KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Atlanta Braves remained unbeaten against college teams from back home, as Chipper Jones hit a two-run double and five minor leaguers combined on a seven-hitter Wednesday in an 8-0 win over Georgia.
The Braves improved to 22-0 in their traditional spring opener against either Georgia or Georgia Tech, who rotate the game each year. The Bulldogs dropped to 0-10 against the big league team.
Atlanta jumped ahead with an unearned run in the first. Yunel Escobar, taking over at shortstop with the trade of Edgar Renteria to Detroit, reached on an error and came around to score on Mark Teixeira's single.
The Braves made it 4-0 in the second. Kelly Johnson hit an RBI single and Jones doubled to right-center, bringing in two more runs against the Southeastern Conference school.
``I'm trying for that SEC player of the week,'' Jones quipped.
Jordan Schafer, who's being groomed to take over in center field next season, had a sacrifice fly. Gregor Blanco added a two-run double, and Tyler Flowers brought home the final run with another sacrifice fly.
Charlie Morton, Zach Schreiber, Jorge Campillo and Francisely Bueno each pitched two scoreless innings before Ryan Basner, brought over from the minor league camp, worked the ninth.
The Bulldogs caught an early morning flight from Atlanta and arrived at the park less than two hours before the first pitch. They played the Braves after dropping two of three to top-ranked Arizona in Athens, Ga., last weekend, and were flying on to face two-time defending national champion Oregon State this weekend.
Ryan Peisel had three of Georgia's seven hits, and nine pitchers shared the workload. The Braves were especially eager to face Joshua Fields, a second-round pick by Atlanta last summer. He failed to agree on a contract and returned to school for his senior season.
``Why didn't he sign?'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``He was only throwing 97 (mph) with a good breaking ball.''
-- NOTES: The Braves travel to Vero Beach on Thursday for their Grapefruit League opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Tim Hudson, Blaine Boyer, Chris Resop, Matt DeSalvo and Manny Acosta will pitch for Atlanta, which gets a chance to face former center fielder Andruw Jones. After more than a decade with the Braves, he signed with the Dodgers during the offseason. Cox said ``it always looks funny'' to see his former players in a different uniform. ... Johnson batted leadoff and Escobar hit second, but Cox hasn't ruled out switching them around before the season.
Tuesday
August 19th, 2025
2:27AM
