Atlanta- The Los Angeles Dodgers built a seven run lead in the first two innings and held off a brief rally to defeat the Atlanta Braves 12-5 on Memorial Day at Turner Field, the 15-hit assault was lead by Nomar Garciaparra of the Los Angeles Dodgers who went two-for-five with two runs batted in on the day, and utilityman Ramon Martinez of the Los Angeles Dodgers went three-for-four and drove in five runs.
Pitcher John Thomson of the Atlanta Braves had a rough outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up seven runs, five earned, and seven hits, with three walks but according to Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox pitched good, "He's not going to get any more groundballs than he got," Cox said. "They weren't hit hard enough basically for anyone to make plays on them."After leading the NL with a 1.88 ERA through his first eight games, including six starts,John Thomson of the Atlanta Braves ERA is now 4.06. He has allowed 15 earned runs in his last three starts, he wasnt helped by his defense as throwing errors by Edgar Renteria, Jeff Francoeur, and Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves led to the offensive outburst by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Brad Penny of the Los Angeles Dodgers was given an 8-1 lead but was pulled before qualifying for the win after the Atlanta Braves closed to 8-5. Penny complained about the decision on the mound, in the dugout and after the game, but Los Angeles Dodgers manager Grady Little said pulling Brad Penny of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the key to the game after Penny was battered by six straight hits and four runs in the fifth inning.
"It was the first jam I get in all year and I don't get a chance to get out of it," said Brad Penny of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who voiced his displeasure with Grady Little of the Los Angeles Dodgers on the mound before taking a swing at a water cooler with a bat in the dugout and yelling in anger, I wanted a chance to get that inning out of the way," Penny said, adding, "I'm out there pitching hurt. ... I don't appreciate not getting the chance with a three-run lead to finish the inning."Little said Brad Pennyof the Los Angeles Dodgers is a competitor and didn't fault him for wanting to stay in the game but defended his decision to pull him, Joe Beimel of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a perfect 1 2/3 innings in relief to earn the win and improve to 2-0.
In all there were five Los Angeles Dodgers who had two or more hits including Rafael Furcal of the Los Angeles Dodgers who had spent his first six seasons in the major leagues as a member of the Atlanta Braves.The Los Angeles Dodgers improved theirr ecord to 29-22 and moved within a half game of the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks, and in doing so snapped the four game winning streak of the Atlanta Braves,second baseman Jeff Kent of the Los Angeles Dodgers missed his second consecutive game with a sprained right wrist and is listed as day-to-day.The Los Angeles Dodgers will face the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday May 30th in the seond game of their three-game series in Atlanta as Aaron Sele of the Los Angeles Dodgers will pitch against Jorge Sosa of the Atlanta Braves.
