LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Chipper Jones hit his first home run since his knee surgery in August, and it wasn't even the best thing about his Saturday at the ballpark.
“Today was the first day that I had absolutely no pain in my knee whatsoever, which I’m most excited about,” said the Braves third baseman, who hit a two-run, two-out homer in the sixth inning of a 6-4 win against the New York Mets at Champion Stadium.
“I felt like today was the first day that the knee was as good as it was pre-injury.... [The homer] was just a big cherry on top of a great day.”
Jones connected on a 2-0 fastball from right-hander Dillon Gee and drove it to the bullpen beyond right field, increasing the lead to 5-0. It was his first home run since Aug. 6, 2010, four days before he tore the ACL in his left knee.
Jones, who'll turn 39 on April 24, hit .302 with five homers and a .907 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in his last 28 games before the injury, to finish at .265/10/.806 in 95 games.
He played third base Saturday for the second time in a three-day span and served as a designated hitter in his other four games. He is 5-for-17 (.294) with one walk, two strikeouts and a hit-by-pitch.
“I’ve just been barreling them into the ground,” said Jones, who was 1-for-3 on Saturday, grounding out in the first inning and grounding into a double play in the third. “I can’t really complain about the way I’ve swung it. But, you know, you want to get results.
“You want to hit some line drives and hit some balls into the gaps and whatnot. It was especially good to get one up in the air and hit it out of the ballpark.”
Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez plans to start Jones at third base again Sunday against the Nationals in Viera, Fla., then give him Monday off when the Braves travel to face the Marlins.
“There’s going to be some good days,” Gonzalez said, “and there’s going to be some days when you’re going to have to get through it or be smart about it and say, I can’t go today.”
After using the DH in the first week of games, the Braves will see it only in a few games against American League teams the rest of spring.
“We don’t have many DH games left, so I’m going to have to get out there [at third base],” Jones said. “It felt good on [defense], felt good running down to first. I had no pain up until I started running my sprints in the outfield, and it started getting fatigued."
Lowe outhits Mets
Derek Lowe threw 30 strikes in 44 pitches over three scoreless innings of his second spring start, and the veteran pitcher's leadoff double in the third inning was one more hit than the Mets had against him.
“I probably threw seven [curveballs] and a couple of change-ups,” said Lowe, who didn’t throw any breaking balls in his first start, and hadn’t planned to throw more than a few Saturday. That was until competitiveness took over.
His only disappointment were leadoff walks in the second and third innings. The Mets had two runners on base in the second after an error by Braves second baseman Dan Uggla.
Lowe (2-0) averted damage with double-play grounders in the second and third innings.
He also doubled to start the third inning off expected opening-day starter Mike Pelfrey.
McLouth matches 2010 spring hits
Braves center fielder Nate McLouth went 1-for-3 with a bunt single Saturday, making him 6-for-13 (.462) with no strikeouts and five walks. He went 6-for-51 (.118) with 16 strikeouts last spring, before a career-worst season in which he hit .190 with a .298 on-base percentage.
“I’m feeling good. I’m being aggressive,” said McLouth, who has two doubles, four runs and one stolen base in six games, and began Saturday with a National League-leading .688 OBP.
No-hitter until sixth
Braves pitchers didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning, when reliever Anthony Varvaro gave up four hits and three runs while recording two outs.
The Mets mustered two hits against six other pitchers. Scott Proctor had three strikeouts and a walk in the fourth; sidearming prospect Cory Gearrin struck out two in a perfect fifth.
Prospect Randall Delgado gave up one hit in the ninth before recording his first save.
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