Chipper Jones' right knee was sore Monday from his latest cortisone injection, but his wallet wasn't any lighter. Not yet anyway.
The Braves third baseman had strong criticism for umpire Mark Ripperger after being called out on strikes to end Sunday's 5-4 loss to Baltimore. He called the umpiring "substandard" and said he didn't care if he got fined.
Since Monday was a holiday, any fine likely would come later.
Jones avoided getting into a shouting match with the umpire, instead venting his frustration when reporters came to his locker.
“I wasn’t going to give the guy the honor of throwing me out of the game," he said. "But I got my say in, and I got it on TV, and the video doesn’t lie.”
Jones was ahead in the count 3-1 before the last two pitches from Kevin Gregg were called strikes. Replays showed the pitches were outside.
Jones said he would've changed only one thing about his Sunday comments.
“If I have anything that I regret saying in the heat of the moment after the game is that the umpiring is substandard,” he said Monday. “Those guys do as good a job as they can. There’s some really good umpires in that crew. Just so happens that the game didn’t end real well for us, on two balls that shouldn’t have been called strikes. It’s unfortunate, but you move past it."
However, he reiterated his stance about the two pitches that ended the game.
“[Ripperger] was making pitchers be on the plate all day,” Jones said. “Then all of a sudden, he didn’t. It’s kind of hard to make that adjustment with two outs and two strikes in the ninth.
"We've got our best hitter [Brian McCann] on deck, with Freddie [Freeman], who's swinging the bat well, coming up after that. To say that that game was over, is wrong."
He received the cortisone shot after Sunday’s game to relieve pain and inflammation from torn cartilage he has played with for most of the season. He had two injections six weeks earlier, and still hopes to avoid arthroscopic surgery.
Good day for Prado
After bounding up and down stadium stairs in the afternoon heat on Monday at Turner Field, Martin Prado said he's ready to start a rehabilitation assignment and hoped to rejoin the Braves in time to face the Phillies next weekend.
The left fielder is recovering from staph-infection surgery and did not appear slowed by the healing incision on his right calf, which was wrapped tightly as he worked out on the field and on the stairs.
Prado said ideally he would like to get about 30 at-bats before he’s activated. The only way that could happen and allow him to play in Philadelphia might be if he hit every inning in specially arranged intrasquad or “B” games with the Braves’ Gulf Coast League team in Florida.
Venters rejuvenated
When your nickname is “Every Day” Jonny, three days of rest can feel like a month.
Left-hander Jonny Venters said his arm felt great when he warmed up during Sunday's game after three days without throwing. Manager Fredi Gonzalez plans to rest him more in the second half of the season.
He led major league relievers with 45 appearances and 50 innings at the season’s midway point, and Gonzalez announced after Venters gave up a two-run homer on Wednesday that he would be rested for at least part of the Baltimore series.
He allowed six runs in three appearances on last week’s road trip to nearly triple his ERA from 0.56 to 1.59. Venters didn’t pitch at all during the series, but warmed up Sunday and was nearly called upon to pitch.
“I was excited when I got to warm up a little bit,” he said.
Venters said he thought he blew his chance to make the All-Star team last week. When All-Stars were announced Sunday, he was one of four Braves on the NL squad with Jair Jurrjens, Jones and McCann.
"Once I sat down with my family last night and talked about it, it was pretty cool to think about how I’ll be in the same clubhouse with some of those guys," he said.
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