National League Roundup: Braves win battle of division leaders

Jones hits pair of two-run homers as Atlanta flogs Cardinals, 6-1

? When it comes to power, Chipper Jones is having an off year. Try telling that to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jones hit a pair of two-run homers Saturday to back the strong pitching of Jason Marquis, carrying the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals in a matchup of NL division leaders.

The Braves won their fifth in a row to strengthen their hold on the best record in baseball. St. Louis lost its fourth straight.

“We’re playing about as good as we can play,” Jones said. “We all know the more wins we can get here, the more confidence we’ll take into October.”

Jones has certainly played with plenty of confidence during the Braves’ homestand, going 13-of-23 with five homers and 13 RBIs in the eight games at Turner Field.

He hit a three-run homer in the opening game of the series against the Cardinals, helping the Braves to an 11-5 victory, and followed with his 14th and 15th of the season against Matt Morris (12-7).

“Chipper is the key to their whole lineup,” Morris said. “I threw him two meatballs. You can’t make those mistakes.”

Jones, who averaged 38 homers the last four season, has struggled much of this year to hit the ball out of the park.

“It’s a little too late to say I’m going to approach my power numbers of the past,” he said. “But I’d sure like to ride this way as long as I can.”

Marquis (8-5), the Braves’ No. 5 starter, was pitching for the first time in two weeks. He was skipped over in his last two starts because of off days, but hardly seemed bothered by the layoff.

“If you tell yourself it’s going to be tough, it is,” he said. “I felt good out there. I didn’t want to use that as an excuse.”

The right-hander limited St. Louis to five hits and a run, escaping a couple of jams.

Reds 4, Padres 3

San Diego Russell Branyan hit a two-run homer, and Cincinnati took advantage of Brett Tomko’s wildness for a 4-3 victory over San Diego. Jimmy Haynes won his career-best fifth straight decision as the Reds moved within three games of first-place St. Louis in the NL Central. Tomko allowed only four hits in seven innings but walked four in the first inning one with the bases loaded to force in a run.

Giants 11, Pirates 6

Pittsburgh Barry Bonds hit his 597th career homer and just missed another while driving in four runs, leading San Francisco past Pittsburgh. Bonds moved within three homers of becoming the fourth major leaguer with 600 homers, powering Kip Wells’ full-count pitch deep into the right-field seats to put the Giants up 5-0 in the second. The drive was his 30th and 103rd in two seasons and extended his NL record streak to 11 consecutive seasons with 30 or more homers.

Marlins 11, Brewers 7

Miami Kevin Millar homered, doubled, singled and had four RBIs as Florida defeated Milwaukee. Andy Fox had three hits and drove in two runs in support of Brad Penny (5-4). Penny allowed four runs and nine hits in six innings. The Brewers scored three times in the ninth, highlighted by Lenny Harris’ two-run double. Braden Looper recorded two outs for his fourth save.

Astros 5, Expos 3

Montreal Wade Miller won his sixth straight start as Craig Biggio hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning to lead Houston past Montreal. Miller (9-3) allowed three hits and three runs in seven innings.

Rockies 2, Cubs 1

Chicago Denny Neagle returned to the Colorado rotation and pitched two-hit ball for six innings and Jay Payton doubled home two runs to give the Rockies a victory over Chicago. Neagle (5-7) ended his career-high five-game losing streak. He made his first start since July 2, when he gave up 10 runs and 10 hits in two innings against San Francisco.

D’backs 8-9, Mets 5-2

New York Jay Bell hit his first homer in more than a year and matched his career high with five RBIs to spoil John Thomson’s debut with New York as Arizona completed a doubleheader sweep with a 9-2 victory. Erubiel Durazo hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning for his second home run of the opener, giving Byung-Hyun Kim a victory in New York as Arizona won 8-5.

Dodgers 8, Phillies 6 (12)

Philadelphia Shawn Green hit a tying, two-out home run in the ninth inning and doubled in the 12th to set up Eric Karros’ go-ahead single as Los Angeles beat Philadelphia. The Phillies were one strike away from their fourth straight victory when Green hit a two-run shot into the upper deck in right field off Dan Plesac.