Murray Unloads on the Braves : Dodgers: Bases-loaded double in the eighth beats Atlanta, 7-5, and takes the heat off the bullpen.

Two impressive numbers were reached at Dodger Stadium Wednesday.

The franchise won its 8,000th game. And Eddie Murray raised his average with the bases loaded to .409.

Presented with his favorite sight in the eighth inning against the Atlanta Braves, Murray cleared the bases with a double off the right-field wall to give the Dodgers a comeback 7-5 victory before 25,274.

It was Murray’s 65th hit in 159 career at-bats with the bases loaded. He leads all active players and ranks fifth on the all-time list with 15 grand slams.

And the Dodgers are 8,000-7,270 in their 100 years, a .524 winning percentage.

“You can’t have the kind of career Eddie has had if you don’t clutch it up sometimes,” Chris Gwynn said. “Tonight was just Eddie clutching it up again.”

Said Murray: “I was just trying to hit the ball hard. In a situation like that, you want to get at least one run in. You don’t want to leave runners on base like we’ve been doing lately. So you just try to hit the ball hard.”

Playing on a tender left hamstring that recently forced him to miss five consecutive starts, Murray battled Atlanta reliever Joe Boever before getting the hit on a 1-and-2 count.

After Tim Crews and Jay Howell gave up three runs in the top of the eighth, handing the Braves a 5-4 lead and reviving old boos against the bullpen, the Dodgers struck quickly.

Stan Javier started the bottom of the eighth against reliever Charley Kerfeld with a single past second base. After Lenny Harris bunted him to second, Gwynn and Kirk Gibson walked to load the bases. That brought in Boever and brought up Murray.

“It’s the kind of situation where Eddie wants to do well, and where we expect him to do well, just like it is expected of me,” said Gibson, who earlier had his first hit (a double), his first RBI and first stolen base of the season.

Gibson was so excited by Murray’s hit, he nearly ran down Gwynn before the two men crossed home plate.

“I could feel him breathing down my neck,” said Gwynn, who had to hold up initially because he wasn’t sure whether the ball would be caught. “You know, he’s a big man.”

And it was certainly a big victory, as the Dodgers made up the ground they lost to Cincinnati over the weekend. The Reds lost at San Francisco for a third consecutive time Wednesday, letting the Dodgers move back within nine games of first place, two games behind second-place San Diego.

They now enter one of their most important stretches of the season, as nine of their next 15 games are against the Padres and Reds. Six of those games are on the road, beginning Friday at San Diego.

“Like I told this team in our meeting (Monday), the Reds are going to have their lull, and we have to believe we can catch them,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said.

The comeback was a reprieve for reliever Howell, who picked up his second win this season after nearly costing the Dodgers the game. For the third time this season, Howell lost a lead in the late innings, allowing the Braves a run on two hits and a walk in the eighth inning to give them the 5-4 lead.

Howell relieved Crews with one out in the eighth and the Dodgers leading 4-2. Crews had pitched well since the fourth inning, but with one out in the eighth he allowed a bunt single by Oddibe McDowell and then threw Jeff Treadway’s grounder wildly to second base, allowing both runners to be safe.

After throwing a strike to Ron Gant, Crews was replaced by Howell, who last year set a Dodger record with 28 saves. Howell threw four balls to Gant, loading the bases. Then he allowed a two-run single to left field by Jim Presley and an RBI single to right by Dave Justice.

Howell, however, could not ruin one of the game’s highlights, when the Dodgers sent up Fernando Valenzuela as a pinch-hitter for starter Mike Maddux in the third inning. Valenzuela doubled to right field, improving his batting average to .429.

Of course, nobody ever said pitchers could run. He was promptly picked off second base by starter John Smoltz.

Dodger Notes

Juan Samuel has been fined $100 by the National League for throwing his helmet after a called third strike in the eighth inning on May 28 at Pittsburgh. The Dodgers might protest the fine because Samuel was ejected from the game at the same time, meaning he has been penalized twice. . . . Kal Daniels missed a start in left field Wednesday because, according to the Dodgers, his eyes had dilated during an eye exam earlier in the day and his vision was not 100%.

Ray Searage is within a week of returning to the active roster. He will begin a 30-day rehabilitation assignment with a one-inning start for Class-A Bakersfield in Salinas Friday, and then start again there Sunday. If things go well, he will reportedly go to triple-A Albuquerque for a couple of appearances next week before rejoining the roster for the next home stand beginning June 15 against San Diego.

Shortstop Jose Offerman continues to be the Dodgers’ hottest minor league prospect. He is at .400 after 52 games.