Braves make it 14 in a row

Atlanta Braves’ Jeff Francoeur, right, and Andruw Jones celebrate after clinching their 14th straight division title Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) ATLANTA (AP) — The rookies made this a season to remember for the Atlanta Braves.

So, it was only appropriate they led the celebration.

After the Braves wrapped up their 14th straight division title Tuesday night, the youngsters took over. They sprayed champagne. They sneaked around pouring beer down teammates’ shirts. They posed for pictures. They yapped on cell phones.

And Jeff Francoeur, who came up from the minors at midseason and sparked the Braves’ charge to another NL East championship, really let loose.

The 21-year-old ex-high school football star dunked his head in a frigid bin of ice and, after egging on Chipper Jones, wound up getting tackled twice by his senior teammate — once on the field, then again in the middle of the clubhouse frivolity.

‘‘He’s an idiot,’’ Jones quipped.

The Braves actually clinched midway through a 12-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies, the title assured when the secondplace Philadelphia Phillies lost to the New York Mets 3-2.

Manager Bobby Cox cleared his bench, finishing the game with a lineup that included eight rookies and second-year player Adam LaRoche — most fitting, considering the Braves have used 17 rookies during an amazing season in which they shrugged off injuries and breakdowns by several key players.

‘‘This is pretty special,’’ Cox said. ‘‘When the rookies came up, the veterans turned it up a notch.’’

Julio Franco, baseball’s oldest player at 47 and an anomaly on a team with so many youngsters, shook his head as he watched the raucous celebration. He was actually a bit worried that things were getting out of hand.

‘‘Someone’s going to get hurt,’’ Franco said. ‘‘That’s the last thing we want to see. I’m going to stop it.’’

Clinching in style, Marcus Giles hit a pair of homers and LaRoche also homered.

‘‘We knew we had clinched in the sixth,’’ Francoeur said, chugging a beer that he’s been legal to drink for about 8 1/2 months. ‘‘But we wanted to win. We wanted to earn it.’’

After Atlanta became the second team to wrap up a title, following the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals, everyone gave credit to the rookies. Even Andruw Jones, a leading candidate for MVP with 51 homers and 128 RBIs, chimed in.

‘‘Sure, I’ve had a good season,’’ he said. ‘‘But without them, we wouldn’t be here.’’

The celebration at Turner Field took a while to get going. The Braves had just scored four runs in the fifth inning, giving them a 7-1 lead, when the Mets finished off Philadelphia.

A smattering of fans apparently learned of the Phillies’ loss via cell phone or other means, clapping as soon as Bobby Abreu struck out for the final out. ‘‘Let’s go Mets!’’ one man yelled. A tomahawk-chopping woman held up a handmade ‘‘2005’’ sign above the left-field seats, right next to the official pennants detailing each of the Braves’ playoff seasons.

But most of the crowd was apparently in the dark. The out-of-town scoreboard merely showed the Mets leading 3-2 in the eighth. Even after the Rockies were retired in the top of the sixth, there was no mention of the division title.

Instead, the Braves showed the ‘‘Kiss Cam’’ on their massive center-field scoreboard, followed by a rendition of ‘‘YMCA.’’

Finally, the public address announcer revealed the news.

Mets 3, Phillies 2. The celebration was on.