Dee Gordon’s speed is key to Dodgers’ 2-1 win over Braves

Reporting from Atlanta — The fastest baseball player Don Mattingly said he ever saw was Deion Sanders. Bo Jackson ranked up there too.

Mattingly wasn’t about to say Dee Gordon could outrun the pair of former two-sport stars in their primes. But: “If you put all the guys in a race, there would be no mismatch in there.”

Mattingly’s musings were inspired by Gordon’s breathtaking display of speed on his way to scoring the winning run in the Dodgers’ 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night. The win was the Dodgers’ 11th in their last 12 games.

So how fast is Gordon?

The rookie shortstop slapped what looked like a single to right-center field to lead off the 10th inning.

He reached second base.

Standing up.

Gordon said he noticed Braves center fielder Michael Bourn was playing him to left-center and had no doubt he would reach second base.

“I didn’t even push the envelope right there,” Gordon said.

Three batters later, Gordon slid headfirst to score on a sacrifice fly by Juan Rivera that was hit hard but not particularly deep.

“It’s unlike any baserunner I’ve ever seen before,” A.J. Ellis said. “I’m really happy as a catcher that he’s on my team.”

Ellis said that a Braves player asked him on Saturday who he thought was faster: Gordon or Bourn.

“I’m not qualified, as a slow guy, to make that assessment,” Ellis said.

Matt Kemp, who has 37 steals, was more willing to share his thoughts.

Is Gordon faster than Kemp? “Yeah, probably,” Kemp said.

Faster than anyone in baseball? Kemp laughed. “Probably,” he said.

Final start for rookie Eovaldi

In his last scheduled start of the season, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi held the Braves to one run and three hits over six innings.

The Dodgers will move the 21-year-old rookie to the bullpen for the rest of the season to preserve his arm.

Eovaldi said it was hard to essentially be shut down — “especially with a month left in the season,” he said.

Eovaldi said he intends to be part of the Dodgers’ rotation next season.

“That’s absolutely what I’m going to try to do,” he said. “I believe I can make it.”

Called up on Aug. 6 from double-A Chattanooga, Eovaldi was 1-2 with a 3.09 earned-run average in six major-league starts.

Of what he learned, Eovaldi said, “That I need to work ahead of the batter, limit my walks.”

Eovaldi walked 17 batters in 32 innings. He walked five batters on Saturday.

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com