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ATLANTA(AP)
Chad Billingsley
was dominant on the mound but overmatched in the dugout.
Billingsley pitched five scoreless innings,
Matt Kemp
homered and matched a career high with five RBIs and the
Los Angeles Dodgers
beat the
Atlanta Braves
9-1 on Sunday night.
Kemp had three hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth and a two-run single in the eighth as the Dodgers outhit the
Braves 19-5.
Billingsley (11-6) left with a cramp in his right hamstring. He said he wanted to stay in the game and even put on his batting
helmet to hit in the sixth, but manager
Joe Torre
had other ideas.
''I came in and said I want to go out there again,'' Billingsley said, adding Torre ''didn't want to risk it anymore.''
''I didn't win the battle,'' he said.
Billingsley won almost every other matchup. The right-hander gave up only two hits with one walk and nine strikeouts in five
innings.
''He was really good,'' Braves catcher
Brian McCann
said. ''He was throwing everything for strikes, it didn't matter what count it was. He was throwing any pitch he wanted.''
Jair Jurrjens
(9-8) gave up four runs on a season-high 10 hits in five innings for Atlanta.
Billingsley's left knee appeared to buckle as he followed through on a pitch in the fifth inning. ''I always do it,'' he said.
''That's nothing new.''
The bigger concern to Torre was the hamstring. ''I didn't want him to adjust his windup,'' Torre said.
Kemp said he understood Torre's decision.
''That's one of our guys, one of our horses,'' said Kemp of Billingsley.
Billingsley said he wasn't worried about the hamstring affecting his status.
''It was just a cramp,'' he said.
The NL West-leading Dodgers, who matched their season high with 19 hits, won two of three against the Braves to conclude a
3-4 road trip.
''Three and four doesn't sound like a good road trip, but when you lost the first three it's pretty good, especially considering
who we had to beat tonight,'' Torre said.
The Braves have lost four of their last six.
The Dodgers scored four runs on five straight hits off Jurrjens with two outs in the fifth, ending the scoreless tie.
After leaving a combined five runners on base in the third and fourth innings, Jurrjens' luck ran out in the fifth.
With two outs,
Manny Ramirez
and Loney reached on singles. Kemp hit an 0-2 pitch over the 400-foot mark in center field for his 14th homer and a 3-0 lead.
''That was the game. One mistake and it cost us the game,'' Jurrjens said.
Russell Martin
followed Kemp's homer with a double off the left-field wall and scored on
Mark Loretta
's single up the middle.
Loretta started at third base for
Casey Blake
, who hurt his left hand in a workout following Saturday's game. Torre said after the game X-rays on Blake's hand were negative
and he may play Monday against Milwaukee.
Blake's injury left Torre, who is carrying 13 pitchers, with only three position players on his bench. That shortage of bench
players led to the surprising choice of
Jason Schmidt
, the winning pitcher Friday night, as the pinch-hitter for Billingsley in the sixth.
Schmidt, in his second career appearance as a pinch-hitter, singled to center off
Kris Medlen
, moved to second on Ethier's single and scored on Loney's double to right field.
Kemp's two-run single was the big hit as the Dodgers padded the lead with three runs in the eighth off
Boone Logan
.
Orlando Hudson
added a run-scoring double off
Manny Acosta
in the ninth.
Ramirez was 1-for-4 with a walk and two runs. He made a tumbling catch of a sinking liner hit by
Diory Hernandez
in the eighth. A beaming Ramirez, who was booed throughout the series, then tipped his cap to the fans.
Ramirez lifted his cap again when he left the game in a double-switch later in the eighth.
Martin Prado
had two hits, including a run-scoring single to drive in the Braves' only run in the eighth.
NOTES: Schmidt walked in his only previous appearance as a pinch-hitter while with the Braves in 1995. ... RHP
Cory Wade
(strained shoulder) was activated from the Dodgers' 15-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Braves
OF
Ryan Church
(sore elbow) missed his fourth straight game and SS
Yunel Escobar
(bruised right wrist) was held out for the third straight game.
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