--3B Chipper Jones got the day off as a starter Sunday; manager Bobby Cox is looking at his young players and doesn't mind having Jones' bat off the bench. Jones is also experiencing some tendinitis in his throwing elbow.
--C Brian McCann got the day off as a starter Sunday. McCann has more than the usual bumps and bruises: his right leg is covered with enormous purple lumps from foul balls. He delivered a pinch-hit double in the ninth inning. --1B Martin Prado continues to hit balls to the gap and run. On Sunday, he was batting in the third spot in the order, in place of 3B Chipper Jones, who was given the day off. Prado is batting over .400 in his last nine games.
--INF/OF Greg Norton is 15 for 42 as a pinch hitter, with two home runs and 12 RBIs. Norton has been supplanted at first base by the excellent performance of INF Martin Prado, who was pressed into emergency service at the position Aug. 20 and has blossomed there.
--SS Yunel Escobar, given Saturday night off after grounding into three double plays, was back in the starting lineup and back in the fifth spot in the order on Sunday. He hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.
BY THE NUMBERS: 14 -- Number of consecutive seasons 3B Chipper Jones has hit at least 20 home runs, matching Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews as the only players in major league history to accomplish that from the beginning of their careers.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'd have to say it's my weirdest night as a professional in the big leagues." -- CF Mark Kotsay, on being scratched just before the Aug. 26 game as a precaution because the Braves were negotiating his trade to the Red Sox.
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