| Joe Gutierrez. 6th April, 2006 - 4:38 am
 A day after defeating All Star John Smoltz, the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their hot offense by scoring four runs early in the first inning before being unable to maintain the lead. Starter Odalis Perez took the mound and was solid for the first two innings; however the third inning came as a complete shock to the southpaw when he allowed the Brave offense to score five runs. That inning would prove to be the difference maker Wednesday night as the Dodgers were beaten at home 9-8, dropping the series to the Atlanta Braves.
The Dodgers came out hungry in the first inning when SS Rafael Furcal and LF Jose Cruz Jr. reached base, setting up RF J.D. Drew. Drew would then single in Furcal, who continued his great hitting to start the season. 1B Olmedo Saenz then hit a sacrifice fly scoring scoring Cruz Jr., and then setting up C Sandy Alomar Jr. to double, bringing in 2B Jeff Kent.
Braves would go quietly in the top of the second, but LA would add one run to their total in the same inning by a Cruz Jr. sac fly scoring Furcal. The dreaded third inning arrived for Perez when SP Horacio Ramirez and 2B Marcus Giles got aboard, which would then bring up SS Edgar Renteria. Renteria smacked the ball to the gap, doubling to bring Ramirez in. LF Matt Diaz would hit a sac fly, with Giles tagging up and scoring.
The third inning would continue to drag on as CF Andrew Jones made sure Renteria wouldn?t stay on third base when he singled him in. The Dodger lead was now cut 3-5. With Jones on first base, SS Wilson Betemit had the count in his favor and homered to left field, tying the game at five apiece.
The Atlanta offense struck again in the fourth inning but scored three runs effortlessly, with only a single by Renteria. RP Lance Carter would walk in a run, and then allow a sac fly to RF Jeff Francoeur, giving the Braves an 8-5 lead.
The Dodgers would battle back to eventually tie the game at eight, but Grady Little would leave RP Franquelis Osoria into the game too long. Why Little did not pull Osoria is questionable as he did come to the mound to try and settle him down, but it wouldn?t work. Osoria then gave up a ground rule double to LF Ryan Langerhans. This would be all the Braves needed as they defeated the Dodgers 9-8.
Final Score: Dodgers 8, Braves 9
Coming Up
Dodgers travel to Philadelphia as Brett Tomko makes his debut against the Phils? Gavin Floyd
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