Perez Jolted From Get-Go

Random lightning illuminated the Georgia night Wednesday, providing a foreboding atmosphere for Odalis Perez, who called Turner Field home from 1998 to 2001.

The rains never came, but the two mammoth home runs Perez surrendered threatened to empty the clouds.

How frustrating was Perez’s night, which culminated with the Dodgers’ 10-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves? Not only did Perez miss first base when he laced a base hit into the right-field corner in the fifth inning, he was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double.

And he said he tweaked his right rib cage during warmups when he had to jump for a throw from his bullpen catcher.

“I couldn’t go down and release on my pitches where I wanted to,” said Perez, who was charged with six runs and 11 hits in four-plus innings, his shortest outing this season. “It’s nothing to be concerned about, just one of those nights.

“I didn’t say anything [before the game]. It’s not a big excuse to go out there and not perform. With the stuff I had, I thought I could go out there and compete.”

Manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn said Perez’s postgame description of his injury to reporters was the first they had heard of it.

“A lot of guys go out there and compete with aches and pains,” Colborn said. “It wouldn’t have altered what I did during the game except to ask him how it was feeling.”

As discouraging as the defeat was, especially after comeback wins in their previous two games, the Dodgers remained five games behind the San Diego Padres.

The Braves, looking for their 14th consecutive divisional title, moved their lead in the NL East to five games over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Atlanta could thank its starter, right-hander Tim Hudson, for that as the first-year Brave improved to 9-7 by giving up two runs and seven hits in eight innings.

The Dodgers got to Hudson for two runs in the sixth inning.

Oscar Robles led off with a ground-rule double to right field, and two batters later, Jeff Kent’s double to left field drove in Robles. It was Kent’s team-leading 82nd run batted in.

Kent scored on Jayson Werth’s two-out single to right field to make the score 7-2.

“When you face Tim Hudson, if you’re going to win a game, you have to stay close to him,” Tracy said. “You can’t let the game get away from you, which is what we did.”

It got away from the Dodgers early.

Perez (7-7) gave up a run in the first inning, two in the second and left trailing, 6-0, after home runs by Andruw Jones, a solo shot that was his major league-leading 38th homer, and Jeff Francoeur, a two-run blast in the fifth.

Rookie reliever Jonathan Broxton gave up a run in the fifth inning before demoted closer Yhency Brazoban provided a bright spot.

Brazoban, pitching for the first time since surrendering a grand slam with the score tied Aug. 10 against the Phillies, threw two scoreless innings, hitting 96 mph, had three strikeouts and gave up one hit.

“Everything has gone well,” Brazoban said of his being held out for a week. “The time off has been good for me.”

Said Tracy: “It was really good because he was much better with his fastball for strikes. In speeding up his delivery, the quality of his pitches was not affected at all.”

Rookie Steve Schmoll, though, gave up three runs in the eighth.

Still, the game was all but decided by the time Perez departed.

“I like this town, they gave me the opportunity to be who I am,” said Perez, who still owns a home in Atlanta despite being sent to the Dodgers in a trade for Gary Sheffield on Jan. 15, 2002.

Before Wednesday, Perez’s record against the Braves was 1-2, but his earned-run average against his former team was only 2.57.

“It was the first time I really, really, really got hit hard by them,” he said.