Atlanta 6, Texas 5

ATLANTA, June 3 (UPI) -- Andruw Jones, kept out of the starting lineup by a hyperextended left knee, delivered a two-run homer as a pinch hitter off Ugueth Urbina in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday night as the Atlanta Braves rallied for a 6-5 victory over the Texas Rangers to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season.

The homer, Jones' first as a pinch hitter, came after the Rangers had snapped a 4-4 tie in the top of the inning on Hank Blalock's RBI single. Jones had been 2-for-27 as a pinch hitter.

Aaron Fultz started the bottom half by walking Chipper Jones, who moved up on Robert Fick's groundout. Urbina (0-2) replaced Fultz and got Vinny Castilla to ground out, but Andruw Jones drilled an 0-2 pitch over the center field fence.

Kevin Gryboski (4-3), who induced Alex Rodriguez to ground into an inning-ending double play after Ray King gave up the single to Blalock, got the win.

John Smoltz pitched in and out of a jam in the ninth to record his major league-leading 21st save.

The Rangers jumped to an early 4-0 lead as Russ Ortiz gave up a three-run homer to Juan Gonzalez in the first and a solo shot to rookie Mark Teixeira in the second. But Ortiz, who was attempting to become the second eight-game winner in the National League, settled down and blanked the Rangers over the next four innings.

Atlanta closed to 4-3 in the second on a two-run double by Henry Blanco, who replaced injured catcher Javy Lopez in the lineup, and a run-scoring single by Ortiz.

The Braves pulled even in the third on Castilla's RBI single.