Dreifort Finds Some Signs of Life in Arm

Pitcher Darren Dreifort wasn’t the best candidate to boost the Dodgers’ sagging spirits.

The right-hander has struggled recently during his first season as a starter, dropping his last three decisions entering Sunday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves. And the stressed Dodgers acknowledged they desperately needed a victory Sunday night, hoping to prevent a three-game sweep by the Braves.

Dreifort delivered in the high-pressure role, giving up only one hit in seven scoreless innings during a 1-0 victory over Atlanta in front of 44,471 at Dodger Stadium.

Eric Young provided the scoring in the eighth with a solo home run against Atlanta starter Denny Neagle, giving Scott Radinsky (5-5) the victory after he pitched a scoreless eighth. Closer Jeff Shaw worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 36th save overall and 13th as a Dodger.

Dreifort didn’t get the victory--but the Dodgers said he made it happen.

“We got a tremendous, tremendous performance by Darren Dreifort,� third baseman Bobby Bonilla said. “If we had lost today, that pretty much could have been a crushing blow for us.

“Things obviously haven’t been going well, we’re not scoring a lot, so we needed him to just go out there and keep us in the game. All he did was pitch his butt off.

“That shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle, because we really needed exactly what he did.�

The victory ended the Dodgers’ eight-game losing streak against the National League East-leading Braves over two seasons, including a 5-0 streak this season. The Dodgers moved back to .500 at 62-62, finishing 4-5 on their tumultuous nine-game homestand.

They gained some ground in the NL wild-card race and now trail the front-running Cubs by six games.

Dreifort, Radinsky and Shaw combined on the Dodgers’ seventh shutout of the season.

Radinsky gave up a double in the eighth against Andres Galarraga, giving the Dodgers their sixth two-hitter.

Leadoff batter Young homered--his fourth homer--to left-center on a 1-and-1 count against Neagle (11-11), who pitched a complete game and lost his second consecutive start.

“That was a pitchers’ game, and Dreifort matched Neagle pitch for pitch,� Manager Glenn Hoffman said. “I thought the stuff he was throwing up there [to the plate] was great. The combination of that [sinker] with that fastball was just nasty.�

Javy Lopez’s single to center in the second was Atlanta’s only hit against Dreifort. He struck out nine and overcame six walks while throwing 118 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Roger Cedeno pinch-hit for Dreifort in the seventh with two on and one out and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

“That’s about as well a pitched game as we’ve had,� first baseman Eric Karros said. “We’ve had a lot of well-pitched games, but none as well against a team of that caliber. Tonight was all Dreifort.�

That hasn’t been the case lately.

Dreifort had been hit hard in his last four starts. He gave up 11 hits and five runs in an 8-6 loss to the Florida Marlins last Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, stirring discussion of a “dead arm.�

Dreifort has pitched 164 1/3 innings in his first season in the rotation after pitching only 63 in relief last season, but he said he wasn’t concerned about the speculation his pitching arm was worn out.

“Maybe it bothered some people, but it didn’t bother me,� he said. “I feel fine.�

Dreifort set the tone in the second inning, inadvertently hitting Atlanta slugger Galarraga with a pitch while trying to establish the inside corner of the plate.

Galarraga, who tied a franchise record by being hit by 20 pitches this season, exchanged words with Dreifort as he walked up the first-base line because he believed Dreifort was throwing at him. Galarraga hit three-run, opposite-field homers in the first two games of the series.

“No way was Dreifort trying to hit him,� Shaw said. “He was just trying to establish the inside part of the plate. But you see that [Galarraga] wasn’t so anxious to lunge at those outside pitches after that. That established things right away.�

And Dreifort didn’t let up.