Dodgers Have a Thirst for First, 3-2

The Dodgers were surrounded all weekend by the championship banners gracing Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Everywhere in town were reminders of the Atlanta Braves’ glory.

But after their 3-2 victory Sunday afternoon over the Braves, vaulting them into a tie for first place in the National League West, the Dodgers are convinced they can play with the big boys.

“This was big for us, real big,” third baseman Mike Blowers said. “They’re the defending world champions. They’re the team holding all of the rings, and obviously the team to beat.

“Everybody in this clubhouse respects them, but now I think we got their respect too.”

The Dodgers won three of four games against the Braves, and six of nine overall, moving to a season-high five games above .500. There still may be an aura about the Braves, but the Dodgers proved they aren’t intimidated.

The Dodger pitching staff, led Sunday by Tom Candiotti (5-5) and closer Todd Worrell (20 saves), shut down the Atlanta offense. The Braves scored only 10 runs in the series, batting .254 with only seven extra-base hits.

Most impressive, the vaunted middle of the order--Chipper Jones, Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko--batted only .174 (eight for 46) with two home runs and four RBIs.

“They’ve got a good club over there, a real good club,” McGriff said. “They got pitching just like we have, and now their defense is better. They got our attention, believe me.”

The Dodgers are grateful that they moved back into a share of first place for the first time since opening day, but their goal is much more than a division title.

“It’s got to help the confidence of everyone,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president. “It’s big, real big. As good as Cleveland is, this is our match. And it’s not like we caught Atlanta asleep. . . .”

Said Atlanta outfielder Dwight Smith: “I got a feeling we’ll be seeing those boys in October. They’re playing good ball, and they’re a lot like us. The only difference is that they haven’t been there like we have.

“We’re not going to disrespect anybody. We gave them a lot of confidence, but let’s wait until we see them in October, and then we’ll see who wants to play. Let’s put it this way, I’m not too worried.”

This was a Dodger team that played two games without all-star catcher Mike Piazza, the entire series without shortstop Greg Gagne, and still outplayed and outpitched the Braves, beating Tom Glavine and Steve Avery in the process.

The Dodgers relied once again on the bat of Piazza, who hit two solo line-drive home runs in his first two at-bats off starter Jason Schmidt (2-3). They walked Piazza the next two times, but DeShields provided a 3-1 lead when he led off the sixth with a triple and scored on Eric Karros’ sacrifice fly.

Candiotti, who yielded only four hits in seven innings, was in the clubhouse in the ninth when Worrell inherited the 3-1 lead. Worrell gave up a single to Mark Lemke and an infield single to Jones, and then the rains came. The game was delayed 34 minutes, and when play resumed, McGriff nearly ended it in two seconds.

He pounced on Worrell’s fastball, sending it perhaps 500 feet into the upper deck, but foul.

“That’s got to be one of the longest ones I’ve ever given up--fair or foul,” Worrell said, shaking his head. “But the one that counted, he couldn’t get out of the infield.”

McGriff hit a soft grounder back to Worrell, moving the runners into scoring position. Then, on a first-pitch changeup to Klesko, the ball bounced away from Piazza, scoring Lemke and advancing Jones to third.

The Dodgers were forced to bring the infield in, praying that Klesko--.282 with 21 home runs--would not hit a fly ball. Klesko worked it to a full count, fouled off what would have been ball four, then swung and missed at a high fastball for strike three.

Catcher Javier Lopez ended the game by hitting a slow grounder to shortstop Juan Castro, and, just like that, the Dodgers won their biggest series of the season.

“We’re playing some good baseball right now,” Karros said, “but I can’t say, ‘We’ve arrived.’ They’re [the Braves] not playing that well, let’s be realistic. . . . We were fortunate to catch them at a good time.

“But we know they’re the dominant team of the ‘90s, and whoever represents the National League in the World Series is going to have to go through Atlanta.”