Coming off major knee surgery, and coming up on his 39th birthday, Chipper Jones came back to baseball in a big way. At the plate in a real game for the first time since August, the Atlanta Braves third baseman doubled for the first hit by anyone in the 2011 season. He legged it out, even, beating a throw from new Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth. "I was busting it out of the box," Jones said. "Didn't necessarily want to slide, but I had to." He went on to score the season's first run, Jason Heyward added a solo shot, and Derek Lowe allowed three singles in 5 2/3 innings on a chilly, damp opening day, helping the Braves beat the Nationals 2-0 Thursday to make Fredi Gonzalez a winner in his debut as Atlanta's manager. The Braves played their first regular-season game since Bobby Cox retired at the end of 2010 after two decades -- and 15 playoff appearances -- as their skipper. Welcome back, Chipper. Nice way to start, Fredi. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310331120
