Dodgers’ Candiotti Makes Braves Knuckle Under, 4-2 : Baseball: He limits Atlanta to seven hits, running his record to 3-0.

The knuckleball would be tough to hit if you did your Master’s thesis on the pitch.

It would be tough to hit if Charlie Hough threw it to you every morning for breakfast.

It would be tough enough to hit when you know who is pitching and when it’s coming.

The Atlanta Braves met Tom Candiotti for the first time Sunday and discovered quickly what little chance they had against an American League transfer with something tricky down his sleeve.

Candiotti, making his regular-season debut at Dodger Stadium, scattered seven hits and struck out eight as the Dodgers beat the Braves, 4-2, before 37,145.

In the complete-game victory, Candiotti improved his record to 3-0 and lowered his earned-run average to 2.49. It is Candiotti’s best start since 1990, when he began the season 3-0 with Cleveland and finished it 15-11.

Suddenly, the Dodgers don’t look so bad. They have won three in a row after a 3-7 start and pulled to within 1 1/2 games of first place.

Suddenly, Jose Offerman looks smooth as silk at shortstop. Juan Samuel is hitting bullets at the plate and snagging them at second base.

Eric Davis also returned to the lineup after missing three games with a herniated disk in his neck.

But those were tidbits compared to Candiotti, who is shaping up as the team’s ace less than a month into the season.

Candiotti, who spent his career in the American League until joining the Dodgers this season, believes he might have an early-season advantage.

“It’s something they don’t see a lot of,” he said of National League batters and his knuckleball. “I guess it’s a pitch you have to see to get used to. I don’t know where it’s going to go. How are they going to know?”

Steve Lyons and Lonnie Smith were the only Braves to have faced Candiotti, while all three were in the American League.

Candiotti allowed runs to Atlanta in the second and fifth innings before closing strongly. He struck out the side in the sixth, retired nine Braves in a row at one point and 16 of the last 17 batters he faced.

Somewhere, former Atlanta knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro was smiling. Candiotti was a pitcher going nowhere when he developed the pitch, almost on a whim, in 1983. Almost 10 years later, he’s tying hitters like Sid Bream--who struck out twice--in knots.

But Candiotti has more than just a trick pitch.

“I was mixing in my curve and fastball,” he said. “It was not one pitch. It was a lot of pitches. That’s the way I like to win. I’m more of a pitcher with a knuckleball than a knuckleball pitcher.”

Opposing pitcher Steve Avery, who owned the Dodgers before Sunday, probably made the best contact off Candiotti when he doubled to center over Brett Butler’s head in the sixth inning.

Avery, who suffered his second loss of the season without a victory, entered the game with a 5-0 lifetime record against the Dodgers and an earned-run average of 0.99.

Sunday, though, the Dodgers torched Avery with a four-run fourth inning to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 cushion.

The Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Mike Sharperson, Eric Karros and Darryl Strawberry. Avery walked Eric Davis on four pitches to force in a run and tie the game, 1-1.

Samuel brought home Karros and Strawberry with a sharp single to center field. After Davis and Samuel pulled off a double steal to third and second base, catcher Mike Scioscia knocked in the fourth run with a sacrifice fly.

Samuel also made the game’s most important defensive play in the second inning. With no outs, a run in and runners on first and second, Samuel back-handed a one-hopper off the bat of Lyons and turned it into a double play. Candiotti then pitched out of the inning with no further damage.

“It was the turning point of the game,” Candiotti said.

Dodger Attendance

Sunday: 37,145

1992 total (6 dates): 261,991

1991 total (6 dates): 257,650

Increase: 4,341

1992 average: 43,665