To Err Is Human, to Dodgers, Divine

The Dodgers left town taking two of three from the Braves after a 5-4 victory in 11 innings Sunday afternoon at Turner Field.

But talk about difficult.

The Dodgers scored the go-ahead run in the 11th on an error by Atlanta first baseman Ryan Klesko.

They hung on for the victory after staff ace Kevin Brown ran out of gas in the eighth and squandered the 4-1 lead his teammates provided by pounding four-time Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux.

Manager Davey Johnson was forced to test his bullpen again, using three relievers after four worked in a 2-1 victory Saturday night. The group again came up big, pitching 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

Left-hander Pedro Borbon (1-1)--making a strong comeback after reconstructive elbow surgery--pitched perfect ninth and 10th innings against his former team to earn his first victory since 1996. Closer Jeff Shaw took over in the 11th and walked Andruw Jones with one out.

Javy Lopez then flied out to right and Ozzie Guillen grounded out to finish the series. Shaw nailed down his 12th save in 13 opportunities and his second in as many days.

The Dodgers (26-23) improved to 4-2 on their nine-game, 10-day trip. With Brown having faltered, the Dodgers got lucky.

“I learned something today,” Johnson said. “I knew Brownie was pretty much gassed. I knew he was kind of tired and I knew I should have hooked him [in the eighth].

“I stayed with him longer than I should have. To be honest about it, I’m still looking at him throw and compete out there, and I just didn’t have the heart to go get him.”

Brown gave up four consecutive one-out hits in the eighth--including three doubles--and the Braves tied the score, 4-4. He was chased after Klesko’s double off the right-field scoreboard drove in Brian Jordan with the tying run.

Brown gave up eight hits and four runs in 7 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out three while throwing 79 strikes in 115 pitches.

“Some days you can throw 140 pitches; it’s not the number of pitches, it’s how hard you have to work,” Brown said. “Today, I had to work hard. I just ran out of gas and made some bad pitches.”

Klesko’s mistake in the 11th helped Brown and Johnson feel better.

With one out in the inning, Eric Karros doubled to center and Adrian Beltre--who hit a three-run home run against Maddux in the fourth--was intentionally walked by Mike Remlinger (2-1). Mark Grudzielanek then hit a slow roller that third baseman Chipper Jones fielded on the infield grass.

Jones’ sidearm throw beat Grudzielanek but the ball bounced off Klesko’s glove and over his head. Karros scored from second while Klesko retrieved the ball from the Brave dugout, giving the Dodgers the lead again.

The Braves (30-20) also gave the Dodgers two unearned runs in Saturday’s victory on an error by first baseman Brian Hunter.

“When he [Chipper Jones] comes underhand like that, of course the ball is going to rise,” Klesko said. “I could have come off the bag and caught it, but then the bases would have been loaded with one out.”

Brown gave up only one run through seven innings on Maddux’s second homer of the season in the third. Then he cruised until the eighth.

The right-hander gave up only two singles from the fourth through the seventh. The Braves had only three baserunners during that span.

“He was flat-out nasty,” said Chipper Jones, who doubled against Brown in the Braves’ three-run eighth.

“We were sitting in the dugout in the seventh and looking at each other and shaking our heads. He was vintage Kevin Brown.”

Until the eighth.

The Dodgers took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on Beltre’s three-run homer against Maddux. Leadoff batter Devon White added a solo shot against Maddux in the fifth to give the Dodgers a comfortable 4-1 advantage with their No. 1 pitcher on the mound.

Brown had thrown 106 pitches entering the eighth. That’s a high total for most pitchers, but not Brown.

Brown averaged 109.2 pitches in his previous 10 starts, ranking seventh in the league. Brown told Johnson he had enough left to pitch the eighth and Johnson planned to remove Brown after the inning.

As it turned out, Johnson was forced to take the ball from Brown sooner than either preferred.