Braves throw one away to Dodgers

LOS ANGELES - A near-sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium got what it wanted.

The home team won in the bottom of the ninth to widen its lead in the NL wild-card race and Gary Sheffield went 0-for-4 in his return to Los Angeles.

Paul Lo Duca got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home the winning run as the Dodgers beat the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves 4-3 Friday night.

Sheffield, who wore out his welcome in the Dodgers clubhouse after three-plus seasons and got his wish to be traded on Jan. 15, hit three popups and a groundout. The six-time All-Star was lustily booed every time he came to the plate and the catcalls got uglier and more personal every time Sheffield took his spot in right field.

``I didn't anticipate anything,'' Sheffield said with a grin. ``The fans in right field were just letting me have it. They made some gestures, called me a traitor, but that's just the way the fans are.''

Conversely, Sheffield's first game back at Chavez Ravine didn't cause much conversation or consternation in the Dodgers clubhouse before the game.

``I'm sure he's going to know that there's several thousand people at the ballpark,'' manager Jim Tracy predicted. ``And I'm sure they're going to let him know how they feel about the way some situations were handled over the course of the last two years.''

A crowd of 50,341 attended the opener of a three-game series that could be a first-round playoff preview. Atlanta leads the NL East by 17.5 games with an 81-46 record, and the Dodgers hold a 3.5 game edge on San Francisco for the wild card after winning for the 12th time in 15 games.

``It was loud. The fans were really into it, and it seemed like a playoff atmosphere,'' said Lo Duca, whose first-inning homer off Greg Maddux came three pitches after the right-hander brushed him back with a high fastball.

``These are the kind of games we need to win now. This is an important stretch for us, and hopefully we can keep distancing ourselves from the Giants. We play them seven more times, so it's always good to gain more games on them if we can,'' Lo Duca said.

Maddux fell behind 3-0 after just five batters, surrendering Shawn Green's 37th homer and Lo Duca's eighth. The Dodgers didn't score again until Kevin Gryboski's 3-1 pitch grazed Lo Duca on his left elbow pad with one out in the ninth to force in Dave Roberts.

Maddux allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. The Braves have lost each of his last four starts.

``That wasn't a good outing by any means,'' the four-time Cy Young winner said. ``I put us in a hole before the game even started, and we had to play catch-up the whole game.''

The winning rally began when Roberts drew a leadoff walk from Darren Holmes (2-2), stole second and advanced to third when Holmes tried to pick him off and threw the ball past shortstop Rafael Furcal.

Eric Gagne (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth to get the victory.

NOTES: Sheffield was traded for Brian Jordan and Odalis Perez in January. ... Perez allowed three runs and five hits. He was ejected by first base umpire Doug Eddings after the seventh inning for arguing a critical balk that preceded Furcal's game-tying RBI double. ... Sandy Koufax, who is in town to attend former batterymate Johnny Roseboro's funeral on Saturday, attended the game. ... Green's two-run homer was his 37th, and gave him 86 in a span of two seasons. That broke the franchise record Hall of Famer Duke Snider set in Brooklyn with 43 homers in 1955 and 42 in 1956. ... Jordan sat out for the 11th time in 12 games and sixth straight because of a protruding disc in his back. ... The Braves' loss was their sixth in 11 games, putting them a half-game behind the defending World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks in the race for baseball's best record.