got to eat.”