Murphy’s Law Overrules L.A. Law : His Two Homers, Five RBIs Lift Braves Past Dodgers, 6-3

Long gone are the days when Dale Murphy would regularly terrorize the National League. For the second consecutive year, the two-time most valuable player has battled to get his average above .230.

The smooth swing is still there, but too often it fails to connect as it did when Murphy regularly hit more than 30 home runs and drove in 100 runs a season.

But every once in a while, the slumping giant stirs, the bat finds its old groove, the lightning returns.

Wednesday was such a night.

Murphy hit two home runs and drove in five runs to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 6-3 victory over the Dodgers before a Dodger Stadium crowd of 41,328.

Murphy hit a three-run homer to right field in the first inning off a fastball from losing pitcher John Wetteland (3-4).

And he supplied the knockout punch in the eighth, hitting a two-run shot to left off a slider by Tim Crews. It was his 15th homer of the season.

“It’s been a frustrating situation,” said Murphy, who is hitting .231.

“Not only wasn’t I hitting home runs. I wasn’t even hitting deep fly balls. I guess it’s a matter of mechanics and confidence.”

It was the second time this season Murphy has hit two homers in one game, and the 30th time in his career.

He has also hit 35 career homers against the Dodgers, more than any active player.

Dodger third baseman Jeff Hamilton also homered twice, for the first time in his brief career.

Unfortunately for the Dodgers, both of Hamilton’s homers came with the bases empty. Seven of Hamilton’s 10 homers have come with the bases empty.

After a single by Oddibe McDowell and a walk to Lonnie Smith, Wetteland served up Murphy’s first home run, the ball barely clearing the outstretched glove of Mike Marshall at the right-field wall.

Despite his average, Murphy has a club-leading 64 RBIs.

“Ultimately, if you are the fourth, fifth or sixth hitter,” said Murphy, who hit .226 last season, “they want you to drive in runs. But a .230 average is not acceptable. Just not acceptable. I wish I could be a little more consistent. I’m not taking enough level swings. Sometimes I just try to hit the ball too far and I mess up my swing.”

Behind Murphy in RBIs on the Braves is Smith, who drove in his 53rd run in the third when he doubled home Jeff Treadway, who had doubled.

The Dodgers got their first run in the third inning. Mike Scioscia, attempting to ride the momentum generated by his grand slam homer Tuesday night, opened with a double, went to third on a sacrifice and scored on an grounder to short by Lenny Harris.

The Dodgers pulled closer in the fifth on Hamilton’s first homer, over the 395-foot sign in left-center field.

And when an Alfredo Griffin single was followed by a walk to Franklin Stubbs in the sixth inning, it appeared the Dodgers had a chance to get back into the game.

Those chances appeared even better a moment later when Eddie Murray greeted relief pitcher Jim Acker with a long fly ball to right.

But Murphy, his back against the wall, pulled the ball down.

With runners at first and third, that brought up Marshall, back in the lineup after missing a game because of a sore toe.

Acker went into his windup and bluffed a throw to third. With the count 3-and-1, Stubbs was going. Acker whirled in the other direction and fired the ball to second baseman Treadway.

Griffin was left in limbo off third. He tried to make it back to the bag, but came up short when Treadway’s perfect throw to third baseman Jeff Blauser nailed him.

The Dodgers’ frustration grew when Marshall followed with an infield single. Hamilton still had a chance to get something out of the inning, but, instead, he ended it with a fly ball to left.

Pete Smith (3-11) was the winning pitcher, and Acker earned his first save.

So after taking two out of three from both San Francisco and San Diego on this home stand, the Dodgers close out by dropping two of three to the Braves. The Dodgers are 11 1/2 games behind the West-leading Giants.

“It seems like every time we dig ourselves out of a hole,” Stubbs said, “we put ourselves right back in another one.”

He would have gotten little sympathy in the other dugout. Murphy’s been in the same hole for two years.

But he finally resurfaced Wednesday night.

Dodger Notes

Orel Hershiser’s complete-game victory Tuesday night left him at or near the top of the league in several categories. Hershiser had the league’s top ERA (2.40), the most innings pitched (183 2/3), was tied with teammate Tim Belcher and Atlanta’s Tom Glavine for most shutouts (four) and with John Smiley of Pittsburgh, Mike Scott of Houston and Bruce Hurst of San Diego for most complete games (seven). His 14 victories put him three behind Scott, the league leader. . . . The Dodgers have announced plans for a $500,000 building in their Vero Beach complex to house pitching and batting tunnels, training facilities, meeting rooms and video equipment. . . . The Dodgers will play 12 games in 13 days on a four-city trip beginning Friday. A three-game series with the Giants will be followed by three each in Philadelphia, New York and Montreal. . . . Probable pitching matchups for San Francisco: Belcher (8-10) vs. Mike LaCoss on Friday, Fernando Valenzuela (6-11) against Bob Knepper (4-10) Saturday, with Hershiser (14-8) facing Kelly Downs (2-3) Sunday. . . . Hershiser has been moved up a day in the rotation, bypassing Ramon Martinez.