MLB teams
ATL

12

12-12
Final
CLE

6

14-11
RecapBox Score
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
ATL 4 0 1 2 1 1 2 1 0 12 - -
CLE 0 0 1 3 0 2 0 0 0 6 - -

W: Hampton (13-9)

L: Lee (14-8)

Chain of Lakes Park, Winter Haven
19y

Jones' change in stance yields more long balls

Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (AP) -- Andruw Jones should have taken Willie Mays' advice a few years back. The "Say Hey Kid" was right all along.

Using an old batting stance that Mays urged him to go back to,
Jones hit his major league-leading ninth and 10th home runs of the
spring, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 12-6 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday.

"It's all about feeling comfortable up there," Jones said,
"and I feel comfortable."

After hitting 29 homers last season, his fewest since 1999,
Jones spent part of the offseason watching film of when he played
in the minor leagues. He noticed that his feet were closer together
in the batter's box.

So, when camp opened, Jones widened his stance and the result
has been baseballs sailing higher and farther than ever before.

Mays was the one who first approached Jones about widening his
base, which allows him to stay back on the ball and cover more of
the plate with his swing.

"He's a Hall of Famer," Jones said. "I took it [his advice] but I didn't use it right away."

Meanwhile, Cleveland's Juan Gonzalez, who made the Opening Day
roster in his comeback from three injury-prone seasons, was a late
scratch from the starting lineup with a tight left hamstring.

The Indians kept Gonzalez on their roster over top prospect
Grady Sizemore on the hope that the two-time AL MVP can stay
healthy.

But he's already missed a game.

"He's not on the shelf. It's a day-to-day thing," Indians
manager Eric Wedge said. "We're going to be careful with him. This
is a guy who hasn't played a lot in the last two or three years."

Jones hit an RBI double in the first inning before connecting
for a solo homer in the third off Cleveland starter Cliff Lee, who
was tagged for seven runs and nine hits in four innings. In the
fifth, Jones homered off Arthur Rhodes.

"I told him to save a couple of those," said Atlanta pitcher
Mike Hampton, who allowed seven hits in five innings. "Every game
he seems to hit one or two."

The Braves didn't always keep detailed spring training stats,
but Jones' 10 homers are the team's most in training camp since
1990. Jones' previous high in a spring training was seven in 2000.

"That's the year I hit .300," said Jones, who batted .261 and
had 91 RBI last season but was disappointed with his results. "My
main goal this year was to be more consistent because last year I
wasn't."

Raul Mondesi and Marcus Giles hit two-run homers and Pete Orr
added a solo shot for the Braves, who have homered 36 times this
spring.

Ben Broussard had three hits and two RBI for Cleveland.

Game notes
Indians ace C.C. Sabathia pitched two innings in a minor
league game, allowing one hit -- a home run. Sabathia is on the
15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle and won't start
on opening day. As long as he doesn't have any setbacks, Sabathia
will make his season debut on April 17 against Minnesota. "I'll
just look at the 17th as my opening day," he said. "It's against
the Twins, and you know I hate them. And they know it. I'll be
fired up." ... Mondesi also doubled and singled in his first game
back after missing a week with a hamstring pull. ... The Indians
had won five straight.

^ Back to Top ^