PHILADELPHIA — Chris Johnson's three-hit game Thursday raised his National League-leading average to .346 and extended the Braves third baseman's hitting streak to 10 games, including seven consecutive games with at least two hits.
The latter streak matched the longest such streak for the Braves since the team moved to Atlanta.
Johnson was 19-for-40 (.475) during his 10-game streak before Friday, and 16-for-29 (.552) in the seven multi-hit games. The latter streak matched the Atlanta-era Braves record by Matt Diaz, who had seven straight multi-hit games Aug. 22-29, 2009.
“I feel good, but I also feel like every day I come in here and try to figure it out, learn more,” said Johnson, who began the season in a platoon with since-traded Juan Francisco. “I’ve mentally figured out a little bit on how to go about playing every day and how to come in here and stay focused.”
In 45 home games, Johnson has hit .358, third-best in the NL. Freddie Freeman (.349) was fifth-best in the category.
Johnson said he hasn’t noticed pitchers approaching him any differently.
“My approach doesn’t change, so I try to not even worry about what they’re trying to do, because I’m looking for what I want,” he said. “So I don’t really put too much stock into how they’re pitching me one week.”
Besides, he’s hit in the bottom half of the order for almost the entire season and is not one of the power hitters in a Braves lineup that features several of them. They had seven hitters with at least 10 homers before Friday, including four with 15 or more. Johnson had six homers.
“Oh, yeah. I’m flying under the radar compared to some of these guys right now,” he said. “Which is great for me.”
B.J., Schafer updates: B.J. Upton played his third injury-rehab game Friday for Triple-A Gwinnett, and the center fielder was expected to be activated from the disabled list to join the Braves this weekend in Philadelphia. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Upton would probably be in Philadelphia for Saturday's 4 p.m. game against the Phillies.
Out since straining a right adductor muscle in the last series before the All-Star break, Upton went 3-for-4 with two doubles Thursday, and 1-for-5 with three strikeouts Friday.
Backup outfielder Jordan Schafer is set to begin his rehab assignment Saturday at Gwinnett. He’s missed a month recovering from a stress fracture after fouling a ball off his right ankle. Gonzalez said Schafer would probably play at three or four rehab games.
Phillies pitching plans: The Phillies didn't finalize their rotation plans for the rest of the series until Friday, when they announced that left-hander John Lannan would start Saturday and ace lefty Cliff Lee on Sunday. Lee was originally scheduled to start Friday, but was bumped back two days to allow his strained neck to heal.
