LaRoche gives Braves boost in return

By CARROLL ROGERS

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Braves found some offense in an old familiar place Saturday afternoon — with the return of first baseman Adam LaRoche — and in an unfamiliar place, too.

Diory Hernandez and Greg Norton drove in the game-tying and go-ahead runs on back-to-back two-out pitches in the sixth inning to beat the Dodgers 4-3.

Those swings brought to life an otherwise dormant part of the Braves roster. Hernandez had been hitting .145 in backup shortstop duty entering the game, and Norton was hitting only .135 off the bench.

“Mike Lum, the old Brave, said it’s not your average, it’s how many big hits you’re able to get for the team,” said Norton, who got to know Lum when he was a hitting coach in the White Sox organization. “I’m glad I was able to help today for the first time all year. It has been frustrating. I’m not going to lie about that.”

Norton, who led the majors with 18 pinch-hit RBIs last season, drove in his first game-winning run of the year with his fifth pinch-hit RBI.

He has pinch-hit singles in the past two games to make him 4-for-11 (.364) since the All-Star break.

Norton, who returned from an ankle injury right before the All-Star break, sensed a change with the team and wanted to be a part of it. When the Braves were in Florida this week, he said hitting coach Terry Pendleton told him to keep working like he was and things would turn.

“There’s a different atmosphere with this team this year,” he said. “The pitching has been there all year, and since I’ve come back off the DL, the offense has been there. You just want to pull your own weight. When you come in the clubhouse and you feel like you haven’t done anything all year, it’s frustrating.”

He and his teammates got to enjoy Saturday night after drawing even with the Dodgers 1-1 with a come-from-behind win in front of a sellout crowd at Turner Field. They gave themselves a chance to win the series in tonight’s finale.

The Braves were still playing short-handed — without Yunel Escobar because of his wrist and Brian McCann because he got the day off — but they found some opportunities in the sixth.

LaRoche, who was 2-for-3 in his first game since the Braves re-acquired him Friday, started the action with a one-out hit. He took second on an errant pickoff attempt by catcher Russell Martin.

Hernandez followed with a single to score LaRoche, who might have been out at the plate if Martin had caught the ball cleanly. Hernandez took second on the throw, so instead of sending pitcher Derek Lowe up to hit, manager Bobby Cox sent Norton to the plate, with the go-ahead run in scoring position.

Norton put the Braves ahead 4-3 with a single to left on a first-pitch curveball from Randy Wolf.

Those swings made a winner out of Lowe, who is now 11-7 after winning a season-high four in a row. Lowe limited his former team to three runs in six innings, good for his fifth consecutive quality start.

“I got the win but good timing,” Lowe said. “We were able to take advantage of a couple mistakes there. ... Doesn’t matter, luck or unluck, we needed the win, and we were able to beat a very good team and a very good pitcher.”

Peter Moylan, Eric O’Flaherty, Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano combined to throw three scoreless innings in relief.

Nate McLouth made a great sliding catch and throw from his backside to complete a double play to get the Braves out of the seventh inning.