Sheffield Homer Is a Salvage Job

Brian Jordan and Odalis Perez had their shining moments in two Dodger victories here, so it seemed fitting that Gary Sheffield took center stage in the final game for the Atlanta Braves.

The three main players in the clubs’ off-season trade were under the spotlight in a three-game series at Turner Field, punctuated Thursday night by Sheffield’s three-run home run that helped the Braves salvage a 6-2 victory before 23,930 after a 41-minute rain delay.

Sheffield capped a successful series for him, breaking a 2-2 tie in the third with a 423-foot blast to left-center against Andy Ashby (2-3) for his fifth homer and second of the clubs’ first series this season.

Ashby rebounded after struggling early--having also given up Vinny Castilla’s two-run homer in the second after being staked to a 2-0 lead--but it was too late with the Dodger offense still not producing much.

Sheffield again delivered the type of timely hit that prompted the Braves to pay a steep price to acquire the six-time All-Star, and they’re confident their investment will continue providing big returns.

“I’m getting to the point where I feel like every time I’m up there I can hit a home run,” said Sheffield, batting .228 with 14 runs batted in and still slowed by a left wrist injury he suffered in the Braves’ first series of the season against the Philadelphia Phillies. “When I feel like I don’t have to swing at anything, I can wait on my pitch. More times than not, I’m going to hit it.

“That’s my approach from here on out. I’m going to stick with the basics, you know, just swing at strikes. When I do that, I’m a good hitter.”

The Dodgers are familiar with the show.

“The ball that [Ashby] threw to Sheff was a sinker that he was trying to run in close to him,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “The ball ended up leaking back out over the plate just a little bit. It can’t leak out over the plate just a little bit to Gary Sheffield, be in that thigh area and not get hit hard.

“He mis-located a pitch, not by a lot, but when you’re dealing with Gary Sheffield you don’t have to mis-locate a pitch by a whole lot and he’s going to hit it hard. I’ve seen him do it time and time again, both in the uniform that he wears and out of it.”

Ashby offered a similar assessment.

“The one to Sheff was supposed to be down and in, off the plate a little bit, and it was more or less right down the middle,” said the right-hander, who gave up six hits--including two of the Braves’ three homers--and five runs in six innings.

“You can’t make a mistake in that situation to Sheff. The guy is swinging the bat good, and if you make a mistake he’s going to take advantage of it.”

Chipper Jones provided an insurance run in the eighth against Omar Daal with his sixth homer, capping the scoring in rookie left-hander Damian Moss’ first major league victory.

Moss (1-0) worked five innings, and relievers Albie Lopez, Darren Holmes and John Smoltz combined to pitch four scoreless innings in ending the Dodgers’ road winning streak at five games.

“We got beat with the home run ball tonight,” Tracy said. “Three of ‘em, as a matter of fact, and that’s all there is to it.”

Sheffield’s was the biggest.

Leadoff batter Rafael Furcal got the Braves started in the third with a bunt single. Keith Lockhart then singled through the hole at short vacated when Cesar Izturis broke to cover second with Furcal running.

Enter Sheffield. He was the first of Ashby’s seven strikeouts in the first inning, but he won their second battle.

“You know, we just want to play well as a team,” Sheffield said of the focus on the trade during the series. “I’m not getting caught up in what goes on around us; we just want to focus in on this team and get ourselves healthy and playing well.

“We know when we’re healthy the damage is going to come. Once that starts, we’re going to have a little more fun.”

Likewise, the Dodgers are eager to move on.

“When you make trades, you’re very hopeful that the trade benefits both sides,” Tracy said. “We gave up a great hitter, so when you give up a great hitter you don’t expect peanuts in return. You expect something back. We’re very pleased with what we got back.”