Afterthought Exceeds Braves" Hopes - NYTimes.com John Bazemore/Associated Press Braves third baseman Chris Johnson has not cooled off after his hot start to this season. Chris Johnson was hitting .369 after the first month of the season, a torrid pace that did not match his ordinary track record. Before his first game in May, by his locker at Turner Field in Atlanta, Johnson tried to explain his sudden success. "I've had some good weeks, but a month like this - probably not," Johnson said. "Just trying to keep it simple, really," he said. For me, one of the things I've tried to focus on is being consistent. That's why guys in this league have success, because they can limit the peaks and valleys of their season. Hopefully I keep it going. Johnson, the Braves" third baseman, has not quite kept up that pace, but he remains at a peak nobody expected. He led the National League in hitting through Friday, at .336, after joining the team in January with a .276 career average. It was easy to miss his arrival in Atlanta. Johnson was an afterthought in the splashy deal that sent outfielder Justin Upton, a two-time All-Star, to the Braves from the Diamondbacks for five players. Johnson had spent only two months with Arizona after almost three years with the lowly Houston Astros. "You have to get lucky sometimes, and in Chris Johnson's case, we got lucky that he's kind of coming into his own and having a big year," General Manager Frank Wren said last week. Did we predict that? We liked the player, but we didn't predict that. Maybe not, but the Braves had paid more attention to Johnson, 28, than they had to most opposing players. They saw him often with the Astros, their spring training neighbors in Kissimmee, Fla. Johnson also had an influential fan in Chipper Jones, whose godfather, Pete Dunn, was Johnson's coach at Stetson University. With Jones's retirement after last season, and the inclusion of the versatile Martin Prado in the Upton trade, the Braves needed Johnson as a right-handed option at third. Wren said he hoped Johnson could share the position with Juan Francisco and balance a left-leaning lineup. Francisco struggled to reach base with the Braves and was traded to Milwaukee in early June. Johnson has held on to the job by himself, showing an uncanny ability to stay inside the ball and spray hits to all fields. With the rise of advanced statistics and more nuanced ways to determine a hitter's value, the batting crown may no longer signify the undisputed best hitter in the league. But the achievement still stands out. Ten players have won the N.L. batting title in the last 10 seasons, a list that includes standouts like Buster Posey (2012), Jones (2008), Barry Bonds (2004) and Albert Pujols (2003). Johnson, who had 9 homers and 53 runs batted in through Friday, is not the same kind of run producer, but his high average means something. "Some of the new advanced metrics have grown over the years, but winning a batting title tells you that a hitter really knows how to handle the bat," Wren said. The other stats, you can use to gauge other aspects of their game, but when you win a batting title, that means you have great bat control. Johnson's exceptional skill has helped the Braves overcome sluggish seasons by others in their lineup to take a commanding lead in the N.L. East. No other team in the division has a winning record. At a Loss in Philadelphia Last Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies" Cole Hamels pitched a complete game to beat Atlanta, 5-1, for Charlie Manuel's 1,000th victory as a major league manager. It turned out to be the final win for Manuel, who was fired Friday and replaced by Ryne Sandberg. Wins have been in short supply for the Phillies this season, and especially for Hamels, whose 13 losses led the N.L. entering the weekend, proving again the folly of measuring pitchers by their records. In 23 starts since April 13, Hamels has a 3.15 earned run average, yet only five victories. In 24 starts this season, Washington's Jordan Zimmermann has a 3.02 E.R.A. - and a league-leading 14 victories. Hamels will try again Sunday against the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers. Putting in the Miles