Dodger Victory Is Your Typical Walk in the Park

Dodger Manager Davey Johnson was determined to boost the confidence of disappointing pitcher Carlos Perez.

Perez did his part to help Johnson help him.

The left-hander pitched five-plus scoreless innings and Johnson used four relievers to complete a 2-1 victory over the Braves on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 49,258 at Turner Field.

The Braves’ largest crowd of the season watched Perez (2-6) earn his first victory since April 30. Perez gave up only two hits in defeating two-time Cy Young Award winner Tom Glavine (3-6) in the matchup of struggling left-handers.

The Dodgers scored twice in the fifth to stake Perez to a 2-0 lead. The unearned runs against Glavine--who pitched seven strong innings--came on back-to-back, bases-loaded walks by Gary Sheffield and Raul Mondesi after an error by first baseman Brian Hunter.

Johnson removed Perez with none out in the sixth after a single by Chipper Jones put runners on first and second. The Dodgers turned a double play behind rookie reliever Jamie Arnold to help him escape the jam.

The Braves cut the lead to 2-1 in the eighth on Chipper Jones’ home run--his 13th--against Alan Mills. But the Braves (30-19) had only four hits in the game, the second of the three-game series.

Closer Jeff Shaw gave up a two-out single in the ninth to Ryan Klesko, but Ozzie Guillen grounded out to end the game. Shaw earned his 11th save in 12 opportunities and the Dodgers (25-23) ended an eight-game losing streak at Turner Field.

Perez’s solid outing was the key--but Johnson had the plan.

“I was going to do whatever I had to do to keep it a positive outing for Carlos,” Johnson said. “I usually don’t take a guy throwing a two-hitter out after five, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

“I told myself if I get a chance to give him a win, if he goes five, I’m going to get it for him even if I had to use Shaw in the eighth. He wasn’t going to lose it. I wasn’t going to let it happen.”

Perez began the game with a 6.39 earned-run average and the Braves have pounded him throughout his career. He was 0-3 with a 9.35 ERA against them last season and 2-5 with a 4.61 ERA overall.

On Saturday, things were different for Perez.

His velocity increased from his previous start in which his fastball was clocked in the low 80s. The Turner Field radar gun clocked Perez’s fastball at 87 mph and his pitches had movement.

Perez, who hit two batters, struck out three and walked two. His ERA decreased to 5.73.

“The best thing about him tonight was that he kept the ball down all night,” Chipper Jones said. “He didn’t make many mistakes.”

Perez agreed.

“It’s like Kevin Brown says: One pitch at a time, one out at a time,” Perez said. “My velocity was a little bit better than in my last start. Tonight, I had a great idea what I wanted to do. I was thinking on every pitch.

“The manager took me out with two runners on base and I felt I did my job. I have no problem with that because he’s the boss.”

Left-hander Pedro Borbon relieved Arnold after he worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Borbon got two out and turned things over to Mills to start the eighth.

The offense wasn’t as impressive. The Dodgers were hitless in 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position and Johnson is displeased about the team’s inconsistency at the plate.

“As long as I think we’re making progress I’m not going to snap,” Johnson said. “I’ve been around long enough to know it’s not going to be easy. There are a lot of good things going on here.

“I’ve said before that I like the character of this club. It’s a good group of guys who all care. If we can improve some things, we’ll win. If we don’t, we won’t. But I believe we will.”

Dodger fans want to believe too.