Dodgers outslug the Braves

By CARROLL ROGERS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The day the Braves traded for Adam LaRoche to add a little more pop to their lineup, they never looked like they needed it more.

Waiting for LaRoche to arrive and playing short-handed because of injuries to Martin Prado and Yunel Escobar, the Braves were shut down by Jason Schmidt in a 5-0 loss to the Dodgers on Friday night.

Schmidt, 36, was making his third start after nearly a two-year absence following shoulder surgery. He threw no harder than 88 mph but held the Braves to one hit — a Chipper Jones single — in six scoreless innings.

“The story for him was his control,” said Kelly Johnson, who started in place of Prado. “He wasn’t overpowering obviously. He’s coming back from missing a whole year, [but] he was spotting it up.”

The Dodgers, meanwhile, showed pop in the usual places when Andre Ethier cranked a three-run homer in the fifth inning, his 21st home run of the season.

That one swing spoiled the night for Tommy Hanson, who has lost back-to-back starts after opening his major league career 5-0. The Braves have lost four of Hanson’s past five starts and failed to score in his past two, including a 4-0 loss in Milwaukee on Saturday.

“I thought I made some good pitches,” said Hanson, who is still trying to regain weight from a recent illness. “It really just kind of stings. That one.”

The Braves have lost five of their past eight games to take away some of the momentum from their recent surge in the standings. They have hit 30 points higher in July (.291) than their season average (.265), but they didn’t exactly send that streaking lineup to the plate Friday night.

The Braves were going without Prado (ankle) and Escobar (wrist), who were injured Thursday in Florida. And they had Barbaro Canizares at first base, after trading Casey Kotchman and awaiting the arrival of LaRoche on Saturday.

The Braves managed three hits to the Dodgers’ 12. They drew five walks off Schmidt, and Jones was hit by a pitch, but they couldn’t make Schmidt pay. They didn’t have their second and third hits until reliever Ramon Troncosso replaced Schmidt to start the seventh inning.

The Braves loaded the bases in the seventh, but newly acquired Dodger reliever George Sherrill struck out the side, including Brian McCann with the bases loaded.

The Braves’ offense has dried up during Hanson’s past two trips to the mound, failing to score in his past 13 innings. In his previous start, the Braves were shutout by the Brewers’ Yovani Gallardo for 7-1/3 innings.

Before Ethier’s homer, Hanson had allowed only three base runners in the first four innings, but Ethier made him pay for a leadoff single to Russell Martin, a two-out single to Rafael Furcal and an inviting slider away.

“I threw it where I wanted to throw it, but maybe I should have thrown something else,” Hanson said.