Braves shuffle lineup, rock Rockies

Every batter in the lineup recorded a hit except Jeff Francoeur, including pitcher Jair Jurrjens. And Francoeur got breaks, if not hits. His potential double-play groundball in the second inning drew an error that opened the door to a three-run outburst.

Even rookie Jordan Schafer, still batting in the eighth spot, singled in two runs to raise his RBI total to six.

The two batters who usually do the most work — Brian McCann and Chipper Jones — drove in a run apiece but otherwise let the rest of the lineup pick them up. The rest of the lineup accounted for five of the Braves' six hits with runners in scoring position.

"We're not always going to hit the big home runs, but hopefully the doubles and the big base hits will do it," Johnson said.

The Braves scored more runs in the first three innings (six) than they had in the first three games of this homestand. They won for only the fourth time in the past 15 games at Turner Field.

"It's a good lineup," said Cox, who likely will tinker again tonight against a left-hander. "It's not going to produce every single night, nobody does. But it's a good one."

Meanwhile, Jurrjens did what he always does — dominated — and this time got a win to show for it. The Braves had scored only nine runs while he was on the mound during his previous six starts, leaving him with only three wins despite the fifth-best ERA in the majors at 2.06.

Tuesday night he had a 1-0 lead before he took the mound and a 4-0 lead before he had broken a sweat. And he got in on the offense with an infield hit for the first RBI of his major-league career.

"It's like going to an ice-cream store when you're a little kid," Jurrjens said of the run support. "You relax more and just throw strikes and try to work on the pitch count, try to get deep in the game."

Jurrjens allowed only a run on three hits in seven innings to move to 4-2 and whittle his ERA to 1.96. He's allowed no more than three earned runs in any of his nine starts this season.

"We got unbelievable pitching from J.J.; spectacular," Cox said. "He moved the ball around good, in and out, terrific breaking ball and change-up tonight."

Rockies first baseman Todd Helton got his 2,000th hit, off Jurrjens on a single in the third inning, but it was overshadowed by a Braves offense that outhit the Rockies 13-3.

Johnson was one of the few guys moving down in the lineup, and he played like he was comfortable with the change. After hitting only .191 (18-for-94) in the leadoff spot, he's hitting .636 (7-for-11) in the No. 6 hole.

"Maybe it's just the way they come at you," Johnson said. "I don't have any explanation though."

Facing a left-hander tonight, Johnson will likely be replaced by right-handed hitting Omar Infante, who will probably hit leadoff. Whether left-handed Kotchman remains in the second spot remains to be seen.

"I'm just happy to have a costume on," he said. "Wherever you can be in the lineup, just try to contribute when you get a chance."