Chipper! Braves Top Mets

Battered but not beaten, the Atlanta Braves are closing in on another division championship.

The injury-plagued Braves beat New York for the second night in a row, winning 5-2 Wednesday to build a three-game lead over the Mets in the NL East with 10 remaining.

Atlanta got key contributions from the expected Chipper Jones homered for the third time in two games and the unexpected Terry Mulholland escaped a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the eighth.

This is the first September pennant race for the Braves in six years, but they look right at home even with five players out for the season.

Pinch-hitter Keith Lockhart broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh with a sacrifice fly and Brian Jordan, plagued by a sore right hand, came through with a two-run single in the eighth.

"I almost cried," said Jordan, who didn't start the two previous games because of the pain. "I've not been producing lately. To produce in that situation meant a lot to the team and gave us a little bit of a comfort zone."

Mulholland didn't have much of a comfort zone in the top of the inning with the Braves clinging to a 3-2 lead. He entered with the bases loaded to face pinch-hitter Bobby Bonilla, who had a .351 career average with four homers against the Atlanta left-hander.

"When I go to the mound, I don't care what the guy has done against e in the past," said Mulholland, a key addition since being acquired from the Cubs just before the July 31 trade deadline. "It has no bearing on the moment."

Throwing nothing but sliders, Mulholland struck out Bonilla swinging before retiring another pinch-hitter, Todd Pratt, on a grounder to second.

"I was trying to do way too much," Bonilla said. "I should have been trying to get the guy in from third. I tried to leave the planet and I got sent home instead."

"Terry was an awesome addition," Glavine said. "If he does nothing else the rest of the season, what he did tonight was worth making that trade."

The Braves have defeated the Mets in six of eight games this season. Atlanta has won 12 of the last 13 meetings at Turner Field.

"They definitely have our number the last couple of years," Matt Franco said. "But we're right there if we can just get over that hump."

In all, there were 14 substitutions during the wild eighth nine in the top half of the inning. The Braves used four pitchers and the Mets sent up five straight pinch-hitters after Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura led off with consecutive singles.

"I normally don't do stuff like that," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "But the guys were fresh, so I decided to blow it out."'

The Braves began the three-game series with a slender one-game over New York, but they've taken a major step toward extending their unprecedented streak of seven straight division titles.

The Mets still have hope: the teams meet at Turner Field on Thursday, then hook up again next week in a three-game series at Shea Stadium.

New York had a 3 1/2-game lead in the wild-card race over Cincinnati, which played later at San Diego.

The Braves haven't played such meaningful games at this time of year since 1993, when they beat San Francisco by one game in the NL West. Since the strike-shortened '94 season, Atlanta has won four straight East titles by an average margin of 14 games.

Jones was serenaded with chants of "MVP! MVP! MVP" after his 44th homer, a two-run shot in the first that gave the Braves a quick lead. He hit a pair of solo shots in the series opener, accounting for both Atlanta runs in a 2-1 victory.

Glavine worked seven strong innings, his performance tarnished only by Piazza's game-tying two-run homer in the fourth.

The Braves squeezed out the go-ahead run in the seventh against Orel Hershiser (13-11). With one out, Andruw Jones and Eddie Perez hit consecutive singles before Lockhart, batting for Walt Weiss, sent a low liner to center.

Darryl Hamilton made a sliding catch, but had no chance of getting the speedy Jones at the plate.

John Rocker worked the ninth for his 35th save.

One bright spot for the Mets: Rey Ordonez played his 89th consecutive game without an error at shortstop, breaking the NL record set by New York's Kevin Elster over the 1988 and '89 seasons.

On another record note, Franco was intentionally walked as a pinch-hitter for the 16th time of the season, tying the NL record set by Philadelphia's Harry McCurdy in 1933 and tied by San Diego's Merv Rettenmund in 1977.

Notes