by The Associated Press Rn T.Com

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Derek Lowe didn’t want to throw breaking balls Monday in his first start of spring training for the Alanta Braves.

“If I was 27 years old, I’d be out here throwing curveballs and sliders like I did at the end of the year last year,” he said Monday following a 13-3 win over the Astros’ in Houston’s exhibition opener.

Lowe allowed two hits in two scoreless innings in his first spring start.

“At my age, you try to take care of yourself as far as those type of pitches,” he said. “In two games I’ll start throwing cutters, and then the last two starts down here, I’ll have the whole arsenal.”

Lowe went 16-12 last season and finished strongly.

“That was by far the best breaking ball that I’ve had. It was sharper. It was more consistent. I was able to throw it to both sides of the plate,” he said.

“I haven’t changed anything mechanically so you know it’s going to be the same. That’s probably why I feel like I can take a little bit longer.”

Wandy Rodriguez of the Houston Astros tried all his pitches, but it didn’t help.

Eric Hinske and Brandon Hicks hit consecutive two-run doubles to key a six-run second inning., when Brian McCann added a two-run single off Enerio Del Rosario. Hinske also doubled against Sergio Escalona to open a four-run fifth.

“I don’t know what it is about spring training with me,” he said. “Last year, I had a terrible spring training. I try to do the best I can.”

Rodriguez allowed six runs, five hits and three walks in 1 2-3 innings, needing 43 pitched for five outs.

“He missed a couple of pitches early in counts,” Houston manager Brad Mills said. “Then he tried to make some adjustments, and got some balls right over the middle of the plate.”

Brett Wallace had three hits and scored twice for the Astros.

NOTES: The Braves had 15 hits and drew eight walks . . . Tommy Hanson is set to start for the Braves Tuesday against the Astros’ Brett Myers in Kissimmee . . . Astros outfielder J.D. Martinez is out with a pulled quadriceps muscle until at least Friday . . . The Astros will use a designated hitter in their first 13 spring training games.

Published: Saturday, February 26, 2011, 11:55 PM     Updated: Sunday, February 27, 2011, 12:00 AM

PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida — New York Mets manager Terry Collins saw a lot of things he liked in Saturday’s 10-inning 5-5 tie with against the Atlanta Braves.

The Mets battled back from deficits of 2-0, 3-2 and 5-3 thanks to a two-run, fifth-inning homer from Fernando Martinez, an RBI-double by Jordany Valdespin in the ninth and a two-run blast to dead center by veteran Willie Harris in the bottom of the 10th.

“That’s why we wear the uniform — to play the games,” Collins said. “I love to watch these guys play. I know it’s just spring training, but they came back and came back and a lot of bright things happened out there today.”

The Mets got a strong performance from starter Jenrry Mejia, who allowed an unearned run and needed just 19 pitches in his two innings of work.

“I feel pretty good, because when I was in the big leagues last year, my breaking ball wasn’t too good,” Mejia said. “When I went back to the Dominican Republic, I worked on spinning it more, throwing it with more speed. Last year, I don’t have that pitch, but now I think I have it.”

Mejia, slated to start the season at Triple-A Buffalo, also featured a change-up that also impressed his new manager.

“(Mejia) threw his breaking ball really well and he used his change-up today,” Collins said. “Look, I think this guy is going to be really, really good.”

The Braves built a 2-0 lead with an unearned run off Mejia in the second and a solo home run by Eric Hinske off Mets’ reliever Pedro Beato in the fourth.

But Braves’ closer candidate Craig Kimbell surrendered the lead when he gave up the two-run blast by Martinez in the fifth.

The Braves managed to take a 3-2 lead with a run off Mets’ reliever Manny Acosta in the ninth, only to lose it in the bottom of the inning.

Atlanta then scored two in the 10th, only to see Harris deposit the ball over the center-field wall to secure the tie.

The Atlanta Braves begin their Spring Training schedule Saturday at 1:10 against the Mets in Port St. Lucie. Everything you want to know for the opener is right here.

Starting Lineup (found here):
1. Jordan Schafer, DH
2. Nate McLouth, CF
3. Jason Heyward, RF
4. Brian McCann, C
5. Eric Hinske, LF
6. Freddie Freeman, 1B
7. Brooks Conrad, 2B
8. Brandon Hicks, 3B
9. Diory Hernandez, SS
Jair Jurrjens, SP

Mark Bowman: “Closer candidates Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters scheduled for Saturday’s trip to Port St. Lucie. Oberholtzer too. “

Bowman also says Randall Delgado will get a couple innings. The Braves are throwing Delgado and Brett Oberholtzer out there quickly, and that’s always a sure sign of confidence and intrigue.

Jurrjens will step foot on the mound for the first time since Sept. 14 of last year. There is no doubt he will have his adrenaline pumping. Obviously, don’t take much if anything from anyone’s first game, but especially Jurrjens. He will go two innings, followed by the youngsters and the two late-innings relievers.

According to David O’Brien, Chipper Jones bounced back with a good day Friday after a not so great day Thursday, which included fluid buildup in his knee. He had his first sliding drill and says he’s feeling good. Jones won’t play in the opener Saturday, but he’s shooting for Sunday, which is a couple days ahead of the schedule laid out earlier this week.

You can watch the game on MLB.tv if you are a subscriber. For Atlanta area residents, the game will be on the radio on 680 AM and 93.7 FM.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Forgive Nate McLouth for having a convenient case of amnesia.

He just wants to forget last season.

“When I left Atlanta the day after the season ended,” McLouth said, “I was done with that. I spent the offseason just recharging my batteries and rebuilding my confidence.”

As the Braves prepare for their first game of spring training Saturday, the 25-man roster is largely set except for a pitcher here, a utility infielder there.

Still, there are plenty of questions that must be addressed: Will Chipper Jones’ surgically repaired knee hold up? Can 21-year-old Freddie Freeman have the same impact as last year’s rookie sensation, Jason Heyward? How will Martin Prado fare making the shift to left field?

And, perhaps the most perplexing issue of all in centerfield: Will McLouth regain the form the Braves thought they were getting after acquiring him from Pittsburgh in 2009, a guy who can run, field and hit for power? Or will he remain the mess of a player he was in 2010, struggling so much he was demoted to Triple-A?

“I’m just excited that 2011 is starting,” he said.

The Braves will give McLouth the first crack at regaining his job. In fact, new manager Fredi Gonzalez hopes to bat him second in the order, between Prado and Jones.

That would be perfect if this is McLouth, Version 2008, the year he broke out for the lowly Pirates with 26 homers, 94 RBIs and 23 stolen bases. Early the next season, he was dealt to the Braves, who figured the had locked in their centerfielder for years to come.

McLouth wasn’t quite the same player the rest of that season in Atlanta, but his numbers were respectable enough: a .257 average with 11 homers, 36 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 84 games. The Braves figured he just needed some time to adjust to his new team, that he’d be fully comfortable the next season.

Instead, he was a complete flop.

McLouth tumbled below the Mendoza Line right from the start. He never got back over it, eventually losing his starting job, missing significant time recovering from a concussion and getting shipped to the minors, where he tried desperately to regain his confidence and his swing. He wound up hitting a dismal .190 in 85 games for the Braves.

“I started off slow and things just kind of snowballed,” McLouth said. “For whatever reason, I could never get out of it. I think it probably came to the point where I was pressing and trying to base myself off results rather than having good at-bats.”

McLouth likes the idea of coming up after Prado, who hit .307 last season. When he’s on base, there will be a big hole between first and second, and the left-handed-hitting McLouth loves to pull the ball. He’s also capable of bunting for hits and working the hit-and-run.

“There’s a lot of things you do out of the second hole, especially with a good leadoff hitter in front of you,” he said.

If McLouth falters, the Braves might go with his predecessor in centerfield. Jordan Schafer looked like a star-in-the-making when he claimed the job in 2009 — and homered in his very first at-bat. But he was injured shortly afterward, fell into a huge slump and was sent back to the minors.

He’s still trying to get his career back on track, but at least the 24-year-old appears healthy and ready to at least contend for a job.

Besides centerfield, the other main competition this spring is fifth starter. Youngsters Mike Minor and Brandon Beachy are the main candidates, with veteran Rodrigo Lopez (an NL-leading 16 losses for Arizona last season) brought in as a backup plan.

The 23-year-old Minor is a former first-round pick who impressed after coming up last season, but the left-hander struggled down the stretch.

“I could’ve done a lot better,” said Minor, who went 3-2 with a 5.98 ERA. “Sometimes in the past, I would just throw a pitch and not really know the purpose or why I was throwing it. The catcher put a finger down and I would throw it. I just kind of spaced out. In the big leagues, you’ve actually got to pay attention to every pitch.”

Beachy was a little-known right-hander in the minors until he was called up in September and, with just a few hours notice, got the start against Philadelphia in a crucial game. He took the loss, but his grit and poise impressed the Braves.

“I’ve been in pressure situations now,” the 24-year-old said. “I didn’t win, but I think I handled myself adequately enough that it gives me some confidence going forward. Whatever the situation in the foreseeable future, I know I can handle it.”

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Chipper Jones was done. Through. Ready to go home and spend some time with his four boys.

Yet here he is, sitting at that familiar locker in a corner of the Atlanta Braves’ spring training clubhouse.

The hair is flecked with gray now. The face is wrinkled and weathered. There are days when he shuffles around like an 80-year-old, looking as though it takes every bit of strength just to put one leg in front of another.

Jones, it seemed for so long, was one of those ballplayers who would never grow old, sort of like a modern-day Mickey Mantle, forever playing a kid’s game that came so naturally to him. Maybe it was the nickname. Seriously, a guy whose given name is Larry just sounds perpetually young when you call him Chipper, doesn’t he?

Of course, time caught up with the Mick, and it caught up with Chipper, too. He put off retirement last year, but he’ll mark his 39th birthday before April is done. He knows there’s a lot more games behind him than in front of him. He’s come to grips with that, better that one might think considering baseball is about all he’s ever done.

“I don’t think I’ll have as much problem with it as most people,” Jones said. “I’ve actually been looking forward to it. I still love coming in here. I love the camaraderie with the guys. I love being with my fraternity brothers, so to speak. But I also have a lot to look forward to once the game is over for me.”

He’s got four children, all boys. His oldest recently became a teenager, which Jones fretted over while chatting with a fan in the early days of spring training. Another son is named Shea, after the former home of the New York Mets, where Daddy wreaked so much havoc over the years that fans taunted him with chants of “Laaaaree! Laaaaree!”

“With all of them being in school, playing sports and all that,” Jones said of his children, “I’m going to be busy.”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s no need to order up that rocking chair just yet.

Jones, who came so close to retiring last June, found his passion again. It returned in the heat of summer, when that tiny white sphere began to look as big as a beach ball, flying off his bat like it did in his prime.

Interestingly enough, when Jones went down in August with a season-ending knee injury, that ensured he would come back for another year instead of hanging up his cleats. He needed a goal in front of him to get through the grind of treatment and rehab. Spring training, which started at exactly the same time he reached the sixth-month mark for getting cleared for full activity, was the perfect motivator.

“I figured if I showed up down here in constant pain, I’d probably hang it up,” Jones said. “But I feel great. I’m swinging the bat good. I’m moving around good. And I think we have a really good team. That excites me more than anything.”

Nothing excites new manager Fredi Gonzalez more than the thought of No. 10 ambling up to the plate in that crucial third spot in the batting order, ready to swing from either the left or right side.

“His presence is everywhere,” Gonzalez said. “In the lineup. In the locker room. Anything he does, he’s got a presence. He IS the Atlanta Braves. When you talk about the Atlanta Braves, he’s the standard.”

The Braves are hoping Jones’ reconstructed left knee holds up as well as it did the last time. Back in the spring of 1994, he was a hotshot rookie expected to take over in left field for a team still in the early stages of its record 14 straight division titles. The knee gave out before he made it to opening day.

He missed the entire season after going through a surgical procedure that was much more complex — and not nearly as advanced — as today’s methods. Back then, as Jones puts it, “they filleted me open.” He spent three days in the hospital. This time, the procedure was arthroscopic.

“Two hours later, I’m sitting at home watching TV,” he marveled. “This is a cakewalk compared to that last one.”

He’s 17 years older, though, which evens things out a bit. Plus, he’s been hampered by plenty of nagging injuries in recent years, playing more than 140 games only once since 2003. Sure, he’s only three years removed from winning his first NL batting title, but he struggled mightily in 2009 — 18 homers, 71 RBIs, a .264 average that was the second-lowest of his 16-year career.

Things got even worse last season, so much so that he walked into Turner Field in mid-June intent on retirement.

“I was done. I’d had enough,” Jones said. “I wasn’t helping the club. I just wanted to be somewhere else.”

A few days later, he decided to put off a decision until after the season, when he could think more clearly.

Lo and behold, he started hitting again.

“All of a sudden, the switch flips on,” Jones marveled. “All of a sudden, people can’t get you out. You’re producing. You’re contributing to winning. All of sudden, that fire comes back.”

The Braves, who made the playoffs without him, wonder what they can do with him. Jones still has two more years on his contract, and the plan now is to play it out. Even with the trade for slugging second baseman Dan Uggla and the arrival of another potential rookie sensation, Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta lineup looks a whole lot weaker without Jones in it at least five or six days a week.

Jones, who won his only World Series ring in his first full season, would like to go out with another.

No matter what happens, though, he feels content with his legacy, which stands at 436 homers, 1,491 RBIs, a career .306 average, the 1999 NL MVP award and the very real possibility of a spot in Cooperstown.

“When I’m done, I’m going to look in the mirror,” Jones said, “and be ecstatic with what I’ve accomplished.”

Chipper Jones was done. Through. Ready to go home and spend some time with his four boys.

Yet here he is, sitting at that familiar locker in a corner of the Atlanta Braves’ spring training clubhouse.

The hair is flecked with gray now. The face is wrinkled and weathered. There are days when he shuffles around like an 80-year-old, looking as though it takes every bit of strength just to put one leg in front of another.

Jones, it seemed for so long, was one of those ballplayers who would never grow old, sort of like a modern-day Mickey Mantle, forever playing a kid’s game that came so naturally to him. Maybe it was the nickname. Seriously, a guy whose given name is Larry just sounds perpetually young when you call him Chipper, doesn’t he?

Of course, time caught up with the Mick, and it caught up with Chipper, too. He put off retirement last year, but he’ll mark his 39th birthday before April is done. He knows there’s a lot more games behind him than in front of him. He’s come to grips with that, better that one might think considering baseball is about all he’s ever done.

“I don’t think I’ll have as much problem with it as most people,” Jones said. “I’ve actually been looking forward to it. I still love coming in here. I love the camaraderie with the guys. I love being with my fraternity brothers, so to speak. But I also have a lot to look forward to once the game is over for me.”

He’s got four children, all boys. His oldest recently became a teenager, which Jones fretted over while chatting with a fan in the early days of spring training. Another son is named Shea, after the former home of the New York Mets, where Daddy wreaked so much havoc over the years that fans taunted him with chants of “Laaaaree! Laaaaree!”

“With all of them being in school, playing sports and all that,” Jones said of his children, “I’m going to be busy.”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. There’s no need to order up that rocking chair just yet.

Jones, who came so close to retiring last June, found his passion again. It returned in the heat of summer, when that tiny white sphere began to look as big as a beach ball, flying off his bat like it did in his prime.

Interestingly enough, when Jones went down in August with a season-ending knee injury, that ensured he would come back for another year instead of hanging up his cleats. He needed a goal in front of him to get through the grind of treatment and rehab. Spring training, which started at exactly the same time he reached the sixth-month mark for getting cleared for full activity, was the perfect motivator.

“I figured if I showed up down here in constant pain, I’d probably hang it up,” Jones said. “But I feel great. I’m swinging the bat good. I’m moving around good. And I think we have a really good team. That excites me more than anything.”

Nothing excites new manager Fredi Gonzalez more than the thought of No. 10 ambling up to the plate in that crucial third spot in the batting order, ready to swing from either the left or right side.

“His presence is everywhere,” Gonzalez said. “In the lineup. In the locker room. Anything he does, he’s got a presence. He IS the Atlanta Braves. When you talk about the Atlanta Braves, he’s the standard.”

The Braves are hoping Jones’ reconstructed left knee holds up as well as it did the last time. Back in the spring of 1994, he was a hotshot rookie expected to take over in left field for a team still in the early stages of its record 14 straight division titles. The knee gave out before he made it to opening day.

He missed the entire season after going through a surgical procedure that was much more complex — and not nearly as advanced — as today’s methods. Back then, as Jones puts it, “they filleted me open.” He spent three days in the hospital. This time, the procedure was arthroscopic.

“Two hours later, I’m sitting at home watching TV,” he marveled. “This is a cakewalk compared to that last one.”

He’s 17 years older, though, which evens things out a bit. Plus, he’s been hampered by plenty of nagging injuries in recent years, playing more than 140 games only once since 2003. Sure, he’s only three years removed from winning his first NL batting title, but he struggled mightily in 2009 — 18 homers, 71 RBIs, a .264 average that was the second-lowest of his 16-year career.

Things got even worse last season, so much so that he walked into Turner Field in mid-June intent on retirement.

“I was done. I’d had enough,” Jones said. “I wasn’t helping the club. I just wanted to be somewhere else.”

A few days later, he decided to put off a decision until after the season, when he could think more clearly.

Lo and behold, he started hitting again.

“All of a sudden, the switch flips on,” Jones marveled. “All of a sudden, people can’t get you out. You’re producing. You’re contributing to winning. All of sudden, that fire comes back.”

The Braves, who made the playoffs without him, wonder what they can do with him. Jones still has two more years on his contract, and the plan now is to play it out. Even with the trade for slugging second baseman Dan Uggla and the arrival of another potential rookie sensation, Freddie Freeman, the Atlanta lineup looks a whole lot weaker without Jones in it at least five or six days a week.

Jones, who won his only World Series ring in his first full season, would like to go out with another.

No matter what happens, though, he feels content with his legacy, which stands at 436 homers, 1,491 RBIs, a career .306 average, the 1999 NL MVP award and the very real possibility of a spot in Cooperstown.

“When I’m done, I’m going to look in the mirror,” Jones said, “and be ecstatic with what I’ve accomplished.”