(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.” 

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.

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).

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.

With Phillies southpaw Cole Hamels set to take the mound at Turner Field tonight,the Braves once again have reason to be happy that their struggles against left-handers did not extend beyond the season’s first week.

The Braves batted  .188 batting average with a .257 on-base percentage and .240 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers during the season’s first six games. In the 17 games that have followed, their slash line against southpaws has been.293/.360/.482.

One of the catalysts for the turnaround has been Michael Bourn, who  was traded by the Phillies after the 2007 season partly because they were concerned about his ability to hit left-handed pitchers.  Other than the 2009 season when he hit .287 with a .325 on-base percentage against left-handers, the speedy center fielder has experienced some struggles against southpaws.

Bourn did not reach base in his first 15 plate appearances of the season against left-handed pitchers.  But he has since hit .320 (8-for-25) with a .414 on-base percentage against them.  Yes, it’s a small sample size.  But it is also an encouraging trend for a team that has been recently reminded of the significant value a consistent leadoff hitter can bring.

Bourn has batted .408 with a .468 on-base percentage and .493 slugging percentage in the 17 games he has played dating back to April 13.   With some impressive stolen base totals already stored in his back pocket, agent Scott Boras has spent the past couple weeks smiling and looking forward to the chance to take his client to the free agent market.

During his recent surge, Bourn has consistently given the Braves early scoring opportunities.  The veteran leadoff hitter has reached safely in his first plate appearance in eight of the past 10 games.    Now to deflate you a little as we approach tonight’s first inning, he was facing a left-handed starter the two times he did not reach during this span.

Quick look at Hamels:  Hamels is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA through his first four starts.  Right-handed batters have hit .247 (19-for-77) against him and left-handed batters have produced a .238 (5-for-21) batting average.  His lone loss came against the right-handed stacked lineup the Marlins compiled for him on April 9.

Given Jason Heyward will likely miss at least one more game with a sore right oblique muscle, Matt Diaz will probably get the start in right field tonight.  Diaz has batted .256 (10-for-39) with two doubles and a home run in his career against Hamels.

Dan Uggla can only hope to relocate the magic that allowed him to halt his struggles against Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey two weeks ago.  Uggla has batted .160 (8-for-50) with two homers in his career against Hamels.

Another crack at the Phillies: The only Major League hitters with more than 10 career at-bats against Brandon Beachy are Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Greg Dobbs, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino.   In other words,  in case you forgot, Beachy has come to know the Phillies pretty well during the early stages of his career.

Beachy is 0-3 with a 3.94 ERA in six career starts against the Phillies.  They beat him during his surprise Major League debut on Sept. 20, 2010 and one more time before that regualar season concluded.  Before suffering an oblique strain in his fourth career start against the Phillies, he talked about how much he wanted to beat Philadelphia.

Well two more strong starts have since passed without a win.  But with a little offensive assistance, tonight might be the night Beachy finally breaks through against a Philadelphia lineup that still does not include Howard or Utley.

The Phillies have scored 76 runs through their first 23 games and 28 of those runs (37 percent) have been scored in their past six games.  Still it’s not like the Philadelphia lineup has suddenly become intimidating again during this six-game stretch.  Polanco has hit .412 with a pair of doubles during this stretch.  But Hunter Pence, Rollins and Victorino have batted less than .250 during this offensive awakening.   Former Brave Pete Orr ranks third on the team with four RBIs in the past six games

Something to Watch For: Bourn and Heyward are about to become the Braves’ top two stolen base leaders in the  post-Rafael Furcal era (since 2005).  Bourn and Diaz are currently tied atop this list with 29.  Heyward ranks second with 28.

Diaz tied Nate McLouth with a team-high 12 stolen bases in 2009.  He has since recorded a grand total of four while wearing a Braves uniform.  Just two of those four have been recorded since Heyward recorded his first career stolen base on May 11, 2010.

As for long as Bourn records his next stolen base within the next four games and before Heyward records two more, he will have needed less than half of a season to record more stolen bases than any other Braves player over the last six-plus seasons.

The 13-7 record Braves carry into tonight’s matchup against the Pirates puts them five games ahead of last year’s pace and guarantees they will enter May with a winning record for the first time since 2007.   That bunch went 84-78 and the 91-win, 2010 team went 9-14 in April.  Just one of those necessary reminders to keep you grounded on April 28.

Taking a short trip down memory lane, the Braves were 8-12 through the first 20 games of 2011.  Through this span, they produced a slash line of 230/.297/.375,  21 home runs and 3.5 runs per game.

This year’s bunch has scored 5.3 runs per games with an identical 21 home runs and a slash line of  .267/.327/.418.

When the Braves ended their brief relationship with Larry Parrish in September, Braves general manager Frank Wren said that he wanted to see his hitters prove to be “tougher outs” than they had been in 2011.   The Braves led the NL in on-base percentage in 2010 and then produced one of the senior circuit’s worst marks during Parrish’s lone season in Atlanta.

This year’s offense has not necessarily been that much “more disciplined” than last year’s group.  With the current sample size, it seems more appropriate to now label them as being “more  efficient” with their plate appearances.

Here is a comparison of statistics compiled by the 2011 and 2012 teams:

2011:  3.8 pitches per plate appearances,   Pitches taken (53.6 percent) Pitches put in play (18.7 percent),  First pitch swings (29 percent)   Swings put in play (40.2 percent)

2012  3.8 pitches per plate appearances,   Pitches taken (52.9 percent) Pitches put in play (19.2 percent),  First pitch swings (31.2 percent)   Swings put in play (40.8 percent)

These numbers show the Braves have been more aggressive as a whole.  But Martin Prado’s numbers indicate he is actually  showing a little more patience than he did during last year’s frustrating season.

Here is a comparison of Prado’s numbers

2011: 3.74 pitches per plate appearance, Pitches taken (58.1 percent), First pitch swings (11.7 percent), Missed swings (10.5 percent)

2012:  4.19 pitches per plate appearance,  Pitches taken (61 percent), First pitch swings (8.2 percent), Missed swings (10.1 percent)

Prado has batted .267 with a .330 on-base percentage and .400 slugging percentage thus far this season.   His on-base percentage and slugging percentage are better than last year’s marks.  But with the small sample size compiled in 20 games, it’s seemingly more important to look at trends, like the fact that he has walked once every 10.6 plate appearances.  Not an eye-popping number, but an improvement over the once every 17.4 plate appearances pace he set last year.

Heading down to the clubhouse now to check on Brian McCann’s status.  Check braves.com and my Twitter feed @mlbbowman for updates.

Looking at how individual Braves players have fared in close and late situations dating back to the start of the 2010 season, Conrad ranks first in home runs (8), second in RBIs (26) and 10th in plate appearances (96).  But this is not a post about the switch-hitting utility player whose short tenure in Atlanta will always be best remembered for the defensive nightmare he lived at the end of the 2010 season.

But this post is not about loyal reader @billreef’s favorite player.  In fact it’s really not about anything in particular.  But Prado’s decisive seven-pitch at-bat against Javy Guerra on Tuesday night led me to look at how many similar situations he has encountered over the years.

If some of you also had the sense that Prado seems to always come to the plate with the game on the line, there is a reason.  He leads the Braves with 308 plate appearances in close and late situations dating back to the start of the 2009 season.  Brian McCann ranks second with 294 plate appearances and Chipper Jones third with 251.

Here’s a look at how these three players have fared in close and late situations dating back to the start of ’09:

Prado:  .260 BA, .319 OBP, .394 SLG ,  7 HR, 35 RBIs, 24 BB, 42 K  12 Go-ahead RBIs, 8 Game-winning RBIs

McCann .200 BA, ..304 OBP, .322 SLG, 7 HR, 32 RBIs, 36 BB, 60 K, 11 Go-ahead RBIs, 10 Game-winning RBIs

Jones:  .265 BA, .414 OBP, .388 SLG, 5 HR, 30 RBIs, 52 BB, 29 K, 10 Go-ahead RBIs, 10 Game-winning RBIs

In case you missed it, here is what Jones had to say about Prado’s at-bat last night.  (Disclaimer: If McCann is not Prado’s biggest fan in the Braves clubhouse, then Chipper is.)

“He’s the consummate professional,” Jones said. “He’s going to stand up there and he’s going to grind out at-bats. That was no easy task right there. That guy has dominant stuff. He had a long at-bat and fouled off some tough pitches until he finally got one. To be honest, I thought he hit it out. But it’s like Yellowstone Park once the sun goes down here.”

Barring a potential playoff matchup, tonight will mark the final time Jones plays at Dodger Stadium.  There will be plenty of final stops this season.  But this one is special for the son of a Vero Beach, Fla. native, who began bleeding Dodger blue during his own childhood.

While Jones might have turned 40 yesterday, he still displayed genuine excitement when current Dodgers broadcaster approached him at his locker.

Jones stood, stuck out his hand and said, “Mr. Monday, you don’t know how many times I used to imitate your swing in the backyard.”

Entering tonight’s series finale, Jones has batted .241 with 13 home runs,  a .342 on-base percentage and .451 slugging percentage in 59 career games at Dodger Stadium.  He had a two-homer game here against Darren Dreifort during his 1999 MVP season and another against a pair of relievers in 2007.

His first at-bat at his historic stadium came against Pedro Astacio on April 28, 1995.  He lined into a double play.

Evan Gattis has looked like the second coming of Babe Ruth while hitting .424 with eight homers and a 1.405 OPS in his first 16 games with Class-A Lynchburg.  When I said this to a scout this morning, he jokingly responded, “well he’s pretty close to Babe Ruth’s age.”

The 25-year-old Gattis has obviously positioned himself for a promotion to Double-A Mississippi. While he may never serve as a catcher in the Majors, he is providing plenty of reason to believe he has a big league bat.  Thus the Braves are going to allow him to spending some time in the outfield.  He made his debut  in left field on Tuesday night and responded with a three-hit performance that included a pair of home runs.

Before learning that he had been optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday night  Jurrjens said,  “Right now, I’m not that same guy I used to be.”

Not even close.

Nine months after entering the All-Star break with the National League’s best ERA (1.87), Jurrjens approaches the final five months of his final arbitration-eligible season facing the reality that he could be non-tendered in December.  This is obviously a fate that both he and the Braves would like to avoid.

Barring a drastic turnaround, the Braves are not going to be interested in paying Jurrjens the $7 million he could earn through arbitration for the 2013 season.  But at the same time they do not want to go down the non-tender route and  lose him without getting anything in return.

The Braves proved unsuccessful with their multiple attempts to move Jurrjens this winter.  They thought they were very close to a deal that would have sent him and Jairo Asencio to the Reds in exchange for Chris Heisey and Juan Francisco.  But the potential for that deal was erased when Cincinnati opted instead to send an impressive prospect package to the Padres for Mat Latos.

When talking about the Braves’ attempt to trade Jurrjens this past winter, multiple scouts said, “he’s hurt.”   The baseball world is a small one full of chatter and numbers that supported this belief.

It’s amazing that Jurrjens has posted a 6.87 ERA in the 11 starts he has made since producing a 1.87 ERA in the 16 starts before last year’s All-Star break.  But as many Sabermaticians said at the time, we should have all been amazed that a guy with these kinds of strikeout and fielding independent pitching statistics could have such a low ERA.

Jurrjens’ velocity has significantly declined since right knee discomfort forced him to miss the final two weeks and playoffs of the 2010 season.  According to BrooksBaseball.net’s Pitch f/x data, his four-seam fastball maxed out at 96.3 mph during a Sept. 11, 2009 start in St. Louis and at 95.8 mph in a Aug. 15, 2010 start against the Dodgers.

That might be hard to believe after watching him max out at 91.4 mph during last night’s start against the Dodgers.  But those of you who have watched closely over the past two years know that last night’s results were nothing new.

Here is a look at the average velocity of Jurrjens’ four-seam fastball according to FanGraphs.com’s PITCH f/x data:

2007  91.9

2008 91.8

2009 91.2

2010 91.3

2011 89.1

2012 88.4

Even when Jurrjens found success in his first 16 starts last year, his average velocity of his four-seamer was just 89.4 mph.  That figure dropped to 88.6 mph in the seven starts he made after the All-Star break.  And as the chart above shows, he’s been around that same mark this year.

After struggling through the exhibition season and then finding success in his final two starts against a pair of split-squad Astros teams, Jurrjens admitted it took him some time to gain confidence that his right knee was indeed healthy again.  But he still has seemed tentative while pushing off the rubber since the regular season began.

Jurrjens underwent surgery to repair torn meniscus in his right knee after the 2010 season.  Unlike Chipper Jones, who has returned from this surgery in less than three weeks twice in the last year, he had more than three months to regain strength in his leg before the start of Spring Training.

After cooperating through the first 3 1/2 months of the 2011 season, the knee became a problem and the diagnosis was a bone bruise.

Jurrjens has repeatedly said this year that the knee has not been a problem.

Hopefully, Jurrjens does prove to be healthy and capable of regaining his successful form.  But right now, it is impossible to ignore the possibility that he is heading toward a sad end to a career that seemed so promising not too long ago.

Unlike that other team that still calls Boston home, the Braves are not entering this week still battling the effects of what transpired last September.  There is something about wining 10 of 12 games that allows a team to distance itself from last year and the struggles that were extended through the first four games of this year.

When the Braves lost the first three games of this season, it was pointed out that it marked the first time since 2003 that they were swept to open a season.  When it was pointed out that the 2003 team won 101 games and set a modern-day record with 907 runs (just two totaled in the first three games) some of you said you can’t compare this team to that one.

Fair enough.  What Chipper, Shef, Andruw, Javy and Co. did that year was quite special.  But so too has the offensive production this year’s Braves bunch has manufactured over the past two weeks.

During the 12 games played dating back to April 10, the Braves have scored a Major League-best 6.75 runs per game.  The Rockies rank second among National League teams with a 5.64 mark and the Cardinals third with a 4.64 mark.  Atlanta’s 16 home runs during this span are four more than any other club’s total.

These past two weeks have provided a glimpse of the value Michael Bourn can bring in the leadoff role.  Bourn has batted .400 (20-for-50) with a .464 on-base percentage in the past 12 games.  His consistent presence on base has provided regular RBI opportunities and allowed the lineup to flow more consistently than it did most of last year.

This past week has only heightened the belief that Freeman could soon reach that 40-homer territory that has not been visited by a Braves player since Andruw Jones in 2006.

The day before this season started, I wrote:  Freddie Freeman spent the past couple weeks showing some of that opposite-field power that creates reason to wonder how many 40-homer seasons could be in this 22-year-old’s future.

At the time, I did not feel this would be the first year he would reach that mark.  Nor would I say this past week has given any more reason to believe he will reach 40 this year.  But it has provided further indication that this 22-year-old first baseman is quickly becoming a man.

Freeman hit .478 (11-for-23) with five doubles, three home runs, a .481 on-base percentage and a 1.087 slugging percentage last week.  Just a quick look at the numbers seems to indicate he is  a virtual lock to be named NL Player of the Week later today.  It’s nice that he will be able to enjoy news of this honor while back here in Southern California with his father, who helped develop that powerful left-handed swing while spending numerous lunch hour breaks throwing batting practice to his son.

Enough about the offense.  It’s time to show some love to the pitching staff.  The starting pitchers have combined to post a 2.93 ERA and work 58 1/3 innings over the past nine games.

Before last week, the Braves had seen their starting pitcher last at least seven innings in three straight games since May 17.  Just for fun, Mike Minor, Brandon Beachy and Tommy Hanson opted to turn this trick twice last week.

The Braves bullpen has totaled 21 2/3 innings dating back to April 14 and .  The Phillies are the only other Major League team that has played at least nine games during this span and logged fewer relief innings (17.1 innings).

As his team has continued to win without encountering many save opportunities, Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has had to find ways to keep The Untouchables  — Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty — sharp.  Kimbrel allowed a run in a non-save situation on Friday night and then returned on Saturday to team with Venters to strike out the six D-backs that came to the plate in the eighth and ninth innings.

Kimbrel has now struck out the only three batters he has faced while working one inning in a game eight times.  This matches John Smoltz’s mark and leaves him one shy of the total John Rocker notched during his days in Atlanta’s pen.

A quick glance at tonight’s pitching matchup (Jair Jurrjens vs. Chris Capuano) might not generate a lot of optimism.  But Jurrjens has allowed one run or fewer in four of six career starts against the Dodgers.  And last time I checked, there are not any weather-related projections that would force the Braves to return to their hotel to gather their belongings before this showdown against Capuano.

For those who might have erased this from their memory, nearly half of the Braves players returned to their Manhattan hotel on the afternoon of Aug. 26 to gather their suitcases because the approaching Hurricane Irene had postponed the final two games of that series against the Mets.  After Capuano fired a two-hit shutout that night, things were never the same for the 2011 Braves.

Capuano came to Turner Field three weeks later and allowed two runs over five innings in a victorious five-inning effort.

The past couple weeks have provided indication Capuano will be facing a little different Braves lineup tonight.  The Braves can only hope Jurrjens will also prove to be a little different than he has been during his first three starts of the season.

News of former All Pro Safety Brian Dawkins’ retirement conjured memories of him visiting Spring Training to watch the Braves take batting practice just a few weeks after he had helped the Eagles advance to Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005.

After watching intently and taking his own batting practice swings, Dawkins said, “I’ve been a Braves fan for a long time, but we’ve got to keep that down because of the Philadelphia thing, you know.”

After reminiscing about the “comfortable 0-for-3″ he experienced while facing Moyer during a 1993 Minor League game, Jones kind of smiled when reminded that he was preparing for his freshman year in high school when Moyer made his Major League debut on June 16, 1986.

“And I’m old as (heck), just ask (Eric) Hinske, he’ll tell you,” Jones said.

Abiding in the adjacent locker, Hinske jumped into the conversation seconds after Jones was told Steve Carlton was the opposing pitcher during Moyer’s debut.

“You faced Steve Carlton,Chip?” Hinske said.

As Jones laughed, Hinske said, “Ha, ha, that was funny.”

Jones replied with, “No but I faced Fernando (Valenzuela).”

With his back turned from the conversation as he sat on the couch watching television, David Ross concluded the conversation in fitting fashion with, Chipper turns 40 in a couple days, huh?

If Jones forgot he will turn 40 on Tuesday, his body reminded him when he awoke on Wednesday feeling the effects of playing three straight games for the first time this year.  Before returning from the disabled list last Tuesday, he had not played nine innings in a game since last September.

Thus it was easy to understand why Jones is feeling what he describes to be “normal soreness” with his groin and upper leg muscles.  The veteran third baseman just hopes his surgically-repaired left knee begins to feel a little more comfortable over the next few days and weeks.

“I’m obviously still concerned about the knee blowing up and still hurting,” Jones said.  “But the leg soreness and all of that, that’s normal.  I played two games and took a day or two off. Now I just played three straight and I get today off.  So hopefully today’s day off will give me some relief tomorrow.”

Jones rested during Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Mets and planned to wrap his left knee during Wednesday night’s flight to Arizona.  He is attempting to avoid a repeat of last week, when some fluid developed around his knee during the flight from Houston to Atlanta. His hope is to be ready to return to the lineup for Thursday night’s series opener against the D-backs.