Braves 6, Dodgers 1

Nothing went right for the boys, who just seemed flat from the start — well, maybe not from the start, but after they blew a bases-loaded, one out situation in the first inning. Jeff Bennett shut them out for 4 2/3 innings, and four Braves relievers limited them to three hits the rest of the way. Dodgers went 1 for 8 w/RISP. Jeff Kent was a busy man, with six assists and two putouts, but it was the one assist he couldn’t make in the second inning — Mark Teixeira led off with a one-hopper that scooted past Kent for an error — that opened the door for two unearned runs in the inning. Not that Derek Lowe was an innocent victim. He clearly got frustrated in the fifth inning and tried to overthrow. The result was that he walked the first two batters in the inning. Chipper Jones then did what Chipper Jones always seems to do these days, shooting Lowe’s first pitch into the left-centerfield stands, giving the Braves a 5-0 lead. Jones would later homer again, giving him four in two days, and his league-leading average now stands at .455. … Tom Glavine went on the DL for the first time in his 22-year career tonight, so he will NOT oppose Chad Billingsley this afternoon as scheduled. Instead, it will be Chuck James, whose name for some reason has always sounded to me like it would be better suited to a jazz musician than a big-league pitcher. Can’t you just hear it? “You’re listening to the smooooooth sounds of Chuck James.” … Furcal and Andruw were both OK after their centerfield collision, and D-Lowe was fine after being hit in the right foot by that comebacker. Dodgers, however, are NOT fine. They fall to 7-9 and five back of the Snakes in the NL West. They also fall into fourth place because the Rockies, who apparently weren’t all that tired after taking 22 innings to win last night, managed to cruise to a win at Houston. … Hasta manana