Andruw Jones

"Every year he's going to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 (runs). That's what he does," said Bobby Cox about Andruw Jones.

Don't quote me, but this is the gist of what a Braves announcer said; at the time, they were playing the American League, Andruw was the designated hitter and Langerhans was in center field: "You know, I respect Ryan Langerhans, he's a good player, etc., but there's just something about when you have a fly ball, looking out in center field and seeing Andruw out there--you know everything's under control."

Hampton confident he'll make next start

Jones enjoyed his first multihomer game of the season on Saturday night and continued a surge that has made his bid for his fourth career All-Star selection a real possibility. In his 13 previous games entering Sunday, he had hit .442 and seen his season batting average rise from .182 to .287.

"He's come back good," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "But he's really never been gone. Every year he's going to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 (runs). That's what he does."

Jones has averaged 34 homers and 102 RBIs over the past five seasons. But holding him back from being labeled among the game's top offensive players was his lack of consistency. He entered this season with a career .268 batting average, a mark that he had surpassed just once in the previous four seasons.

But when Jones' new wider stance helped him hit .413 with 10 homers and 21 RBIs in Spring Training, there was thought the 28-year-old center fielder might have finally found his swing. Then he went hitless for an entire seven-game road trip in mid-April and found himself mired in a career-worst 0-for-28 slump.

Since breaking out of that skid, Jones has hit .380 (27-for-71) and struck out just 14 times. During those 28 at-bats in which he went hitless, he struck out 10 times.

"It was a tough time because I wasn't making a lot of contact and was getting a lot of strikeouts," Jones said. "That hurt me. It's just one of those things in baseball, and when you're in a funk, you're in a funk. You're just doing your best to get out of it."

Hampton update: Mike Hampton was still feeling some tightness in his left forearm when he arrived at Dodger Stadium on Sunday morning. But he's still confident that he'll make his scheduled start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Friday night.

"I'll be ready," said a confident Hampton, who exited Saturday's start in the third inning because of the ailment.

Hampton has experienced stiffness in his forearm in the past. The most recent occurrence came while he tossed 6 1/3 innings against the Astros in Game 2 of last year's National League Division Series. Three days later, he was healthy enough to throw a scoreless inning of relief.

If this had been October, Hampton might have remained in Saturday's game and attempted to get his arm loose. But he felt caution was the best alternative this early in the season. Thus, he motioned to the Braves bench that he was done after recording the first out in the third inning.

"I've been the dumb, tough guy for too long," said Hampton, who is 15-2 in his past 22 starts. "I figured it was time for me to be a little bit smart about it."

Happy birthday, old man: While John Smoltz was involved in what turned out to be a staged interview with MLB Productions on Sunday morning, he got a gift. As he was giving his serious answers, he turned and saw Chris Reitsma, Brian Jordan and Pete Orr bringing him a birthday cake that was seated in a wheelchair.

Smoltz was celebrating his 38th birthday on Sunday. Braves public relations assistant Adam Liberman, who scheduled the fake interview, pointed out that Smoltz was 21 days shy of his 15th birthday when Julio Franco made his Major League debut.

'Game On' versus Braves: Eric Gagne's dominance as a closer led to the creation of T-shirts in Los Angeles that simply read "Game Over" and had a likeness of him on them. But against the Braves, the right-hander, who once converted 84 straight save opportunities, has struggled mightily.

Gagne has posted an 8.71 ERA in 10 career relief appearances against the Braves. Before he had even recorded his first out, while making his season debut against them on Saturday night, he saw Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones hit back-to-back homers.

This marked just the fourth time Gagne, who missed the first 35 games of this season recovering from a sprained elbow ligament, has allowed back-to-back homers. But it was the second time that the Jones boys have achieved the feat against him.

Braves bits: The Elias Sports Bureau said that Julio Franco's stolen base in Saturday night's ninth inning allowed him to break his own record of being the oldest man to steal second base. The 46-year-old first baseman had four stolen bases in 2004. ... Backup catcher Eddie Perez left Saturday night's game because of a weak shoulder. Perez is hoping a few days of rest will allow him to regain some strength. Pete Orr warmed up the pitchers in between innings, when starting catcher Johnny Estrada was unavailable on Sunday.

Coming up: John Thomson will make his ninth start of the season when he opposes the Padres' Tim Stauffer on Monday night at PETCO Park. The Braves right-hander, who tossed his 10th career complete game on May 5, allowed the Rockies five earned runs and lasted just 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday at Coors Field.