Jones Throws Away a Victory for Braves

Chris Stynes’ two-out grounder went right to Chipper Jones, which should have meant John Rocker had a save in the bag, Greg Maddux had a well-deserved win and Atlanta had shut out the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.

But . . .

Jones, the NL All-Star third baseman, flipped the ball instead of throwing it to first base, where it bounced away from Wally Joyner, triggering a Red uprising that resulted in a 3-2 loss for the Braves in 10 innings at Cincinnati.

“I still don’t know what happened,” Jones said. “The ball just sunk. That’s what makes it so hard to swallow. The game’s over, a 2-0 win. Mark it down. That gave them life, the extra out. They tie it and then win it in extras.”

Chris Sexton started the Reds’ 10th inning with a single off Kerry Ligtenberg (2-2) and advanced on a sacrifice. After Ken Griffey Jr. was walked intentionally, Dante Bichette lined a single to left field, ending it with his third hit of the game.

The come-from-behind win broke a five-game losing streak.

Defense and Maddux’s impeccable pitching gave the Braves a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning against the only team in the majors that has yet to be shut out.

Right fielder Brian Jordan stretched over the wall to rob Griffey of a two-run homer in the sixth, erasing the only big mistake Maddux made in 7 1/3 innings, accomplished with only 88 pitches.

Rocker was booed loudly as he sprinted in from the bullpen in the ninth. Bichette doubled and Jones bounced his throw to first on Stynes’ two-out grounder, setting up the comeback.

Rocker threw a wild pitch to send Bichette home from third, and Reese--in a three-for-28 slump--doubled to tie the score at 2-2.

San Diego 6, Philadelphia 4--Matt Clement (11-10) gave up a run and seven hits in six innings for the Padres, who got homers from Ruben Rivera and Phil Nevin in winning at Philadelphia for their eighth victory in nine games.

Clement started the seventh, but was pulled quickly after Tomas Perez singled and Rob Ducey reached on an error. Carlos Almanzar got two outs, gave up an RBI single to Scott Rolen and struck out Mike Lieberthal to end the inning.

Arizona 5, Montreal 2--Curt Schilling pitched his second consecutive complete game and improved to 3-0 since coming to Arizona, leading the Diamondbacks at Phoenix. Schilling (9-6) gave up eight hits in the first five innings, but none the rest of the way to boost his record to 8-2 with a 1.72 earned-run average in his last 11 starts.

New York 6, Houston 5--Kurt Abbott’s homer in the 11th inning gave the Mets a win at Houston after they had tied the score in the ninth on Derek Bell’s homer.

Former Met Octavio Dotel relieved in the ninth inning and was Bell’s victim, blowing a 5-4 lead.

Pittsburgh 8, Colorado 7--Mike Myers forced home the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning at Denver, and the Rockies lost for the 24th time in their last 32 games.

With the score tied, 7-7, Pat Meares reached first base on an error by shortstop Neifi Perez.

Kevin Young blooped a single to left field and the runners advanced on Adrian Brown’s high bouncer to first. Jason Kendall was walked intentionally to load the bases, and Myers walked Giles on a 3-and-1 pitch.

San Francisco 8, Milwaukee 1--Livan Hernandez went two for three with two RBIs and pitched a shutout into the ninth inning for the Giants in their win at San Francisco.

Hernandez (11-8) struck out seven and left after Henry Blanco’s RBI double in the ninth.

St. Louis 2, Florida 1--J.D. Drew singled in Eric Davis with the winning run in the 11th inning of the Cardinal victory at St. Louis.