Smith Quiets Dodgers While Braves Win, 2-0

The way it works with Pedro Astacio is this: the more who watch him pitch, the better he does. So with 48,658 Atlanta Brave fans waving tomahawks and singing a war chant at Fulton County Stadium Friday night, Astacio’s five-hitter eventually silenced the crowd.

The only problem was that Brave starter Pete Smith silenced the Dodgers’ bats, throwing a three-hitter for eight innings to beat them, 2-0. Mike Stanton pitched the ninth inning for the save.

One time through the Braves’ pitching rotation is beginning to prove what most everyone thought, that this is one of the best group of starting pitchers ever assembled. In their first five games, the staff has given up three runs in 38 innings. And Smith is the club’s fifth starter.

Tonight, the Dodgers get to face Greg Maddux.

“I was behind a lot on hitters, but my off-speed stuff kept them off-balance and I was able to throw strikes when I needed to,” Smith said. “I wish I could have moved ahead of the count more, but fortunately I had a great defense behind me.”

It was much better than Smith makes it sound. Smith faced only three Dodgers in six of his eight innings. The Dodgers threatened only once, during the fourth inning, when they loaded the bases on two walks and a fielders’ choice by Eric Davis before Carlos Hernandez grounded to Jeff Blauser.

“I threw a slider for a strike and then jammed Carlos on a fastball,” Smith said. “After that, I relaxed a little.”

Of the 98 pitches Astacio threw, he made two mistakes. During the second inning, left-handed batter Sid Bream hit a high fastball on the outside corner for an opposite-field home run. During the seventh inning, Damon Berryhill doubled and Bill Pecota, running for Berryhill, scored on a sacrifice fly by Smith.

“I guessed on the fastball,” Bream said. “I think the last time I hit a home run to the opposite field was off Rick Reuschel in 1990.”

Said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda: “We can’t win if we can’t score runs. In two games, we have scored one run. We have to get our bats to start stinging the ball.”

With the Dodgers trailing by one run during the fifth inning, Tim Wallach made a play that potentially could have changed the Dodgers’ momentum. Instead, it only motivated Smith to bear down harder.

Ron Gant hit a sharp liner that bounced off of Wallach’s chest. With Otis Nixon running to third, Wallach scrambled to the ball and tagged Nixon at the bag. But Smith, who said he was disappointed that he had struck out during the Braves rally, came back to retire Brett Butler, Darryl Strawberry and Wallach in order.

“I knew I was facing them the next inning and striking out helped motivate me a little bit,” Smith said.

“If you look at their lineup, they can hurt you at any time, and I’m not just talking about Strawberry and Wallach, I’m talking all the way down the line. Butler is tough and can always get on and so can Offerman . . . and Eric Karros has already proved himself.”

Strawberry, who singled and walked in four at-bats, said it’s not so much how the Braves are pitching, but how the Dodgers aren’t hitting.

“If we analyze the two games, we have had opportunities to score and have not capitalized on them,” he said. “But overall, as a team, we will start hitting.”

Astacio, 23, has pitched better in the majors than he ever did in the minors. When he was called up last year to help get the Dodgers through a streak of doubleheaders, he pitched a three-hit shutout in his major league debut, and threw three more shutouts in 10 starts.

After compiling a 10-17 record with a 5.10 earned-run average in 43 starts in San Antonio and Albuquerque, Astacio had a 5-5 record with a 1.98 ERA in 11 starts with the Dodgers.

“He looked real good out there,” the Braves’ Mark Lemke said. “He looked a little better this year than he did when we faced him last year.”

Astacio said he felt strong and could have pitched the eighth inning, but Mitch Webster pinch-hit for him, flying out to right field.

* DAILY REPORT

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