"With the offense struggling and No. 2 hitter Nate McLouth not doing much to help, manager Fredi Gonzalez kept Jason Heyward in the second spot in the lineup Monday for the second day in a row.

Only this time, McLouth was still in the lineup - dropped to eighth.

Gonzalez moved Heyward from No. 6 spot to No. 2 on Sunday when McLouth had a scheduled day off, and said at the time he wasn't sure if he'd keep Heyward there.

He settled that Monday by penciling Heyward in at No. 2 - where he hit for most of his rookie season in 2010 - and dropping McLouth to eighth.

Rookie Freddie Freeman, on a nine-game hitting streak, moved from eighth to sixth.

"Just mix it up," Gonzalez said of the changes. "We obviously are struggling to score some runs. I'd move my wife up to second hole or first hole if I knew we'd score some runs; activate her. Whatever you've got to do.

"Again, I don't think any lineup is written in stone. One of the things you can do as a manager is tinker, so we tinkered a little bit. I think Nate could help us win ballgames whether he's hitting in the second hole, the eight-hole, defensively, running the bases…."

Heyward hit an eighth-inning home run Sunday in the Braves' 3-2 loss, the right fielder's team-high fourth. He was batting a modest .240 before Monday, but had 11 walks - one-fourth of the Braves' total - and a .377 on-base percentage."