| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
ATLANTA (AP) -- Darren Dreifort did just enough to stay out of
big trouble.
Gary Sheffield hit his major league-leading 37th home run and
Dreifort won his career-high sixth consecutive decision Sunday as
the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a three-game sweep by beating the
Atlanta Braves 7-2.
|  | | Gary Sheffield's 37th homer of the season came on an 0-2 pitch from Andy Ashby in the sixth inning. |
Dreifort (10-7), who was 1-6 with a 6.94 ERA in his career
previously against the Braves, needed 101 pitches to make it
through five innings but still got the win.
He gave up one unearned run, nine hits and two walks, but
stranded nine runners. Atlanta had at least one man in scoring
position in each of his five innings, but Dreifort escaped.
"It was a team effort. We had some clutch defensive plays in
clutch situations. "It had nothing to do with me. All I did was
deliver the pitches," said Dreifort.
"He hung in there," said Los Angeles manager Davey Johnson.
"He scattered a lot of hits, but he got guys out when he needed
to."
Said Braves manager Bobby Cox: "We had him on the ropes in
every inning. It felt like we had five or six runs but looked up
and we only had one."
Todd Hundley and Shawn Green also homered, and Tom Goodwin went
3-for-5 with a two-run single off Andy Ashby (8-9) for the Dodgers,
who won for only the second time in eight games.
"Pitching, defense and timely hitting. We had all that today,"
said Dreifort.
The win cut Atlanta's lead in the NL East to 1½ games over the
New York Mets, who beat San Francisco 2-0. It's the closest the
Mets have been to the Braves since July 6 when Atlanta also held a
1½-game lead.
"We can't do anything about that," Cox said as the Mets won
for the 16th time in 19 games. "We just have to worry about our
team."
The only run off Dreifort came in the first inning when Rafael
Furcal led off with a single and Andruw Jones reached first on an
error by third baseman Adrian Beltre. Chipper Jones hit into a
double play, and B.J. Surhoff tripled Furcal home.
Ashby held the Dodgers to only one hit through four innings
before Goodwin's two-out, two-run single in the fifth gave Los
Angeles a 2-1 lead, scoring Hundley and Alex Cora, each on with a
walk.
"It's frustrating. I walked the two guys but got two outs, then
gave up the two-run single," said Ashby, who is 4-2 since coming
to the Braves from the Philadelphia Phillies in a trade on July 12.
"My location was off just a little bit and Sheffield and
Hundley hit the ball out of the park. I just didn't get pitches
where I needed to in key situations," he said. "I may have been
trying to overthrow."
Sheffield opened the sixth with his homer to center on an 0-2
pitch, and two outs later, Hundley hit his 19th home run into the
right-field stands.
Ashby allowed four runs and six hits in six innings.
The Dodgers added a run in the seventh off Terry Mulholland on
an RBI single by Shawn Green who also hit his 22nd home run, a
two-run shot in the ninth, off Stan Belinda.
Mike Fetters gave up an RBI single to Keith Lockhart in the
eighth.
Game
notes
The Braves stranded 12 runners overall. ... Atlanta RF
Brian Jordan was scratched with soreness in his left ankle. He was
replaced by George Lombard. ... The Braves finished the season 7-2
against the Dodgers, including 5-1 at Turner Field. ... Sheffield,
who has struck out only 56 times all season, had seven in the
three-game series. ... Surhoff's triple extended his hitting streak
to eight games. ... Dreifort knocked down a bouncer by Surhoff with
his pitching hand in the third, but after shaking his hand several
times, then throwing three warmup throws, remained in the game.
| |
ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Los Angeles Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Tampa Bay 5
Chi. White Sox 3
Kansas City 10
Baltimore 5
Toronto 13
Minnesota 3
Detroit 5
Oakland 3
Cleveland 10
Seattle 4
NY Yankees 4
Anaheim 1
Boston 4
Texas 2
Los Angeles 7
Atlanta 2
NY Mets 2
San Francisco 0
Colorado 5
Montreal 3
Houston 14
Philadelphia 7
Arizona 7
Pittsburgh 6
St. Louis 6
Milwaukee 4
San Diego 7
Florida 3
Cincinnati 3
Chicago Cubs 0
|
