Braves Put Dodgers in Their Place

The Dodgers acknowledged they weren’t among the National League’s elite after being swept by the Atlanta Braves in May.

But they didn’t view that poor performance as a warning signal, saying things would be different in their next meeting.

For the most part, it was business as usual Friday night.

The Braves continued their domination of the Dodgers, winning, 5-2, in the opener of a three-game series before a crowd of 43,560 at Dodger Stadium.

“This is a great team. This is the team everybody measures itself against, they’re the measuring stick for probably everyone in the league,” Dodger second baseman Eric Young said. “When you play against the Braves, it shows you how far you need to go, and that’s what they’ve shown us.”

Right-hander Kevin Millwood (14-6) pitched five strong innings, leaving because he suffered a sprained right ankle in the fourth. He gave up only one run, on Raul Mondesi’s home run in the fourth.

The Braves staked Millwood to a 4-0 lead with a four-run fourth, highlighted by Andres Galarraga’s three-run, opposite-field home run. Dodger starter Dave Mlicki (6-6) struggled in losing for only the second time in 13 starts since being acquired from the New York Mets.

The Dodgers struck out 14 times overall and scored once against three Brave relievers after Millwood left. Closer Kerry Ligtenberg pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 19th save and 13th in a row.

“Galarraga hit a tremendous opposite-field home run,” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said. “That was the ballgame right there. And I thought our bullpen really threw the ball well.”

The National League East-leading Braves are 4-0 against the struggling Dodgers this season. Atlanta has lost only one season series to them in the last six seasons, and the Dodgers are well aware of that.

The Dodgers dropped back to .500 (61-61) for the 26th time this season, and lost ground in the NL wild-card race. They now trail the front-running Chicago Cubs by six games.

The Dodgers rallied in the eighth against former Dodger Rudy Seanez. With one out, Young and Trenidad Hubbard had consecutive infield singles.

Mondesi, who earlier homered for the first time since Aug. 3, struck out looking on a 2-and-2 count. Eric Karros’ run-scoring single to center cut the Braves’ lead to 5-2, but Matt Luke struck out swinging to end the inning with Hubbard at second.

The hard-throwing Seanez struggled with his control while he was with the Dodgers (1994-95), but he struck out the side Friday.

The Braves are accustomed to big innings this season, and they had another in the fourth against Mlicki. They scored four runs without making an out.

Keith Lockhart singled to open the inning and Chipper Jones walked, putting runners at second and third with none out and Galarraga on deck. The Dodgers’ worst-case scenario occurred when Galarraga homered--his 37th --into the pavilion in right-center on a full count, giving Atlanta a 3-0 lead.

And the Braves weren’t finished.

Ryan Klesko doubled down the right-field line when first baseman Karros couldn’t handle his bad-hop grounder. Klesko took third on the second of Mlicki’s two wild pitches and scored on Javy Lopez’s single to center, giving the Braves a commanding 4-0 lead.

Mlicki then settled down, retiring the next three batters. Of course, it was too late by then.

He gave up six hits and four runs in six innings, striking out two with three walks. Mlicki threw 97 pitches, 58 for strikes.

His Brave counterpart fared better. Millwood gave up five hits--including Mondesi’s 26th homer--and struck out eight with a walk. He threw 97 pitches, 58 for strikes.

Millwood was in control, but he had problems on the mound after suffering the sprained ankle while grounding out in the fourth. In the sixth, the Braves turned to Dennis Martinez.

Martinez broke Juan Marichal’s record for the most victories by a Latin pitcher with his 244th last Sunday against the San Francisco Giants. Martinez pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two.