Jones, Braves take it on the chin

Chipper Jones knows he doesn't have too many more trips to the playoffs left in his career. He's not letting this one slip away without a fight and is hoping to pull the Braves along with him. That's what made his eighth-inning-ending 4-6-3 double play grounder off Philadelphia Phillies reliever Brad Lidge even more disappointing. To that point, Jones, who managed just three hits in 22 trips to the plate on the team's recently completed six-game road trip, had two of Atlanta's five hits off Cliff Lee (the team had seven overall), including his 18th homer. Both at-bats ignited the crowd at Turner Field, but it wasn't enough to ignite the team, as the Phillies came from 2-0 down, to beat Atlanta, 4-2. With the loss, the Braves' hold on the National League Wild Card lead fell to a half-game over St. Louis, which was fighting for its life in Houston. There is no questioning Jones' sense of urgency. He needed just five pitches to put the dismal trips to Florida and Washington behind him and get the team off to a fast start, blasting a 2-2 pitch from Lee (17-8) over the wall in center field to get the Braves an early 1-0 lead. He'd add a ground-rule double later, and with his 2-for-3 night off Lee, is now hitting .389 (7-for-18) off him for his career. Atlanta would extend the lead to 2-0 in the second as Matt Diaz and Alex Gonzalez doubled to right field on consecutive at-bats. But the joy in Braves country pretty much ended there, save the first-and- second, one-out threat in the eighth and a misplayed double by Ibanez on Dan Uggla's line drive in the ninth that put the tying run at the plate, where it would remain as Phillies closer Ryan Madson recorded his 32nd save, striking out first baseman Freddie Freeman and catcher Brian McCann and retired pinch-hitter Jason Heyward on a grounder to first baseman Ryan Howard. Rookie Randall Delgado did his best to hold the lead, doing what he's done since the Braves called him up and made him part of their rotation in mid-August. He pitched five good innings. But the Phillies chipped away, nicking Delgado for a run in the fourth on a Placido Polanco single although the 21-year-old did a great job in limiting the damage to just one run, pitching out of a bases- loaded, one-out jam then a Jimmy Rollins game-tying homer in the fifth. Philadelphia took the lead in the sixth when Shane Victorino tripled to right field off Cristhian Martinez (1-3) and came home on an RBI single by Raul Ibanez. In the meantime, Lee was unhittable. He retired 12 in a row at one point until Jones smashed a 1-2 pitch to the alley in left-center. The ball ran out of steam at the warning and bounced over the wall, but he would be stranded at second. The Braves would not get even with the Phillies, scoring fewer than three runs for the sixth time in the last 10. There are two games remaining in the season, and depending on how Wandy Rodriguez and the Houston Astros bullpen does, the Braves could still have its one-game lead in the wild card spot. The standings would revert to what they were Monday morning and one more day would be off the schedule. The Braves would take it. "But I'll take it" isn't good enough for Chipper Jones. You can bet he's going to make sure it's not good enough for the Braves.