Dodgers Knock Out Braves, 7-3

Does Deion Sanders know they play 162 of these?

The Dodgers survived the Atlanta Braves on Saturday night with a four-run eighth inning that led to a 7-3 victory before 47,890 at Dodger Stadium.

More important, though, the Dodgers survived Sanders, the NFL cornerback and center fielder who crashed into bodies as if it were December in Denver.

For today’s game, the Dodgers will present a lineup card and a body count.

In the third inning, Sanders ran over first baseman Kal Daniels after beating out an infield single. Daniels, stunned and shaken, lived to tell about it.

“I think Deion thought he was in a mini-camp,� Daniels said.

After leading off the sixth inning with his sixth triple of the season, Sanders tried to score on a shallow fly to center fielder Brett Butler, who threw a strike to catcher Mike Scioscia.

Scioscia, an offensive guard in high school, stood his ground and took everything Sanders could muster, which was plenty.

“It’s the first time I faced a football player in a while,� Scioscia said. “Deion came in like a truck. There’s nothing wrong with that.�

Sanders was out on a great block and tag by the Dodger catcher.

Maybe Sanders should have worn his Atlanta Falcons’ helmet.

“He made a great play to hold onto the ball,� Sanders said of Scioscia. “I have a lot of respect for the man. I hit him well enough to where I thought the ball would come out. He’s the best in the business at blocking the plate.�

It was that kind of bruising night for the Dodgers, who are hurting enough without Eric Davis.

Say this about the Dodgers: when they got knocked down, they got back up.

Orel Hershiser was cruising along with a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning when the Braves knocked him from the game and scored two runs to tie.

But just as quickly, the Dodgers put the game away.

The four-run eighth inning was ignited by pinch-hitters Mike Sharperson and Todd Benzinger.

Sharperson singled to right to open the inning. Benzinger singled to left. Then, after Darryl Strawberry’s ground out moved the runners to second and third, Stan Javier was walked intentionally to load the bases, setting the stage for Juan Samuel.

After the Braves changed pitchers replacing Mike Stanton with Marvin Freeman, Samuel laced a two-run single inside the first-base bag to make it 5-3.

The Dodgers scored two more times when Javier came home from third base on Scioscia’s groundout and Samuel scored on Jose Offerman’s single.

Roger McDowell, who entered the game in the eighth, pitched a perfect ninth inning to get the win and improve his record to 2-2.

Hershiser pitched a strong game into the eighth inning but was removed after giving up a leadoff double to Greg Olson and a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Jerry Willard that cut the lead to 3-2.

Steve Wilson, who replaced Hershiser, struck out Sanders and was replaced by McDowell who, with one out, walked Terry Pendleton on a 3-and-2 pitch to load the bases.

Ron Gant then singled to center, scoring pinch-runner Jeff Blauser to tie the game, 3-3, but the combination of Butler to Scioscia proved too much again. In a replay of the play on Sanders, Butler threw another strike to Scioscia, who blocked the plate and tagged Mark Lemke out to end the inning.

Hershiser pitched 7 1/3 innings, gave up three earned runs and seven hits. He struck out five.

It marked the second time Hershiser has pitched into the eighth inning this season, an encouraging sign for a pitcher coming off major arm surgery.

Hershiser also had another productive night at the plate, hitting a scoring fly ball in the fourth inning.

It helped soften the blow of the third inning, when opposing pitcher John Smoltz tagged Hershiser for a solo home run.