Chipper Jones Powers Braves

Chipper Jones was ready to go home, so he looked for a pitch he could drive into the seats.

Jones led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a home run to give the Atlanta Braves a 3-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.

“I wasn’t swinging for a single, I’ll tell you that,” he said.

Chris Reitsma (3-2) started Jones with a curve, which he took for a ball.

The cleanup hitter knew what to expect next.

“His best pitch is the change,” Jones said. “He loves to go at big guys who can hurt him a lot with the off-speed stuff. After he threw the curve on the first pitch, I figured 1-0 was the perfect opportunity for him to throw the changeup. I was sitting on it.”

Jones sent a drive into the right-field seats for his eighth homer. Reitsma squatted on the mound in disbelief as the ball landed about 400 feet away.

Reliever Trey Hodges (2-0) escaped a jam in the top of the 10th after second baseman Mark DeRosa’s error let the leadoff man get on.

Austin Kearns struck out with a runner on third and Sean Casey grounded out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Cincinnati lost for the first time in 10 games this season when tied after eight innings.