As Stephen Strasburg made his much-anticipated Major League debut on June 8, 2010, Chipper Jones and a number of other Braves huddled in front of a clubhouse television at Chase Field to get a glimpse of the young pitcher who had arrived on the big league scene as one of the most heralded prospects in the game’s history.

Despite the fact that Strasburg was just a year removed from his collegiate career, there was an immediate desire to see his potential greatness.  Two years and a Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery later, the Nationals’ right-hander is displaying that greatness and proving he might actually be capable of realizing tremendous expectations.

“The guy is dominant,” Chipper Jones said.  “He’s got the best repertoire of pitches I’ve seen from any one single pitcher.”

This is incredible praise coming from a future Hall of Famer who has played alongside multiple Cy Young Award winners and been challenged by the game’s top pitchers for more than two decades.

“He’s like a Kerry Wood in his prime, Justin Verlander hybrid,” Jones said. “He’s got the fastball just like those two and the breaking ball just like those two. The changeup is what sets him apart.  Verlander has got a good changeup.  But his is a circle change that just kind of fades away.  (Strasburg’s) is a 90 mile an hour split that just falls off the table.  When you’re going up there gearing up for 95 or 96 and he throws you 90 and the bottom falls out of it, that’s a pretty lethal combination.”

Unfortunately for the Braves, Jones will not be getting a look at this lethal combination this afternoon, when Strasburg opposes Mike Minor and the Braves at Turner Field.  The 40-year old third baseman was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Friday night.

The decision to put Jones on the disabled list was heavily influenced by the fact that backup catcher David Ross will miss at least a couple of days with a right groin strain that he suffered during Friday night’s loss to the Nationals.  The Braves could not progress through the next couple of days with both Ross and Jones unavailable.

Jones’ badly bruised left leg looked ugly yesterday and it was becoming apparent that he would not be available within the next couple days.  Unfortunately the Braves used him as a pinch hitter during Wednesday night’s game.   Had he not been utilized in that role, he would have been eligible for activation on June 3.   Now he will be on the disabled list until at least June 8.

The Braves were hoping to allow Brian McCann to spend Friday night regaining the energy he had lost while missing the three previous games because of the flu.  But McCann was forced to enter the game when Ross injured his groin during a second inning plate appearance.

Updated:

Surprisingly McCann was not back in the lineup for Saturday afternoon’s game.  He was feeling weak during the final innings of Friday night’s game.

The Braves promoted catcher J.C. Boscan from Gwinnett to take Jones’ roster spot and then inserted Saturday afternoon’s lineup.  Nothing like a career Minor League catcher coming back to the big leagues in time for a matchup against Strasburg.

But isn’t that just the way things have been going for the Braves lately?

The Braves can take solace in the fact that the most turbulent storm they have experienced thus far has not yet proven destructive.  Despite losing five of their past six games, they still enter this weekend’s series against the first-place Nationals sitting just one game out of first place in the congested National League East race.

We know that either the Braves or Nationals (or both) will be sitting in first place by the end of this weekend. But that means a whole lot of nothing within a division in which each of the five members has a .500 record or better at this point of the season.  Given where they stand  — four games out of first place — despite all that has gone wrong this year, would you really be surprised if the last-place Phillies end up winning a sixth consecutive division title.

Still the Braves have plenty to prove this weekend.  Along with attempting to win the first series of the year against the upstart Nationals, they are challenged with the task of distancing themselves from the four-game series sweep experienced in Cincinnati this past weekend. The last time they were on the wrong end of a four-game sweep was April 26-29, 2010 in St. Louis.

The Braves responded by returning home to complete a three-game sweep of the Astros.

But these Nationals are not those Astros or any of the other Nationals/Expos teams that you have seen over the past couple decades.  Armed with a strong starting rotation, this team is a legitimate playoff threat.

The buzz surrounding this year’s Nationals club has only intensified since phenom Bryce Harper arrived on the Major League scene.  The 19-year-old outfielder with the powerful bat, rocket arm and impressive speed has provided Washington’s offense a boost as he has batted .265 with two home runs, a .350 on-base percentage and .467 slugging percentage in the first 24 games of his career.

But the rock solid pitching staff that is most responsible for the team’s first-place status has not been as formidable since the young outfielder arrived on the scene.

While going 14-6 before Harper’s arrival, the Nationals posted a 2.25 ERA and scored 3.55 runs per game.

While going 12-12 since Harper arrived, the Nationals have posted a 3.45 ERA and scored 3.83 runs per game.

The Nationals’ top offensive contributor this year has been Adam LaRoche, who obviously forgot he usually does not hitting until June or July.  LaRoche enters this weekend’s series having batted .297 with eight home runs and a .937 OPS.  But he enters this weekend with two hits, a home run and a triple, in his past 24 at-bats.

LaRoche is one of the most genuine and likable guys you could ever meet in any walk of life.  One of the primary reasons he was such a popular clubhouse figure in Atlanta was displayed on the evening of Aug. 13, 2009, when he spent a portion of his offday sitting in the front row at Coolray Field watching Tim Hudson complete a Minor League rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett.

The Braves had just re-acquired LaRoche from the Red Sox two weeks earlier and he was living at least 45 traffic-free minutes away from Coolray Field.  But he and Gwinnett County resident Brian McCann were there that evening showing their support for Hudson.

Tonight, LaRoche will be reminded of what it is like to face  Hudson while wearing a Nationals’ uniform.

Hudson has gone 14-3 with a 2.05 ERA in 23 career starts against the Nationals/Expos. He has allowed one run or fewer in 14 of those outings.  In four starts against this club last year, he went 4-1 with a 2.64 ERA.

While the Braves seemingly have the right guy on the mound for this series opener, they are going to have to find a way to score some runs.  With Chipper Jones, Freddie Freeman and McCann all dealing with different ailments, the club has totaled 12 runs in its past six games.

Jones’ badly bruised left leg has not healed as quickly as hoped and Freeman now hoping to cure his recent vision problems with prescription glasses he will wear instead of contacts during games.  McCann has missed three straight games with the flu.

Check back later this afternoon for updates on each of these three players.  Follow me on Twitter @mlbbowman

Heyward’s struggles:  During the first round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, the Nationals took Ross Detwiler with the sixth overall selection and the Braves nabbed Jason Heyward with the 14th overall selection.  Both of these players will be looking to halt their recent woes during Friday night’s series opener.

Entering Friday night’s matchup against Hudson, Detwiler has gone 0-2 with a 7.31 ERA in his past three starts. He has gone 1-0 with a 3.14 ERA in three starts against the Braves.  But it might be more telling to point out that he has not allowed a run in the 11 innings he has totaled in his past two starts against Atlanta.

Heyward’s troubles have lasted significantly longer than Detwiler’s.  He has batted .189 with three home runs, a .295 on-base percentage and a .330 slugging percentage.

Since hitting his game-winning home run in the 12th inning of a May 11 game in St. Louis, Heyward’s slash line looks like this .174/.240/.239.   He has struck out 15 times and drawn three walks in the 50 plate appearances that have been included in this span.

Bourn’s surprising Great American power:  Michael Bourn hit three home runs in his final 12 at-bats during this week’s series at Cincinnati’s Great Home Run Ball Park. He had totaled three home runs in his previous 925 at-bats before this span.

Bourn has actually hit each of his four homers this year within his past 56 at-bats.  This leaves him one home run shy of the career-high total of five that he produced in 2008.  It’s hard to project when he might match this total.  The Braves will not be making another regular season visit to Cincinnati this year.

Remember when the Braves overcame a deficit of at least five runs in three consecutive games during the early days of this month?  Well they have scored as many as five runs in just five of their past 16 games and been limited to two runs or fewer in seven times during this same span.

Accounting for Wednesday night’s 2-1 loss to the Reds, the Braves have scored two runs or fewer in 15 of their past 45 games.  Given how potent the offense has been during stretches this year, it’s hard to imagine this club has not scored as many as three runs in one-third of the games played thus far.

Given that four of the occasions have occurred within the past five games, maybe there is not much reason to be overly concerned. But it is definitely concerning to see that Chipper Jones has been out of the starting lineup in 11 of the 15 games in which the Braves have scored two runs or fewer.

As great as it has been to see Jones create so many special moments during the early stages of his final season, it has been alarming to see just how much influence his presence has in the Braves lineup.

Had Michael Bourn not enjoyed his first career multi-homer game on Tuesday night, the Braves would be going into tonight’s series finale in Cincinnati having scored two runs or fewer in each of the five games that have been played since Jones was sidelined by a badly bruised left calf.

The Braves are 19-5 in the 24 games that Jones has started this year and 7-14 in the 21 games that he has not. Sorry but a club should not be relying this heavily on a 40-year-old veteran whose knee surgery total (3) since Aug. 10, 2010 trumps the combined home run total (2) produced by Juan Pierre and Jamey Carroll during the same span.

As the Braves attempt to avoid a four-game sweep tonight, they will have to do so without Jones.  He will need at least one more day to rest his leg.  The club can only hope he will be ready to play during this weekend’s key series against the first-place Nationals at Turner Field.

Jones’ success this year has been fueled by the fact that he has benefited from regular opportunities to rest.  So far the formula has worked as he has primarily missed just a game or two before returning to the lineup.  But this week has provided a glimpse of what could happen if he suffers another injury that keeps him sidelined for an extended period this year.

At the same time, it must be remembered that this week’s woes have also been influenced by the absence of Brian McCann, who missed a third straight game on Thursday with flu-like symptoms.  Combined with his scheduled day off on Sunday,  this marks the fourth time in five games that McCann has been out of the lineup.

Some of the recent offensive woes are also a product of the troubles Freddie Freeman has had since his eyes started bothering him during the three-day stay in Denver.  In his past 15 games, the powerful first baseman’s slash line has been .164/.292/.273.

But these recent struggles endured by the Braves are not going to draw any sympathy from the Phillies, who have spent the first two months without Ryan Howard or Chase Utley.  Nor are the fans of St. Louis going to feel bad while wondering how their club will deal without Lance Berkman, who might have suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Just two weeks ago, the Braves went into St. Louis and totaled 23 runs on the way to claiming a three-game sweep of the Cardinals.  Jones started the first two games of that series and recorded two plate appearances in the series finale.

The Braves have gone 4-6 while Jones has totaled just 16 plate appearances in the 10 games that have been played since the Braves exited St. Louis.

Given McCann’s recent absence and Freeman’s recent struggles, Jones’ presence might not be as significant as the numbers indicate.  But as this trend has extended through the season’s first two months, it has become harder to simply describe it as coincidence.

A number of Brandon Beachy’s friends and family members will make the 2 1/2 mile trip from the Kokomo, Ind. area to Cincinnati to watch him start tonight’s game against the Reds.  Makes sense.  Back when he was growing up in the city, they really did not have many opportunities to drive down the street to see him pitch.

Their best opportunities to see him pitch before he became a pro came during his three-year career as a corner infielder/closer/occasional starter at Indiana Wesleyan University.  The picture above shows Beachy proudly wearing his Wesleyan uniform.

Seven years after completing a high school career that he says consisted of him being on the mound for a total of “six or seven innings”, Beachy will take the mound tonight with the best ERA posted by any Major League pitcher pitcher through the first quarter of this season.  Just when you think it can’t, this story just continues to get better.

On the way to posting a 1.33 ERA through his first eight starts, Beachy has pitched into the seventh inning six times and surrendered seven extra-base hits (six doubles and one home run).   In last year’s 25 starts, he pitched into the seventh inning four times and allowed 40 extra-base hits.

One year after setting a modern rookie franchise record with 169 strikeouts, Beachy committed himself to make the changes necessary to last longer in games.  Often I have attempted to explain this by saying that he has been more aggressive in the strike zone.  But that has not necessarily been the case.

Beachy has thrown 64.3 percent of his pitches (549 of 854).  This is the exact percentage he posted last year while throwing 1,555 of his 2,417 pitches for strikes.

Last year, he threw 4.09 pitches per plate appearance.  This year, he has thrown 4.10 pitches per plate appearance.

So, it seems more appropriate to simply say Beachy has been more efficient this year.  This was a necessary step in his development. He threw more 100 pitches without completing as many as six innings five times last year.   On two of those occasions, he did not complete as many as five innings.

It’s safe to say Beachy has made those strides the Braves are hoping to soon see from Mike Minor, who extended his recent frustrations by allowing four runs on four solo home runs during six innings of Monday night’s loss to the Reds.  There is no doubt that the young left-hander needs to make some adjustments.

But given that he had posted an 11.76 ERA and surrendered seven homers in his previous 20 2/3 innings, there was not much reason to be confident that his fortunes were suddenly going to change against a dangerous Reds lineup at the offensive haven known as Great American Ball Park.

I equate this to taking a friend who is trying to remain sober to a pub crawl and saying, “Go get ‘em. We know you can do it.”

You can’t approach him as he battles a hangover the next morning and say,”Well now what are we going to do?”

Still I understand those of you who are wondering how much longer the Braves can afford to keep going with Minor, who has posted  10.46 ERA in his past five starts.  Some of you are still asking about Kris Medlen and others have asked about Jair Jurrjens.

Well given that Medlen has not completed more than two innings or thrown more than 26 pitches in an appearance this month, it would take at least two weeks to stretch him.  With that being said, this would still put him ahead of Jurrjens, who has allowed 16 earned runs in the nine innings that have been totaled in his past two starts with Triple-A Gwinnett.

Still before getting into when Medlen could be ready or discussing  Julio Teheran, who ended his recent struggles with seven strong innings on Tuesday afternoon for Gwinnett, the Braves need to remain patient with Minor.  He will have a chance to get healthy against a less-than-imposing Nationals offense on Friday.

If his struggles continue that evening, then the Braves may need to evaluate making a change.  But for now, despite all of his recent woes, he remains the best option to fill that rotation spot.

Before reviewing some recent events and preparing for what should be an interesting week, I would like to apologize for the lack of recent activity.  As some of you might have guessed, I was sidelined by a medical issue the past week.  It has been said a kidney stone can prove more painful than giving birth. To provide some perspective for Braves fans, I would say the multiple stones and infection that haunted me the past eight days were more painful than watching Jo-Jo Reyes and Kyle Davies start opposite ends of a doubleheader in a must-win situation on the last day of regular season.

Among all Braves starters who have made at least 30 starts since the start of the 2000 season, Reyes (6.40) and Davies (6.15) own the two worst ERAs. The guy who ranks third on this list is Mike Minor, who just happens to be scheduled to start Monday night’s series opener against the Reds.  Funny how that works out, huh?

Still it is far too early to be worried about the long-term future of Minor, who has posted a 5.39 ERA in his first 32 appearances (31 starts)? Through their first 32 appearances, Tom Glavine (5.33) and Greg Maddux (5.48) owned similar marks.

While I am certainly not projecting Minor has set himself to follow the same legendary path that Glavine and Maddux navigated, I also would never say he is doomed to follow the rocky road traveled by Reyes and Davies.

Minor has acquired a confidence level that was never displayed by either of these two aforementioned pitchers.  He shouldered all of the blame when he surrendered a couple home runs in the April 30 loss to the Pirates and proved accountable when he struggled in his first Coors Field start a few days later.

Minor’s recent inability to command his secondary pitches  (change and curve) have hurt him when he has gone through the lineup for a second time in both of his past two starts.  He allowed two hits and one run through the first three innings of his 4 2/3 inning outing against the Cardinals on April 11.

It appeared the young left-hander had halted his recent woes when he issued one walk and faced one more than the minimum during the first three innings of last week’s start against the Marlins.  But proceeded to allow three hits and issue a walk during the next two innings of yet another 4 2/3 inning effort.

Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park certainly does not provide an optimal environment for a young pitcher attempting to get healthy.  But it is still far too early to give up on Minor.   Just a month ago, he allowed four earned runs in a 21 inning stretch that encompassed starts against the Brewers, D-backs and Dodgers.

Odds and ends:  The 26-16 record the Braves carried into Monday was their best through 42 games since the 2003 club began 29-13.  Remember this year marked the first time the Braves had been swept in a three-game series to begin a season since 2003.

Martin Prado has hit .381 with a .459 on-base percentage and .571 slugging percentage over his past 22 games.   His 1.031 OPS during this span, dating back to April 27, ranks 10th in the National League and easily leads all Braves players.  Chipper Jones ranks second with his .826 mark.

The Braves traded Drew Sutton to the Pirates on Sunday for cash considerations.  Sutton hit .270 with a .746 OPS in 38 games for Triple-A Gwinnett.

Photo/Cincinnati Reds

The Reds will honor Chipper Jones’ last scheduled trip to Cincinnati by utilizing bases adorned with a commemorative message on one side.  At some point during this week’s four-game series in the Queen City, Jones will be presented with one of these bases pictured above.

This is one of the classiest gestures a club has made to recognize Jones’ farewell tour.  The veteran third baseman, who will retire at the end of this year, has batted .259 with eight home runs and a .804 OPS in 55 career games in Cincinnati.  He has hit .333 with three homers and a .931 OPS in 20 games at Great American Ball Park.

The Braves are hoping Jones will return to the lineup during this week’s series.  He missed the final two games of this weekend’s series in Tampa with a bruised left calf that he suffered when he was hit with a line drive during Friday night’s series opener.

(Getty Images)

Barring a playoff matchup, this afternoon will be the last time we see Chipper Jones hitting with the Wrigley Field brick positioned behind him.  But those of you who follow the Braves closely probably know Jones will not be shedding a tear while bidding adieu to this historic ballpark.

A couple weeks ago, Jones told Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown, “I will be in the front row when they blow up Wrigley Field. The ballpark is awful.”

There is something special about entering this 98-year-old stadium.  You have the ivy, old-time scoreboard and thoughts about the day that Babe Ruth might have pointed toward the center field fence before hitting a homer during the 1932 World Series.

Then away from the playing field, you have an incredibly small visitors’ clubhouse and all of the other amenities that verify this stadium is indeed 98 years old.

Jones’ reasoning for disliking this historic stadium might also have something to do with the fact that he entered Wednesday having batted .220 with 10 homers and a .685 OPS in 200 career at-bats here.

When asked about some of his greatest memories at Wrigley Field, Jones vividly remembered all of the details of the two-homer game he produced on Aug. 22, 2005.

“I had a two-homer game off (Carlos) Zambrano and (Kerry) Wood in the same game,” Jones said. ” That was a really cool game because I think we were coming down to the end.  (Tim Hudson) pitched a (heck) of a game. I hit a two-run homer off Zambrano in like the third or fourth.  Then Huddy gave up a two-run homer to Derrek Lee in like the sixth and then I hit another two-run homer off Wood in the top of the eighth or ninth.  That was special taking Zambrano and Wood deep in the same game.”

These details were nearly spot on.  Jones hit a two-run homer in the fourth off Zambrano and Lee actually tied the game with a solo homer off Hudson in the seventh.  Then in the top of the ninth, Jones hit another two-run homer off Wood to give the Braves a 4-2 win.

Then of course Jones remembers the two-homer game he enjoyed in Game 4 of the 2003 National League Division Series.  Unfortunately, memories of that game also rekindle visions of the dominance Mark Prior and Wood displayed during that best-of-five series.

“Two homers, sending them back to Atlanta for Game 5 and a Kerry Wood (butt) whoopin’ again,” Jones said.  “But at least we had a shot.”

Jones’ presence in Wednesday’s lineup further proved his surgically-repaired left knee is improving.  This marked the just the second time this year that he has been in the starting lineup for three straight days.

With Hudson on the mound for this afternoon’s series finale, Jack Wilson got another start.  Because of Hudson’s high ground ball percentage, Wilson will likely continue to serve as his “personal shortstop.” 

As the Braves were moving toward Friday night’s 11-inning win over the Rockies, it was easy to draw comparisons to Wednesday’s 11-inning victory over the Phillies.  Atlanta overcame a deficit of at least five runs in both of these games that were decided by two-run home runs.

Chad Durbin was credited with both victories and the Braves notched 19 hits in both games.

But the eerie similarity was realized when the official scorer announced Friday night’s game had lasted exactly four hours, just like  Wednesday’s win.

There have a number of crazy numbers and facts created over the past few days.  My favorite is that the Braves outhit the Rockies 19-4 after Friday night’s first inning and still had to go 11 innings to get the win.

“That’s kind of scary,” Chipper Jones said when informed of this fact.

The Braves certainly conquered a higher degree of difficulty on Wednesday, when they overcame a six-run deficit against Roy Halladay and then the four-run deficit they were facing in the eighth inning.  But the Braves experienced a bit of rarity on Friday night, when they spotted the Rockies a 5-0 first inning lead and then took advantage of Coors Field’s offensively-friendly environment.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, last night marked the first time in more than 20 years that the Braves won a game after encountering a five-run, first-inning deficit.  The Braves had not done this since overcoming the six-run first inning deficit Charlie Leibrandt created on Oct. 1, 1991.  Four days later, they celebrated the first of their 14 consecutive division titles.

Like Freddie Freeman enjoyed a four-hit game in the three hole on Friday night, Terry Pendleton notched four hits while batting third in that game that was played in Cincinnati more than 20 years ago.  And like Eric Hinske decided Friday night’s game with a two-run homer, David Justice also ended that memorable game in his hometown region with a two-run blast.

Odds and ends about Moyer:  With Mike Minor set to oppose Jamie Moyer in tonight’s game at Coors Field, let’s look at a few fun facts about the Rockies’ 49-year-old pitcher.

• Moyer was 19-19 with a 5.09 ERA in the 51 appearances (49 starts) he had made before Minor was born.
• He made his Major League debut (June 16, 1986) before nine members of the Braves’ current 25-man roster were born.  This includes four members of Atlanta’s five-man rotation.   Those nine are Tyler Pastornicky, Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, Brandon Beachy, Kris Medlen, Craig Kimbrel, Randall Delgado, Tommy Hanson and Minor.
• Moyer is older than Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez and bullpen coach Eddie Perez
• Moyer’s first appearance against the Braves was made on May 23, 1987.  The first batter he faced that day was Andres Thomas.
• Moyer was 3-8 with a 5.42 ERA in the 12 appearances (11 starts) he made against the Braves before his 45th birthday. He is 3-2 with a 4.43 ERA in the seven appearances (six starts) that have followed against Atlanta.

A look at how a couple of the Braves coaches fared against Moyer during their playing days:

Terry Pendleton 4-for-13, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Scott Fletcher  1-for-7 , 1 BB, 1 K

Eddie Perez and Greg Walker did not face Moyer

Martin Prado was  under the weather on Friday night.  But he certainly has reason to feel better today.  He has batted .400 (10-for-25) with two doubles and three home runs against Moyer.

Freddie Freeman has never faced Moyer.  But as long as Moyer is wearing that Rockies jersey, Freeman has reason to be confident.  The 22-year-old first baseman has batted .474 with seven home runs and a 1.644 OPS in his first 38 at-bats against Colorado.  He set a career high with his four-hit performance on Friday night.

Speaking of four-hit performances, Eric Hinske now has two within the past five days.  Before this week, Hinske had notched this career-best total since 2004.  He has 10 hits in his past 15 at-bats.

Congratulations Tim Hudson.  Now that you have spent countless hours of rehab and made a successful return to the Atlanta rotation, the baseball gods have rewarded you with the opportunity to be reintroduced to Coors Field and Todd Helton, the guy who has looked a lot like Ted Williams when you have faced him here in Denver.

Unfortunately, the pain pills that helped you get through this offseason’s back surgery will not be an option before you take the mound for tonight’s start against the Rockies.   But go get ‘em.  Good luck.  War Eagle and all of that other stuff.

Now that play time is over, it’s time to point out that Hudson is obviously not the first pitcher to have contrasting splits against the Rockies at home and on the road.

Hudson’s four career starts vs. Rockies at Coors Field: 0-2, 7.77 ERA, 3 HR, 22 IP,  18/9  K/BB,  .333 batting average allowed.

Hudson’s four career starts vs. Rockies at Turner Field: 4-0, 1.84 ERA, 0 HR, 29 IP, 19/10 K/BB, .150 batting average allowed

Instead of delving into theories and equations, we can take a stab at explaining this contrast by using just two words:  Todd Helton.

Helton enters tonight’s series opener with nine hits in 10 career at-bats against Hudson in Denver.  He has just one hit in five career at-bats against the veteran hurler in Atlanta.

But if you’re only as good as your last at-bat, Hudson might actually enter tonight’s matchup with the advantage.  After hitting a homer in the first inning of their most recent matchup in July, Helton flew out in his next at-bat and then got hit with a pitch in the sixth inning.

“I don’t know what to throw him,” Hudson said after last year’s start. “I don’t think I’ve thrown him a fastball inside in three years and the first pitch, he yanks it for a homer. He’s a great hitter. Obviously I’ve got to figure out a better way to get him out in the future.”

In case some of you remember that Hudson tossed a one-hit shutout against the Rockies on May 1, 2006, I’ll save you some research time by telling you that Helton did not play in that game at Turner Field.

Hudson allowed 13 earned runs and totaled just nine innings in his first two starts at Coors Field.  During his two most recent outings in Denver, he has totaled 13 innings and allowed six earned runs.  Helton’s first-inning home run accounted for the two earned runs he surrendered during last year’s road start against the Rockies.

Chipper’s last regular season tour of Coors:  When Coors Field opened during Chipper Jones’ rookie year, it immediately became recognized as an offensive haven.  But it took Chipper Jones a few games to take advantage of the friendly environment. He batted just .191 with a home run and a .623 OPS in his first 11 regular season games at Coors Field.

But during the two games played in Denver during the 1995 National League Division Series, he recorded five hits, including a double and two homers, in 10 at-bats.  This served as a sign of things to come.  The 40-year-old third baseman has batted .356 with 11 home runs and a 1.104 OPS in his past 46 road games against the Rockies.

Jones’ left knee must have responded well after yesterday’s flight to Denver.  He is in tonight’s lineup and positioned in the second spot for the first time this year.  He batted second in seven games from Sept. 8-16 last year.

Happy Birthday Eddie: Bullpen coach Eddie Perez, one of the brightest and funniest people to ever be a part of the Braves organization, turned 43 on Friday. While most will forever recognize him as Greg Maddux’s personal catcher, he also can take pride in the fact that he was one of the primary reasons the Braves made a fifth trip to the World Series during the 1990s.

After Javy Lopez suffered a season-ending knee injury in June of 1999, Perez became Atlanta’s starting catcher.  He was named 1999 NLCS MVP after hitting .500 (10-for-20) with two doubles and two homers in that series against the Mets.

Perez was behind the plate for more games (121) pitched by Maddux than any other catcher.  Next on that list are Henry Blanco (82), Damon Berryhill (81), Paul Bako (80) and Lopez (72).

As the Braves entered the 2010 All-Star break, it seemed like they were closing the gap between themselves and the Phillies.  They sat atop the National League East standings with a four-game lead (4.5 games over the Phillies) and had won 17 of the 30 games played against the Phillies dating back to the start of the 2009 season.

But this division rivalry has since proven to be lopsided in favor of the team that is gunning for a sixth consecutive division title this year.

With Tuesday night’s 4-2 win at Turner Field, the Phillies notched their eighth straight win against the Braves.  You might have also heard, Philadelphia has now won 18 of the 25 games played against Atlanta dating back to the second half of the 2009 season.

If that is not frustrating enough, let me throw in the fact that the Phillies have outscored the Braves 120-67 during this 25-game span.

With Roy Halladay set to oppose Tommy Hanson tonight, would this be a bad time to add that the Braves have scored two runs or fewer in 10 of the 19 games played against Philadelphia dating back to the start of the 2011 season?  Just checking.

Halladay is 3-1 with a 1.72 ERA in six career starts against the Braves.  That loss came courtesy of the go-ahead eighth-inning homer Dan Uggla hit against him on May 15 of last year.

One night after seeing his miseries against Cole Hamels extended, Uggla will attend to extend the success he has had against Halladay.  He has batted .400 (10-for-25) with three homers against the former Cy Young Award winner.

Unless the Braves were trying to hide something when they held the lineup until 5:45 p.m. yesterday, it’s also safe to assume Chipper Jones will be back in the lineup today.  He has seven hits, including three doubles and two homers, in 13 at-bats against Halladay.   That first home run was hit on July 20, 1999 after Halladay was forced to come out of the bullpen in relief of a young pitcher named Chris Carpenter.

Having spent the early portion of his Major League career with Toronto, Braves outfielder Eric Hinske got to know both Halladay and Carpenter long before they won their Cy Young Awards.  Tonight, he’ll likely have a chance to build off Monday’s four-hit performance at the expense of his former teammate.

Unless Jason Heyward’s right side improve significantly, Hinske should get the start in right field tonight.  He has compiled far more at-bats (39) against Halladay than any other Braves player and in the process he has hit .231 with a double and a homer.

Beachy looking more like an ace:  The most encouraging development in Tuesday night’s loss was the effort produced by Brandon Beachy, who has spent the season’s first month legitimizing beliefs that he is ready to serve as a front-line starter.   Beachy has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his first five starts and limited opponents to a .193 batting average.

Beachy’s determination to be more aggressive in the strike zone has allowed him to work into the seventh inning in each of his past four starts and complete at least seven innings in three of those games.   These are the results he was seeking after pitching into the seventh inning just four times last year.

This altered approach has prevented Beach from notching the impressive strikeout totals he produced last year.  But he believes his strikeout numbers will improve once he finds more consistency with his curveball.

Beachy’s strikeouts per nine innings ratio has dropped from 10.7 to 6.1.  Opponents swung and missed 29 percent of his pitches last year.  That number is down to 17.1 percent this year.

“My breaking balls just aren’t as sharp right now and that is kind of holding me back from putting away a few of the guys in those (strikeout) situations,” Beachy said.

Looking to follow the lead Beachy provided with his seven solid innings on Tuesday, Hanson will take the mound tonight looking to end his string of bad luck against the Phillies.  He is 1-2 with a 2.23 ERA in seven starts against Philadelphia.   He has just one win to show for the 1.23 ERA he has posted in his past five outings against the division rivals.

The Braves have scored one run or fewer while Hanson has still been in line for a decision in four of those past five starts against the Phillies.  Halladay can relate.  The Phillies have scored one run or fewer while he has been in line for a decision in three of his first five starts this year.