Jones Feels Less Than Chipper Because of Pain

Atlanta Brave third baseman Chipper Jones walked slowly into the clubhouse Friday, had an hour of treatment in the trainer’s room and came out with a brace and ice pack around his neck.

“I’m all ready to go,” he said, smiling weakly.

Jones underwent X-rays on his right foot, which were negative, but has worse pain in his neck. Friday morning, he awoke in severe pain, diagnosed as whiplash, and could barely turn his head on the plane trip.

“My neck is sore from hitting the ground,” Jones said. “Usually, if you sleep wrong, it just hurts from one side. This morning I couldn’t turn my neck from side to side.

“But I’m going to play. I don’t want to let any opportunity slip by. If I was to sit down and let someone else in there, and if they didn’t get that ball or get that hit, I’d feel awful.

“Besides, I remember having my locker next to TP [Terry Pendleton] in ‘94, and he was playing hurt a lot. I saw games where he’d come into the clubhouse and couldn’t even bend over to take off his shoes. He’d actually have to have the clubbies [clubhouse attendants] come over and take off his shoes.

“Hey, if he can do that, I can do this.”

Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said he has no doubt that Jones will be in the lineup. He said Jones played several games this season despite migraine headaches that were so painful he couldn’t step onto the field before the game.

“I don’t know what causes them,” Jones said. “I’ll come in here and try to sleep, just close my eyes, hoping the pain will go away. They’ve given me a shot a couple of times . . . to help the pain.

“I don’t know what it is they give me, but it helps. . . .

“If I can play through the migraines, I can play through this.”

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Cardinal starting pitcher Andy Benes, in so much back pain that he curled up while traveling on the team charter Thursday night, took anti-inflammatory medication Friday and pronounced himself fit to pitch Game 4 on Sunday.

“I only watched three innings from the bench [Thursday],” said Benes, who suffered the back pain after sliding headfirst in Game 1. “I went into the clubhouse to get some coffee and [pitching coach] Dave Duncan asked me, ‘When are you coming back?’ I said, ‘By the end of the game.’

“That was the truth. I stayed in there all game, but I’m feeling much better now.”

Benes will face Denny Neagle of the Braves.

John Smoltz is scheduled to pitch Game 5 for the Braves and will face Todd Stottlemyre.

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The Braves will start rookie Andruw Jones, 19, in place of Ryan Klesko, today against left-hander Donovan Osborne.

Jones, the youngest player to appear in a league championship series, batted .379 against left-handers this season compared to Klesko’s .230 average against left-handers.

“I’m not afraid to play him,” Cox said. “In fact, I’m anxious to play him. He’s going to be a force in the game one day.”

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Just how confident are the Cardinals?

They not only bought champagne for the possible celebration, but the six cases are stacked up and waiting in the middle of the Cardinal clubhouse.

“Everybody thought they were going to sweep us,” outfielder Ron Gant said, “and as you can see, that’s not going to happen now.”

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Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa on the fact that they have lost all six games at Busch Stadium against the Braves this season:

“I think it means more to them than it does to us. We know that we’ve been playing better and better and that we’ve been improving as the season progresses.”

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Ratings for Game 2 of the National League championship series on Fox got an 8.7 rating and 14 share, down 38% from the 14.0 rating and 24 share for the second night of regionalized coverage on ABC last year, Nielsen Media Research said.

Game 2 of the American League championship series between the New York Yankees and Baltimore got an 8.7 overnight rating and 22 share on NBC, down from the 10.3 rating and 22 share for Game 1.

* The Associated Press contributed to this story.