LOS ANGELES - Eric Gagne returned Saturday night and gave up homers to Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, his first two batters since coming off the disabled list, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1.
Andruw Jones homered twice and drove in three runs, Raul Mondesi also homered and Adam Bernero (3-0) allowed a run and four hits in three innings for the victory after Braves starter Mike Hampton left the game with tightness in his left forearm.
Hampton, off to a 4-1 start and coming off a two-hit shutout against Houston last Sunday, threw 40 pitches in 2 1-3 innings. The two-time All-Star, in his third season with the Braves, has a 1.96 ERA this season and is 15-2 in 22 starts since last July 4.
Aside from J.D. Drew's RBI single in the sixth, the only thing the Dodger Stadium crowd of 49,112 had to cheer about was the season debut of Gagne, who missed the first 35 games because of a sprained right elbow. But those cheers quickly died down when Chipper Jones drove a 3-1 pitch over the center field fence and Andruw Jones hit an 0-2 delivery to left-center field for his eighth homer.
Mondesi, who began his career with the Dodgers and was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1994, hit a two-out homer to left field in the fifth against Odalis Perez (4-4). The left-hander lost his third straight start, allowing three runs, five hits and no walks in six innings while striking out six.
Mondesi also made a perfect throw on the fly to third baseman Chipper Jones in the fourth, retiring Milton Bradley for the third out as Bradley tried to advance two bases on a single by Olmedo Saenz.
Andruw Jones made it 3-0 in the sixth with his seventh homer, a two-out drive that hooked around the left field pole and made Jones only the 14th player to hit a fair ball into Dodger Stadium's loge deck in the ballpark's 44-year history.
The Dodgers got a run back in the bottom half on a double by Jason Repko and a single by Drew only his fourth hit in 28 at-bats this season with runners in scoring position.
Drew was selected as the Braves MVP by his teammates last year after hitting .305 with 31 homers and 93 RBIs in his only season with Atlanta. But they couldn't afford to keep him because of payroll constraints, and he signed a five-year, $55 million contract with the Dodgers.
Atlanta opened the scoring in the first when Marcus Giles singled, advanced on a single by Chipper Jones, stole third and scored on Andruw Jones' sacrifice fly.
The Dodgers threatened in the bottom half. But Bradley, who homered from both sides of the plate Friday night and hit a go-ahead grand slam, struck out with two men on base. Hampton, who surrendered 25 first-inning runs in his 29 starts last season, has allowed only one in eight starts this season.
Notes: Braves manager Bobby Cox didn't arrive in the dugout until just after Hampton's departure. Cox was in Northern California attending a family funeral. ... Gagne struck out his last three batters after giving up the two homers and a single by Julio Franco. ... RHP John Smoltz, the only player left from the 1991 team that began Atlanta's record streak of 13 division titles, turns 38 years old on Sunday. ... Cox's managerial record against the Dodgers is 126-105, including a three-game sweep in the 1996 NL division series. The three-time NL manager of the year turns 64 next Saturday. ... Saturday was a special anniversary for Dodgers pitching coach Jim Colborn, who threw the only no-hitter of his big league career on May 14, 1977, for the Kansas City Royals against the Texas Rangers.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Friday
May 2nd, 2025
11:01PM
