ATLANTA – He didn’t know the ball was gone when he hit it, which made it all the sweeter when right fielder Brian Jordan watched his home run clear the wall in center field at Turner Field. He stepped on first, thrust his fists in the air and flashed a grin that only began to tell the story of how good this felt.
A home run in a 6-3 win that gave the Braves a four-game lead in the NL East would be reason enough to rejoice. Doing it against the Mets – a team he admits he loves to play against – is even more. But after a litany of injuries that included a strained rib cage, sprained ankle and twisted knee, Jordan meant to savor this.
“With all the injuries, it felt good. It’s been a long time since I hit one out of the outfield,” said Jordan, who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. “[But] this is the first game of a big series. You’ve got to suck it up as much as you can. When you play the Mets, you’ve gotta play well in a series like that.”
Jordan hasn’t necessarily played well consistently all year. His numbers aren’t all that bad – it was his 17th homer of the year, and he’s batting .274. But he’s had an up-and-down year.
After going 0-for-4 on Opening Day he went on the 15-day DL with a strained right rib cage muscle, but hit .330 in May.
He hit just .192 in July and left the July 25 game against Florida with a sprained right ankle and twisted right knee, missing four games. He hit just .225 in August, but has hit .367 in September. Talk about momentum swings; but then again, his momentum has always been on the upswing when he faces the Mets.
“They’re the No. 2 team in the division, we’re No. 1 team in the division. They want to catch us. It’s just a great matchup,” Jordan said. “There’s no bad blood, just two teams competing. They’re a team we could meet next in the playoffs. You’ve got to look at it as a playoff environment. It was big.”
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John Rocker came on with two on and two out in the eighth, sprinting in from the bullpen to a resounding ovation from fans at Turner Field. He retied pinch-hitter Bubba Trammell and pitched the ninth, allowing just a harmless single to Derek Bell.
He got Edgardo Alfonzo to pop up in foul territory to end the game, pumping his fist as Wally Joyner squeezed the final out. He notched his 23rd save, ran his scoreless string to 10 innings, and made no inflammatory remarks. As a matter of fact, he made no remarks at all.
He refused to talk to the Post before the game, and afterwards said, “I’ll talk to you guys five minutes from … never.” This from the man Greg Maddux said, “Might be better [than last year]. He’s a year smarter.”
