Dodgers enjoy a ‘70s flashback in victory over Braves
It was ‘70s night at Dodger Stadium, not a bad period for Dodgers fans to recall in light of the club’s three pennants in that decade.
And if the current Dodgers hope to win another National League title, they’ll need to show the same resiliency they displayed Friday night against the Atlanta Braves.
After the Dodgers allowed the Braves to erase a 4-0 deficit and tie the score, 4-4, with a two-run seventh inning, James Loney came back with a run-scoring single in the same inning to lift them past Atlanta, 5-4, ending the Braves’ nine-game winning streak.
It was the Dodgers’ fifth win in their last six games and, combined with San Diego’s loss earlier in the day, lifted the Dodgers to within a half-game of the first-place Padres in the National League West.
“We’re not going to quit, this ballclub has won enough games in recent days to have a good feeling about itself,” Manager Joe Torre said.
He also commended Loney for his clutch hit, saying “the situation never scares him. He looked for a pitch, got it and did something with it.”
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw had another decent, if not dominant, outing. But when he was pulled with two out in the seventh inning and the Dodgers leading, 4-2, he had left two runners on base.
In came reliever Hong-Chih Kuo, who had thrown 13 1/3 scoreless innings up to that point. He promptly gave up a double to Yunel Escobar that scored both runners and tied the score.
The Dodgers rebounded when Andre Ethier hit a ground-rule double and scored on Loney’s single off Braves reliever Eric O’Flaherty. Kuo then retired the side in the eighth inning and Jonathan Broxton pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save. Kuo (1-1) got the win.
The Dodgers got a crucial defensive play in the sixth from catcher Russell Martin, who picked off the Braves’ Melky Cabrera when he strayed too far from second base, all but killing a Braves rally.
Kershaw, who had gone 4-1 with a 1.08 earned-run average in his previous five starts, gave up four runs (three earned) and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out eight but also walked five Braves.
Kershaw said “it was good to win” even though his pitching “wasn’t great, it wasn’t terrible. It was just kind of an average night. I walked too many guys, gave them too many opportunities.”
The Dodgers got to Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami early.
Rafael Furcal walked, took third on Matt Kemp’s single and scored on Ethier’s sacrifice fly in the first inning. After Kemp stole second base and Loney was intentionally walked, Ronnie Belliard hit a ground-rule double that scored Kemp.
In the second inning, Furcal tripled to the gap in right-center field to score Kershaw from first base, and Furcal then tagged and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kemp.
Atlanta got two runs back in the third inning when Martin Prado singled, Omar Infante walked and Escobar lifted a fly ball down the right-field line that landed just fair for a single that scored Prado. Jamie Carroll, playing third base for the injured Casey Blake, then booted a Cabrera grounder that allowed Infante to score.
Before the start of the seventh inning, Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully appeared on the video screen above the left-field pavilion and “with a heavy heart” told the crowd of 42,459 about the death of legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
“Those of us who knew him and knew him well are the ones who are blessed by his life,” Scully said as the crowd rose in a standing ovation.
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