Chipper, Braves spoil Phillies’ playoff push

Philadelphia — A painful shoulder kept him out of the lineup Wednesday, but it didn’t prevent Chipper Jones from taking a big swing that helped lift the Braves past the Philadelphia Phillies and him past the Duke of Flatbush.

Jones’ three-run pinch-hit homer capped a six-run fifth inning for the Braves in a 10-4 victory Wednesday night that gave them a series victory against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

“He’s an amazing hitter,” manager Bobby Cox said of Jones, whose 408th home run moved him past Duke Snider into 42nd place on the career list.

Kelly Johnson extended his hitting streak to 22 games, and Brian McCann added three doubles for the Braves, who were 2-14 against the Phillies before winning the past two nights.

The fourth-place Braves have won consecutive series against the New York Mets and Phillies and four of their past five series in all.

“We know we’re capable of playing with these guys,” Jones said of the Phillies, who kept a 1 1/2-game lead over the Mets in the National League East. “This season series should be a lot closer than it is, but over the last week, we can honestly look at ourselves and say we’ve done our job. We’re not rolling over.”

Jones raised his majors-leading average from .364 to .365, on a night he was scratched from the lineup with a sore right shoulder that has him concerned it might require surgery.

“You’ve got a chance to pout the nail in the coffin, to put the game out of reach,” Jones said of his second career pinch homer in 41 at-bats. “You’ve got one chance, and you’ve got to be at your best.”

His shoulder has throbbed hitting the right side recently, but Jones told Cox he wanted to bat regardless of who the Phillies called on to face him.

The Braves knew it would be a lefty, since it was no secret Jones was hurting more from the right. In came Scott Eyre, whose 2-1 pitch was driven to the left-field seats.

“He said, ‘No, I can do it,’ ” Cox said of Jones. “You’re not going to say no to a hitter like that. We took a shot and he delivered.”

Jones said, “The adrenaline that you build up [offsets] some of the pain.”

The Braves overcame another poor start by Jo-Jo Reyes, who gave up three runs and two homers in 31/3 innings, the eighth time in 12 starts he has pitched 4 1/3 innings or fewer.

The left-hander got no decision and remained winless (0-7) in his past 13 starts, with a 7.81 ERA in his past 13 games (12 starts).

If Jones can maintain or raise his average during the season-ending weekend series at Houston, he would match or surpass Mickey Mantle’s .365 in 1957, the highest ever for a switch-hitter.

Jones is poised to win his first batting title at 36. He has a 15-point lead over St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols.

The game was delayed in the ninth inning when Braves reliever Julian Tavarez and Shane Victorino exchanged words after Tavarez ran toward third base after Victorino took a big lead with nobody holding him close.

Tavarez returned to the mound, and Victorino held out his hands and pointed to the base. Tavarez advanced again toward Victorino, and the two were separated by umpires and teammates.

Benches and bullpens cleared, but no punches were thrown, and Tavarez stayed in and struck out Matt Stairs to close the inning.

Reyes didn’t win, but avoided further ignominy. The Braves had lost 11 consecutive games he started, the first time in 20 years they lost that many in a row by one pitcher.

The Braves staked Reyes to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when they opened with three hits in a row against Brett Myers, including a leadoff double by Josh Anderson and singles by Johnson and Martin Prado. Casey Kotchman’s two-out single drove in the second run.

The Phillies got a run in the second and a tying homer by Chase Utley in the third. The Braves gave Reyes another lead in the fourth when Kotchman grounded out to bring in McCann.

He handed that lead back when Ryan Howard led off the fourth inning with his major league-leading 47th homer.