Yunel Escobar was back in the Braves' lineup Friday, and this time manager Bobby Cox was confident the shortstop would not be scratched.
Escobar was a late scratch Thursday after feeling lingering soreness in his right hip flexor, an injury that sidelined him for six consecutive games.
"He said he's going to play tonight," Cox said Friday afternoon. "I wish you could have seen him in [batting practice]. He was hitting them above Friday's [restaurant]."
There is a Friday's in the second seating deck above left field at Chase Field, and witnesses said Escobar hit a few tape-measure shots to that vicinity during early batting practice. He was among the many Braves who showed up for voluntary early hitting at 2 p.m.
After the Braves' fourth consecutive loss Thursday, Cox said they might have to put Escobar on the disabled list if he wasn't ready in another day or two.
They were a player short for six games without Escobar. Cox didn't want to use him to pinch-hit or anything else in those games, in case Escobar ended up going on the 15-day disabled list. DL stints can be retroactive to the day after a player's last game, and Escobar had not played since May 22.
While rookie Diory Hernandez has impressed with his defense filling in during the past week, Escobar's absence created a significant void in the batting order.
The Braves hit .177 and scored a total of seven runs in four losses on the road trip before Friday, and were 5-for-30 (.167) with runners in scoring position during that skid.
Escobar had a .293 average with four homers and 21 RBIs in 38 games before Friday, and his .439 average with runners in scoring position was fourth-best in the National League.
Jones expects to rest Saturday
Chipper Jones walked from the trainer's room to his locker with a pronounced limp Friday and said he was having an especially painful day with his sprained right big toe.
The veteran switch-hitter said he probably won't start Saturday's game against Diamondbacks lefty Doug Davis. Jones isn't able to push off with his right foot batting right-handed.
He struck out in all three at-bats Wednesday against Giants lefty Randy Johnson, in the first four-strikeout game of Jones' career.
Rainout rescheduled
The Braves' rained-out May 17 home game against the Diamondbacks was rescheduled for Aug. 17, as expected. The game at Turner Field will start at 4:05 p.m. and be shown on Fox Sports South.
Because the Diamondbacks had only one scheduled series in Atlanta, the makeup game was scheduled for an off day on both teams' schedules. The Braves will fit it in between a home series against Philadelphia on Aug. 14-16 and an Aug. 18-20 road trip against the New York Mets.
Cox approaching milestone
Before Friday, Cox was five wins from reaching 2,000 with the Braves. He was asked what it meant.
"It means I'm old, is what it means," he said, smiling. "It means we had a great organization, and I'm one of the lucky ones who's stayed with a team."
He turned 68 on May 21 and is in his 28th season as a manager, including 24 with the Braves.
Cox was fourth on the career list with 2,350 wins with Atlanta and Toronto.
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