For Dodgers, It’s Quiet After Storm, and They Lose to Braves, 7-3

ATLANTA â€”  Just one day after they shook thunder from the sky, the Dodgers settled for the sounds of silence. Yes, there was Pedro Guerrero’s two-run homer in the first inning. But then, after that, there was a lot of what they call Dodger quietude.

It was the Braves, playing under clear skies Saturday, who made all the noise, chasing previously undefeated Orel Hershiser in two innings and then winning, 7-3, before 36,477 at Fulton County Stadium.

The Braves unleashed an admirable arsenal, even getting a pair of RBIs from pitcher Rick Mahler. “I thought the one was gone,� Mahler said of a sacrifice fly that was nowhere near gone. “I guess the wind held it up.�

That was about all that went against the Braves, who have been hovering just above the cellar in the National League West. A team that had only 20 hits and nine runs in its previous four games was suddenly a powerhouse. And against the Dodgers’ most effective pitcher, yet.

For the Dodgers, who had bombed Atlanta, 7-2, the night before in a game delayed three hours by a summer storm, it was all a matter of luck.

“Every dog has its day,� Hershiser said, “not that I’m saying the Braves are dogs.� What Hershiser was really saying was, “It’s the nature of the game for the opposing team to have its day.�

Certainly, it wasn’t Hershiser’s. He went into the game with a 5-0 record. One and two-thirds innings later, his earned-run average jumped from 1.76 to 2.41. The funny thing is, Hershiser said he was throwing well. “When I struck out (Dale) Murphy,� he said, his voice trailing off. Well, he thought he was on his way to something better than his first loss of the year.

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda almost agreed: “In defense of it, there were some balls not hit hard at all.� Still, it wasn’t vintage Hershiser.

“When the balls are in the air, that’s not his style,� Lasorda said. “When he’s on, you see a lot of ground balls.�

Actually, Hershiser was seeing the return fire in many forms. Claudell Washington and Rafael Ramirez greeted him with ground balls through the infield--�seeing-eye grounders,� Hershiser called them. But there also was the matter of some hits to the outfield in the second inning, climaxed by Ramirez’s three-run homer. Yes, that ball was up in the air.

Hershiser then gave way to Bob Castillo, the long-awaited long-relief man who is finally set for the role after spot-starting in Bob Welch’s absence. Castillo went 4 innings, allowing just one run, for one of the few Dodger bright spots. Another was provided by Carlos Diaz, who pitched two innings of scoreless relief.

By then, of course, there was little to save. The Braves, unaccustomed to coming back from 2-0 deficits or any kind at all--they are 7-25 when their opponents score first--locked onto their second-inning lead and never looked back.

Mahler (9-5) tended to agree that every dog does have its day, hardly flattering himself or his own team. “It was lucky for us,� he admitted, “it just wasn’t his day. It was ours.�

Mahler, like most Brave fans, wasn’t expecting much. “When you’re up against a guy like Hershiser, and they have two runs in the first inning,� he said, “you think you’re pretty much in trouble. You don’t expect to score seven.�

Maybe it was as Lasorda said: “They were due to score some runs; he was due (to get hit).� On the other hand, there was an element of luck. “If they hadn’t scored those six runs in the first two innings,� he said, using some logic a sportswriter had once applied to a Dodger victory, “then we’d have won.�

He was kidding.

The Dodgers, who drifted back to the .500 level, had a nice start on the day, as Guerrero hit his second home run in as many games. Guerrero has eight home runs; however, half of them have been since he has returned to center field from third base seven games ago. Since the shift, he has hit in six of the seven games (10 for 28, .357, 9 RBIs), apparently justifying his preference for outfield work.

“It’s ironic,� Lasorda said, somewhat stubbornly, “that it happens as we put him out there.� He was being serious now.

But Guerrero’s new outfield offense wasn’t enough, the Braves coming back with two runs of their own in the first, then going ahead with that four-run second inning. Between Guerrero’s home run in the first and his sacrifice fly in the eighth to score Ken Landreaux, the Dodgers managed just three hits, and one of those was of the infield variety.

Dodger Notes Among the 20,000 or so fans who left the stadium during Friday night’s rain delay was Brave owner Ted Turner. . . . Atlanta wonder boy Dale Murphy declined interview requests before the game but then relented, graciously, afterward. He can’t understand why anybody wants to talk to him when he’s going so bad; he’s had just 7 RBIs in 35 days. Of course, he’s still hitting .314 with a league-high 13 home runs. . . . Today’s pitching matchup: Fernando Valenzuela (5-6) against Atlanta’s Steve Shields (0-0).