‘55 Boys of Summer take 2 of 3 from ‘95 Braves

9/2 - Fulton County Stadium
GAME 1 - '55-Dodgers 13, '95-Braves 8
In this battle of crafty lefties both Tom Glavine (5 IP/4R) and Johnny Podres (5IP/4R) proved that they need to hone their craft a little more.  Balls were flying all over the "launching pad".  Shockingly only 3 HR's were hit.  Brooklyn looked to have had the game put away when Don Bessent, in relief of Podres, imploded and gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to allow Atlanta to tie it.  With a runner on 1st pinch hitter Dwight Smith tripled with 2 out to cut Brooklyn's lead to 2.  A walk to Marquis Grissom and consecutive singles by Mike Devereaux and Chipper Jones tied the game up.  Heading into the top of the 9th tied the Braves were forced to once again rely on their unreliable pen and Brad Clontz came up small again.  Brooklyn's potent offense unleashed a 5 run barrage on Atlanta's embattled reliever.  "The Quiet Man", Gil Hodges led off with a double and was bunted over to 3rd by Jackie Robinson.   Sandy Amoros, pinch hitting for Don Zimmer singled home Hodges to make it 9-9.  Amoros stole second as reliever Clem Labine struck out for the second out of the inning.  Clontz then hit Pee Wee Reese in the ribs to put runners on 1st and second.  Junior Gilliam executed the perfect hit and run to score Amoros and make it 10-8.  "Skoonj", Carl Furilo put the nail in the coffin with a 3 run bomb to make it 13-5.

9/3-9/4 - Ebbets Field
GAME 2 - Braves 4, Dodgers 1
John Smoltz threw shutout ball over 6 innings and the beleaguered Atlanta pen was able to hold the vaunted Dodger offense to just 1 run over the final 3 innings.  Billy Loes was almost as good as Smoltz giving up just 2 runs in 6+ innings of work.  Clem Labine gave up 2 in the 9th to provide the Braves with 2 important insurance runs.  Javy Lopez was the hitting star for Atlanta going 2 for 4 for a homer.  Both Ryan Klesko and Marquis Grissom also posted 2 for 4 days.  Brooklyn had runners on 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out in the 8th, but Pedro Borbon Jr. managed to limit the damage to just 1 run to preserve the lead.

GAME 3 - Dodgers 9, Braves 3
Don Newcombe finally pitched an old fashioned quality game  vs a good offense.  Big Newk went the distance and gave up 3 and fanned 8.  Steve Avery, did not fare as well for the Braves.  Avery gave up 5 runs (2 earned) in 6 innings and was victimized by his team's poor defense (2 costly errors).  Brad Clontz threw the final 2 innings, and was purely kerosene on the fire as Brooklyn lit him up for 4 runs to put a close game out of reach.  Brooklyn scored 3  runs in both the 3rd and 8th innings.  Roy Campanella hit his 5th homer of the season and Carl Furillo hit his 4th homer, while going 3 for 4.  Both Campy and Duke Snider each had 3 RBI days and Pee Wee Reese had a 3 hit day.  Gil Hodges went 2 for 4 to increase his BA to .424. Junior Gilliam (.206) is the only Dodger regular under .250.