ATLANTA -- There's undeniably reason for frustration. But as the offensive woes continue to mount for the Braves, John Smoltz doesn't want any of his teammates to begin to sulk. In fact, he doesn't want them to even think about the possibility that they are once again going to be without the services of Chipper Jones for an extended period of time.

"This team has faced a lot of adversity before, and the guys who go out there and put it on the line usually come through," said Smoltz after he and the Braves suffered a 5-0 loss to the Tigers at Turner Field on Friday night.

Shutout losses are nothing new for the Braves, who haven't scored over the course of 28 consecutive innings. This marks the first time they've been held scoreless in three straight games since April 20-22, 1988.

Nor is it anything new for the Braves to spend time without Jones, who has already missed nearly a full month with bruised hands, an injury he sustained while breaking a fall on May 11. But after surrendering five earned runs in six innings to the Tigers, Smoltz made it known that it's unacceptable to just sit back and await the return of the veteran third baseman, who hasn't played more than 110 games since the 2004 season.

"When you don't score, you don't win," said Smoltz, who was in control before surrendering the five sixth-inning runs. "The last three games, we haven't done that. I certainly appreciate the effort of the guys who are on the field busting it, because I'm on the mound busting it just as hard as I can. We all could wish we were feeling better. But that's just the way it is."

Smoltz has been battling a tight shoulder since May 29, but he refused to say the shoulder played a factor in this loss.

"Tonight, I was good enough," he said. "It just didn't work. I don't care if it's [in] Triple-A or a World Series game, I have a lot of pride. I thought tonight was as good as I've thrown in a long time, and yet I came away with five runs in that inning. This game is hard to figure out sometimes."

As Jones rests his strained right adductor muscle (groin), the Braves find themselves trying to keep their heads above water in a four-team National League East race. They're now in third place, 2 1/2 games behind the front-running Mets and a half-game behind the Phillies. The fourth-place Marlins are just two games behind the Braves.

"It wouldn't do us a whole lot of good to dwell on it," Scott Thorman said. "We just can't get it going right now. When we hit it hard, it seems like it's right at somebody."

Since Thorman hit his two-run homer in the seventh inning of Monday's win over the Red Sox, the Braves' offense has gone cold. The latest struggles were a result of the successful season debut enjoyed by Kenny Rogers, who surrendered just two singles over six scoreless innings. The 43-year-old southpaw had been on the disabled list while recovering from surgery to remove a blood clot from his left shoulder.

Rogers' two previous experiences at Turner Field weren't all that memorable. As a member of the Mets, he lost his start in Game 2 of the 1999 National League Championship Series. Six days later, in the 11th inning of Game 6, he issued a series-ending bases-loaded walk to Andruw Jones, who right now would enjoy the benefit of drawing a few walks.

While going hitless in three at-bats during this series opener, the Gold Glove center fielder saw his batting average dip under the Mendoza Line, to .199. His prolonged struggles have certainly factored into those of the Braves, who have hit .135 with one extra-base hit over the course of their past three games.

"The more we talk about numbers and streaks, the worse we're going to be," said Smoltz, whose four losses this year have come when the Braves scored either one run or none.

Through the first five innings, Smoltz had surrendered just two hits. The scoreless duel he was waging with Rogers started to come to an end with the consecutive one-out singles recorded by Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco. After retiring Gary Sheffield, the 40-year-old right-hander surrendered three straight two-out RBI hits, including a two-run double by Carlos Guillen.

Just before Guillen's hit, Polanco was nearly retired while attempting to advance to third base on a Magglio Ordonez RBI single. On the Guillen double, Ordonez slid across the plate just under the tag of catcher Brian McCann.

"Some of their hits were lucky," said Smoltz, who is 0-2 with a 12.54 ERA in his two career starts against the Tigers. "But that's what happens when you swing the bats and put it in play."

Even after Rogers exited, the Braves were unable to do any damage. The two hits they recorded came courtesy of Edgar Renteria's fourth-inning single and Thorman's single to begin the sixth inning.

"You look at two hits on the board, [but] we hit 10 or 11 balls right on the button," said the always-optimistic manager Bobby Cox, who refuses to become overly frustrated with this week's offensive woes.

Fortunately, it appears his team is following his lead.

"We're not hitting the panic button," Thorman said. "But at the same time, I think we need to get it going."