Gagne Blames Himself for Dodger Defeat

Eric Gagne had committed few major mistakes in a strong second half.

Until Sunday.

The Dodger starter acknowledged he made “too many stupid mistakes” in a 9-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves before 34,469 at Turner Field that dropped the club 41/2 games behind Arizona in the National League West race.

Three mistakes resulted in home runs, and the Braves had four homers in the victory.

Andruw Jones’ two-run homer in the fifth against Gagne (4-6) gave the Braves a 3-2 lead, and he capped the scoring with a two-run homer against struggling reliever Terry Mulholland in the eighth.

“I just made a lot of stupid mistakes,” said Gagne, who gave up nine hits and five runs in 51/3 innings. “I was always behind in the count, and you can’t pitch like that against these guys.

“They hit mistakes hard, and I just made a lot of silly ones. You have to get the ball down and get the first-pitch strike. Stupid.”

Jones was three for five with his 26th and 27th homers and four runs batted in, but the Dodgers said second-year shortstop Mark DeRosa delivered the knockout punch.

On a 3-and-1 pitch from Gagne, DeRosa hit a one-out, two-run homer in the sixth, increasing the lead to 5-2.

“On Andruw Jones, I just made a ridiculous mistake,” Gagne said. “It was a changeup up, and it should have been down.

“On [DeRosa], I fell behind and threw it over the plate. You just can’t do that against them. These guys are in first place [in the East], and there’s a reason why.”

Manager Jim Tracy agreed.

“They hit home runs, and the one that hurt us was the one DeRosa hit,” he said.

“It goes without saying that, in this league, you’re taking your chances when you pitch behind. You’re putting yourself in a position to throw a pitch to, pretty much, a fastball hitter.

“When you’re facing a club like the Atlanta Braves, with a pitching staff like they have, it’s vitally important that you keep the game close to afford your offense an opportunity to scratch one out here and there. The home runs took the game out of our hands.”

DeRosa’s shot to left-center ended Gagne’s work and started another disappointing outing for the bullpen.

The Braves extended the lead to 7-2 in the seventh against Giovanni Carrara with four two-out singles, and then Mulholland’s earned-run average increased to 9.58 in 10 appearances with the Dodgers.

The third-place Dodgers (71-59) are 41/2 games behind the leading Arizona Diamondbacks in the division, but have lost only twice in a six-game trip that ends today.

The East-leading Braves (71-58) had 15 hits in increasing their advantage to two games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

They played without Chipper Jones after umpire Marty Foster ejected the all-star third baseman and Manager Bobby Cox in the top of the sixth because Jones continued to argue a called third strike in their half of the fifth.

Starter John Burkett (11-8) gave up Shawn Green’s team-leading 42nd homer, but was effective in a six-inning performance.

Green leads the majors with 22 homers since the All-Star break, and moved into a four-way tie for third on the club single-season list.

He needs only one homer to tie Gary Sheffield and Duke Snider for the top mark.

Green struck out swinging for the final out against John Smoltz, now sharing closer duties.

Eric Karros, benched the three previous games, was one for four with a double.

Tracy said the first baseman, in a season-long slump, will be in the lineup today against right-hander Greg Maddux.

Karros is eight for 43 (.186) in his career against the four-time Cy Young Award winner.

“I just went out there and was in the lineup, I didn’t have too many thoughts about it,” said Karros, batting .231.

“I don’t know if we’re on a day-to-day thing here. If that’s the case, I guess we’ll see where that goes.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NL WILD-CARD RACE

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W L GB Chicago 72 58 -- San Francisco 72 58 -- DODGERS 71 59 1 St. Louis 70 60 2 Philadelphia 69 60 2 1/2

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