Ted Lilly shines again in Dodgers’ 2-1 win over Braves

Looking back at his first handful of days with the Dodgers, Scott Podsednik said he wasn’t himself.

He said he wanted to contribute right away and open some eyes. He wanted to justify the team’s decision to trade for him.

So, of course, he didn’t hit.

“I just stepped back and looked at myself in the mirror and said, ‘Go out there and try to have fun,’” Podsednik said. “I finally found a way to approach it.”

Saturday night, Podsednik hit safely in his 11th consecutive game, getting three singles and scoring what turned out to be the deciding run in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

At a time when the Dodgers’ depleted lineup has failed to score with any kind of consistency, Podsednik’s brand of small ball was what was necessary to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat.

Podsednik’s third single, which came with one out in the seventh inning, was his most important. The former Kansas City Royal advanced to third base on a hit by another recent Dodgers addition, No. 2 hitter Ryan Theriot. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Andre Ethier to increase the Dodgers lead to 2-0.

“That sacrifice fly was huge,” Manager Joe Torre said.

That’s because the lead was cut in half in the bottom half of the inning. The one-run advantage preserved by setup man Octavio Dotel and new closer Hong-Chih Kuo, who combined to blank the Braves over the final 11/3 innings.

The Dodgers scored only twice despite collecting 12 hits. They were 0 for 7 with men in scoring position and failed to score when they had men on second base and third base with no outs in the fifth inning.

To score their two runs, they had to give up three outs. James Loney scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning when Matt Kemp grounded into a double play.

Since the All-Star break, the Dodgers are hitting .236. They are averaging 3.17 runs.

But the two runs Saturday were enough for Ted Lilly, another late July acquisition.

Lilly improved to 3-0 with the Dodgers, as he shut out the Braves over six innings and held them to three hits.

“He just goes after you,” said Torre, who managed Lilly with the New York Yankees. “He just pitched his tail off, just rose to the occasion.”

While Lilly’s 3-8 record with the Chicago Cubs this year was more a reflection of the poor run support he received rather than his performance, he said he feels he has been more consistent since being traded to the Dodgers on July 31.

“Maybe my command has been a little bit better,” he said.

Dotel and Kuo were equally sharp.

Dotel entered the game in the seventh inning after rookie Kenley Jansen was charged with the first run of his career.

Dotel struck out Omar Infante to leave a man stranded on second base and pitched a perfect eighth inning.

In his first save opportunity since replacing a slumping Jonathan Broxton as closer, Kuo recorded consecutive strikeouts and got Brooks Conrad to line out to center field to end the game.

Kuo pointed out that his assignment was a temporary one until Broxton regains his form.

“In a couple of games, Broxton will be back,” he said. “I’m just trying to help.”

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com