Dodger, Angel Seasons Enter Critical Stage

By JASON REID

Aug. 11, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

ATLANTA —

The Dodgers talk a good game about their chances in the National League West race.

Their performance has been less impressive.

The club with baseball’s second-highest payroll is not meeting expectations, though that occurred last season too.

Players said this season’s big-budget production has been especially disappointing because they are better than the rest of the West.

The Dodgers face the best in the NL East tonight, beginning a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

Atlanta has the game’s top record again, and the Dodgers also are in a familiar position.

“This is a funny team,” said Dodger left fielder Gary Sheffield, who leads the majors with 36 home runs. “Man for man we’ve got the talent to win, and we talk all the time about what we should be doing against teams.

“We keep on talking about building and putting ourselves in position to accomplish something. But just when it looks like we’re going to make a move, we fall back into the same old mistakes.”

Another relapse against the Braves could prove costly.

Atlanta (69-45) has won five of six in the season series, including sweeping the first series here April 25-27. The Dodgers are 2-10 at Turner Field the last three seasons.

The Dodgers (59-54) acknowledge there is a sense of urgency because the Braves are good and the West-leading San Francisco Giants are hot.

The six-game trip ends with three games against the Florida Marlins at Pro Player Stadium, but the Braves are the main target.

“Every series is bigger for us now because of the position we’re in, and playing [the Braves] obviously adds to that,” catcher Todd Hundley said. “The Braves are the team everybody looks at to see where they’re at.

“We can’t afford to lose any more ground. We all know we haven’t done what we need to do so far, so we better start taking care of business now.”

The third-place Dodgers trailed the Giants by 2 1/2 games after going 6-4 on their previous trip. They eagerly faced the struggling Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium, figuring they had reached the easiest part of their schedule.

The Dodgers were 2-4 in those series, losing three in a row to teams a combined 27 games under .500, and dropping 5 1/2 games behind the Giants.

So much for seizing an opportunity.

“No disrespect to the Brewers and Cubs, but those are teams we absolutely should beat,” second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “When you look around at the talent in this clubhouse, when you see the lineup we put out there day in and day out, it’s just not acceptable for us to lose to sub-.500 teams.

“Good teams beat those teams. We should at least win each series. I’ve been waiting for that to happen for more than a month now, waiting for us to step up and play the way we know we should be playing. We keep talking about it but we’re not doing it.”

The Dodgers said the lack of a consistent offense is their biggest problem.

“It’s frustrating because we just don’t seem to get timely hitting,” Sheffield said. “Our pitching has been great most of the time the last couple of weeks except for maybe a couple of bad starts.

“But our offense . . . we just aren’t getting it all together at the right time. We need the whole lineup to produce to win, and that hasn’t happened enough. It hasn’t happened enough at all.”

For example, in games in which the score is tied or the teams are within a run in the seventh inning or later, the Dodgers are batting .243, the Braves .284.

Why aren’t the Dodgers producing more consistently?

“That’s what we’re still trying to figure out,” General Manager Kevin Malone said. “We’ve put together the parts to have a real good club, and we have played well at times.

“Our problem has been consistency. Championship clubs like the Braves play at high levels for long stretches. That’s an area we’re still working on.”

Quality pitching helps too.

Atlanta right-handers Kevin Millwood, Greg Maddux and Andy Ashby, scheduled to start this weekend, are 11-4 with a 2.99 earned-run average in their last 17 starts against the Dodgers.

In two victories this season, Millwood has given up only one unearned run in 14 innings.

“Everybody knows those guys are great pitchers, but you can’t worry about what they’re doing,” right fielder Shawn Green said. “We just have to focus on what we have to do and play our game.

“Yeah, we have to get into gear now because it’s getting late. We have to play well against the Braves and the Marlins then hope it comes down to head to head in the division.”

The Dodgers said their final regular-season series against the Braves could be a springboard. To what they’re not sure.

“We have to build some momentum fast,” Sheffield said. “We have to play our best baseball right now. It’s a matter of us playing well, which seems really simple, but it’s not for us.

“The bottom line is that time is running out and we can go either way. It’s time to stop all the excuses. It’s time for us to change what we’ve been doing.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Scouting Report

Games Behind/Division

Dodgers: 5 1/2

Games Behind/Wild Card

Dodgers: 7

Games Remaining

Dodgers: 49

Home Games

Dodgers: 26

Road Games

Dodgers: 23