Strawberry’s Return Can’t Slow Dodgers : Baseball: While fans give him the business, team continues winning ways by stopping Braves again, 5-1.

If there was ever a twist to the touted duo of team saviors Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis, it came Saturday night when Strawberry, returning from the disabled list with no place to play, started in place of Davis in left field.

The irony didn’t escape the crowd of 48,035 at Dodger Stadium, who booed Strawberry mercilessly when his name was announced in the lineup. The volume increased minutes into the game against the Atlanta Braves, when Strawberry reacted slowly to a line drive hit to short left-center and didn’t come close to reaching it.

The boos continued when he was picked off first base, when he struck out twice, when he fouled out, and the boos didn’t stop until he was replaced in the eighth inning by Davis, whom they cheered.

But after a while, Strawberry’s presence became merely a sideshow to another Dodger victory, this one over Greg Maddux and the Braves, 5-1.

This answered the critics--which included almost everybody--who thought the Braves were going to put an end to the Dodgers’ streak. Saturday’s victory marked back-to-back victories over the Braves, the first one coming Friday night against Tom Glavine. It was the Dodgers 15th victory in 17 games, securing third place in the NL West, and keeping them five games behind the first-place San Francisco Giants. The Braves fell to fourth place, six games back.

“Both pitchers were pitching well, but we stayed with it and drew the first blood and did what we needed to get those insurance runs,” said Mike Piazza, who went three for four, including his 10th home run. He is now batting .342.

Behind an impressive outing by Kevin Gross, Piazza fueled the victory by doubling in the first run of the game and hitting a towering drive deep in the left-field pavilion to give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning.

Piazza also started the Dodgers’ two-run eighth inning when he led off with a grounder up the middle. After a single by Cory Snyder, his third hit of the game, Piazza scored on a single by Jody Reed. Snyder, who took Strawberry’s job in right field, scored on Davis’ fly ball deep to right field.

Gross (5-4), coming off of a poor outing in Pittsburgh where he continually failed to get the lead-off batter out, held the Braves to four hits and one run through six innings before being removed for a pinch-hitter. Gross retired 17 of the first 20 batters, including eight on strikeouts, before Terry Pendleton hit a two-out single in the sixth inning and scored on a double by Ron Gant.

Roger McDowell, Jim Gott and Todd Worrell each pitched a scoreless inning to preserve the victory. It was Worrell’s first appearance at Dodger Stadium since joining the club.

Maddux, who was relieved by Mark Wohlers after the sixth inning, gave up three runs and nine hits to even his record at 5-5.

After spending the past 23 days trying to strengthen his back, Strawberry came off the disabled list to find his job in right field taken by Snyder, whom the Dodgers acquired over the winter as a reserve. But Snyder never saw it that way. He has said he is not ready to accept being a bench player, and he proved that when Strawberry went out. He is now hitting .339.

Davis, who had spent the last home stand regaining his swing, said he understood what was happening, and he is taking it one day at a time. But he also said that he is not a bench player. “I do not plan to spend the season as a late-inning defensive replacement,” he said. What’s he going to do?

“Wait and see,” he said.

It was a tough crowd for Strawberry, who said he was playing in left because “they think it will be easier on my back not making the long throws.”

But Strawberry said that the boos didn’t bother him.

“To be out for so long and come back and face the best pitcher in baseball is tough, because he is outstanding,” Strawberry said. “But that is part of the road back and eventually I will work myself into a groove.”