‘95 Braves take 3 of 4 from ‘65 Dodgers

9/6-9/7 - Dodger Stadium
GAME 1 - '95-Braves 4, '65-Dodgers 0
Kent Mercker blanked the Dodgers for 5 2/3 innings before a cavalcade of relievers came on to batten down the shutout.  LA's .221 team batting average is indicative of the fact that this team flat out can not hit.  Starter Don Drysdale (.313) had the best average of anyone in the starting lineup.  Jim Lefebvre is the only regular hitting over .250.  Drysdale went the distance and gave up 4 runs on 10 hits, which on most days is 4 runs more than he can afford to allow.  Happy news for the Braves came in the form of Chipper Jones hitting his first homer of the season and Fred McGriff his 3rd.

GAME 2 - Braves 1, Dodgers 0
If you like pitching duels this game would have sent shivers up your spine.  Future HOF'er Greg Maddux (3-2, 2.20) vs HOF'er Sandy Koufax (2-2, 2.38) lived up to the hype and then some.  Koufax went the distance, allowed just 2 hits and fanned 11, while allowing a solo run in the 6th.  On most days and with any other team's offense this would have been an easy win for the flame throwing lefty, but alas his opposite number was just a hair better.  Maddux, who obviously doesn't throw as hard as Koufax baffled the inept Dodger offense for a complete game five hit shutout.  Maddux's impeccable control featured 4 k's and no walks.  Atlanta scored the lone run of the game when Marquis Grissom doubled to right center with 1 out in the 6th.  After Belliard grounded out weakly for the second out Chipper Jones tripled to dead center to plate Grissom for the only run scored on the afternoon.

9/8- Fulton County Stadium
GAME 3 - Dodgers 6, Braves 4
Six runs in 1 game for this Dodger team is like a deluge.  I imagine after yesterday Koufax was probably thinking, "6 runs...just give me 2 and I'd be happy".  Future HOF'er Tommy Glavine had the Dodgers shutout after 4 innings, before a huge 4 run outburst in the 5th gave LA a 4-1 lead.  A 2 run double by Maury Wills was followed by a two run singled by veteran Junior Gilliam.  Of course in Dodgerland nothing comes easy as evidenced by the fact that Atlanta scored 2 runs in the bottom of the inning on consecutive RBI singles by Jones and McGriff.  In the 6th the Braves tied it up when Grissom singled home Mark Lemke.  Even ardent Dodger fans figured that after scoring 4 runs in the 5th their team had "shot their load" and it was only going to be a matter of time before Atlanta regained the lead.  Ah, ye of little faith...The Dodgers scratched out solo runs in the 7th and 9th to overcome Claude Osteen's sub par pitching performance to gain a much needed win.  Both runs were scored in similar fashion.  In the 7th Jason Schmidt gave up back to back doubles to Gilliam and Ron Fairly.  In the 9th Pedro Borbon Jr. did the same to Wills and Gilliam.  Howie Reed pitched a scoreless 8th for the Dodgers and Jim Brewer notched his 3rd save with a perfect 9th.  Jim Gilliam's 4 for 5, three RBI day paced the anemic Dodger offense, which had double digit hits (11) for the first time all season.

GAME 4 – Braves 9, Dodgers 1

The nightcap was all Atlanta as John Smoltz threw 6 innings of 3 hit shutout ball before giving way to the pen.  Johnny Podres was hanging with Smoltz until the 7th when he gave up 3 runs, which made it 5-0 Braves.  Mike Kekich gave up 4 unearned runs in the 8th to make the game a blowout.  LA scored a solo run in the 9th to avoid the shutout.  Marquis Grissom hit his 3rd homer for Atlanta and Chipper Jones, who is now red hot went 2 for 4 with 5 RBI and 2 runs scored along with hitting his 2nd and 3rd homers of the season.  Chipper is now hitting .333 to lead the team in hitting.