Down Two Last Gasp

The Dodgers refuse to concede their season is over, but when the biggest concern is deciding whether or not to pack your bags for longer than a one-day stay in Atlanta, you’ve got problems.

After playing for six months and 164 games, the Dodgers are on the brink of winter vacation.

They lost once again to the Atlanta Braves, 3-2, Thursday night in front of a subdued crowd of 51,916 at Dodger Stadium, and trail the best-of-five National League division playoffs, two games to none.

“It’s frustrating more than anything,” Dodger catcher Mike Piazza said. “We’re numb right now.”

The Dodgers spent the aftermath clinging to false bravado. Injured third baseman Mike Blowers told folks about his experience last year with the Seattle Mariners, who rebounded from a 2-0 deficit against the New York Yankees.

But never in baseball history has a team come back from a 2-0 deficit in a best-of-five series by winning the final three on the road.

And the Braves have never lost three consecutive postseason games at home in the history of the franchise.

And Tom Glavine, who will start Game 3 for the Braves, has not lost a postseason game at home since losing, 1-0, in Game 5 of the 1991 National League championship series.

Pack lightly, boys.

“It’s embarrassing that you don’t go out there and give them a little more of a fight,” Piazza said. “Hopefully, we can win at least one game and go from there. If those guys are going to beat us, at least make them earn it.”

It is hardly as if the Dodgers have been blown out in the first two games. They had a 2-1 lead in the seventh inning Thursday only to watch Fred McGriff and rookie Jermaine Dye hit solo homers off Dodger starter Ismael Valdes. In the series opener, they lost, 2-1 in 10 innings, when catcher Javier Lopez homered.

The Braves have scored only five runs off the Dodger pitching staff this series, and four have come from solo home runs.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, have gone a whopping 198 at-bats and 211 plate appearances since hitting a home run. They have not homered since Eric Karros’ leadoff homer on Sept. 25 against the San Francisco Giants.

Incredibly, since that home run, the Dodgers are batting .167, with only six extra-base hits.

The Dodgers produced only three hits off Atlanta starter Greg Maddux and relievers Greg McMichael and Mark Wohlers, and never even reached base after Raul Mondesi’s two-out double in the fourth. The Dodgers’ final 16 batters went down in order, with only three of them able to hit the ball out of the infield.

“When you’re not swinging well, combined with good pitching, it can get ugly,” said Dodger hitting coach Reggie Smith.

The Dodgers managed only three hits Thursday, and if not for errors by left fielder Ryan Klesko and center fielder Marquis Grissom, they may never have scored. Their two runs were unearned off Maddux, and for the longest time it appeared that it might be good enough.

Valdes had a 2-1 lead entering the seventh. He had yielded a second-inning home run to Klesko, but then retired 14 of the next 16 batters.

But in the seventh Fred McGriff hit a 0-and-1 low fastball toward the center-field fence, where Wayne Kirby leaped, and the ball grazed off the top of his glove for a homer that tied the score.

Valdes struck out Klesko, then served Dye a hanging slider over the plate. Dye slammed it deep into the left-field seats for a homer and a 3-2 lead.

“Tonight was a dream,” Dye said.

It became the Dodgers’ worst nightmare.

“I read Ramon [Martinez’s] comments where it’s hard to pitch because we’re not scoring many runs,” Karros said. “Well, their pitchers have the same problem.

“We had a 2-1 lead in the seventh. What’s the difference whether it’s 11-10 or 2-1. We had the lead in the seventh and didn’t hold them.”

Said Piazza: “It just seems like he [Valdes] has got to get over a little bit of a hurdle mentally. I can’t explain it. I’m not trying to be critical, but he knows what he has to do.”

Valdes, who yielded five hits and struck out five in 6 1/3 innings, was devastated by the loss.

“I feel guilty,” he said. “It’s all my fault. I made a bad pitch to Dye. I feel guilty because I’m in charge on the mound.

“They gave me enough support with two runs. That was enough. I gave up just five hits, but that wasn’t good enough to win a ball game.”

The Dodgers were particularly frustrated with home-plate umpire Eric Gregg’s strike zone. They complained that the strike zone was widened for Maddux. “It’s hard enough to hit the ball when it’s over the plate,” said Karros, who struck out twice on called third-strikes. Maddux struck out seven batters.

Who could blame the Dodgers for exhaling when Maddux was lifted after seven innings. He had thrown only 72 pitches--58 strikes and only 14 balls. But Maddux was pitching with a tender right hamstring, and Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox wanted to be cautious. He called upon McMichael.

“It’s not real easy trying to keep up with Maddux,” McMichael said. “It’s real tough to pitch after him. It’s like the other team is saying, ‘We got him out of the game, let’s just kill this joker.’ ”

No matter. McMichael struck out two and induced a groundout. Wohlers came in for a 1-2-3 ninth, ending the game when Piazza grounded out to third baseman Chipper Jones.

“I think you’re seeing how much postseason experiences means,” Jones said. “Nobody panics. Being able to perform in a game when you’ve got your heart in your throat, believe me, takes some getting used to.”

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Deep-Sixed

The Dodgers have had trouble scoring in their last six games, which has also led to six consecutive home losses. They’ve scored only eight runs total, with no home runs and a .162 team batting average.

PLAYOFFS

* Thursday: Atlanta 3, Dodgers 2

* Wednesday: Atlanta 2, Dodgers 1 (10)

REGULAR SEASON

* Sunday: San Diego 2, Dodgers 0 (11)

* Saturday: San Diego 4, Dodgers 2

* Sept. 27: San Diego 5, Dodgers 2

* Sept. 26: San Francisco 6, Dodgers 1

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Series Glance

* GAME 1--Atlanta 2, Dodgers 1 (10)

* GAME 2--Atlanta 3, Dodgers 2

* SATURDAY--Dodgers (Nomo 16-11) at Atlanta (Glavine 15-10), 1:15 p.m., Channel 11

* SUNDAY*--Dodgers (Martinez 15-6) at Atlanta (Smoltz 24-8, 1-0), 10 a.m., Channel 5, ESPN

* MONDAY*--Dodgers at Atlanta,

4 p.m., Channel 11

* if necessary

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Game Report

DODGERS, BRAVES AT A GLANCE

GAME 2

The Lineups

Braves

Marquis Grissom cf

Mark Lemke 2b

Chipper Jones 3b

Fred McGriff 1b

Ryan Klesko lf

Jermaine Dye rf

Eduardo Perez c

Jeff Blauser ss

Greg Maddux p

*

Dodgers:

Todd Hollandsworth lf

Wayne Kirby cf

Mike Piazza c

Eric Karros 1b

Raul Mondesi rf

Tim Wallach 3b

Greg Gagne ss

Juan Castro 2b

Ismael Valdes p

U--Eric Gregg, plate; Tom Hallion, 1B; Terry Tata, 2B; Bruce Froemming, 3B; Bill Hohn, LF line; Steve Rippley, RF line.

Play By Play

FIRST INNING

Dodgers 1, Braves 0

Braves--Grissom struck out. Lemke flied to center. C. Jones grounded to first. No runs, no hits.

Dodgers--Hollandsworth singled to left and continued to second on left fielder Klesko’s fielding error. Kirby grounded to second, Hollandsworth taking third. Piazza grounded to the pitcher, Hollandsworth scoring. Karros grounded to second. One run (unearned), one hit, one error.

SECOND INNING

Dodgers 1, Braves 1

Braves--McGriff grounded to the pitcher. Klesko homered to right-center, his first. Dye grounded to third. Perez singled to center. Blauser forced Perez. One run, two hits, one left.

Dodgers--Mondesi struck out. Wallach flied to right. Gagne struck out. No runs, no hits.

THIRD INNING

Dodgers 1, Braves 1

Braves--Maddux grounded to the pitcher. Grissom popped to first. Lemke grounded to first. No runs, no hits.

Dodgers--Castro grounded to the pitcher. Valdes grounded to second. Hollandsworth struck out. No runs, no hits.

FOURTH INNING

Dodgers 2, Braves 1

Braves--C. Jones struck out. McGriff grounded to second. Klesko flied to right. No runs, no hits.

Dodgers--Kirby grounded to first. Piazza singled to center and continued to second on Grissom’s fielding error. Karros struck out. Mondesi doubled to center, Piazza scoring. Wallach fouled to first. One run (unearned), two hits, one error, one left.

FIFTH INNING

Dodgers 2, Braves 1

Braves--Dye struck out. Perez flied to left. Blauser flied to center. No runs, no hits.

Dodgers--Gagne flied to right. Castro grounded to the pitcher. Valdes grounded to third. No runs, no hits.

SIXTH INNING

Dodgers 2, Braves 1

Braves--Maddux struck out. Grissom grounded to second. Lemke singled to left. C. Jones flied to center. No runs, one hit, one left.

Dodgers--Hollandsworth struck out. Kirby grounded to first. Piazza flied to right. No runs, no hits.

SEVENTH INNING

Braves 3, Dodgers 2

Braves--McGriff homered to center, his first. Klesko struck out. Dye homered to left, his first. Astacio replaced Valdes. Perez grounded to short. Blauser struck out. Two runs, two hits.

Dodgers--Karros and Mondesi struck out. Wallach grounded to short. No runs, no hits.

EIGHTH INNING

Braves 3, Dodgers 2

Braves--Polonia, batting for Maddux, popped to short. Grissom grounded to short. Lemke grounded to the pitcher. No runs, no hits.

Dodgers--McMichael pitching. Gagne struck out. Hansen, batting for Castro, grounded to second. Ashley, batting for Astacio, struck out. No runs, no hits.

NINTH INNING

Braves 3, Dodgers 2

Braves--Worrell pitching. DeShields to second. C. Jones flied to left. McGriff struck out. Klesko walked. A. Jones ran for Klesko. A. Jones was picked off, catcher to first. No runs, no hits.

Dodgers--Wohlers pitching, Belliard to short and A. Jones to left. Hollandsworth lined to left. Kirby struck out. Piazza grounded to third. No runs, no hits.

A-lined out for Maddux in the 8th. b-grounded out for Castro in the 8th. c-struck out for Astacio in the 8th. 1-ran for Klesko in the 9th.

E--Grissom (1), Klesko (1). LOB--Atlanta 2, Dodgers 1. 2B--Mondesi (1). HR--McGriff (1) off Valdes; Klesko (1) off Valdes; Dye (1) off Valdes. Picked Off--AJones. RBIs--McGriff (2), Klesko (1), Dye (1), Piazza (1), Mondesi (1).

Runners left in scoring position--Dodgers 1 (Wallach). Runners moved up--Kirby, Piazza.

Line Score

*--*

Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Maddux W, 1-0 7 3 2 0 0 7 72 0.00 McMichael 1 0 0 0 0 2 15 0.00 Wohlers S, 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 10 0.00 Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Valdes L, 0-1 6 1/3 5 3 3 0 5 75 4.26 Astacio 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 1 18 0.00 Worrell 1 0 0 0 1 1 14 0.00

*--*

U--Gregg, Hallion, Tata, Froemming, Hohn, Rippley. T--2:08. Tickets sold--51,916.