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Brownie fix Dodgers ace tosses six perfect innings to end drought
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Kevin Brown got hit in the fifth inning. He finally gave up a hit in the seventh. Brown, struck on the right index finger as he tried to bunt, lost his bid for a perfect game two innings later on Peter Bergeron's leadoff single. The Los Angeles Dodgers' ace still finished with his first win in six starts, a 5-1 over the Montreal Expos on Wednesday. Brown's finger swelled during the next two innings after Mike Thurman's pitch hit him, and the Los Angeles right-hander left the game after allowing three hits and a run in the seventh, then hitting a batter and giving up a single in the eighth. "It was swollen, but I'm not going to blame my finger," Brown said. He said he was not thinking about pitching a perfect game or the possibility of his second career no-hitter. "You're out there trying to just do your job; you can't get ahead of yourself. You don't get there by thinking about it," he said. "I don't think I was throwing much differently than I was in some other games recently. It depends a lot on where the ball is hit. Look at the first hit off me this time." Bergeron's single was a liner to the left of third baseman Adrian Beltre, who lunged and tipped the ball with his glove. The ball trickled into left field.
Thurman matched Brown for the first 3 1/3 innings, retiring 10 consecutive batters before Mark Grudzielanek doubled. Beltre keyed a three-run fourth inning with a two-run single, and the Dodgers added two more in the fifth. Left fielder Gary Sheffield, who leads the Dodgers in batting average, home runs, RBIs and on-base percentage, began serving the five-game suspension he received in the aftermath of the Dodgers' brawl with Wrigley Field fans on May 16. The Dodgers' weekend series at Chicago will include a doubleheader on Friday, so Sheffield -- who dropped his appeal -- will be eligible to play on Sunday and continue his race with Sammy Sosa for the major league home run lead. Notes: OF Brad Wilkerson, playing for Montreal's Triple-A Ottawa team, was the only member of the Expos' organization selected for the U.S. Olympic team. Shawn Gilbert, who played a few games for Los Angeles and spent most of the season at Triple-A Albuquerque, was the only member of the Dodgers' organization selected. ... Expos RF Vladimir Guerrero sat out his second straight game because of a strained left shoulder. ... The Dodgers signed their first pick in the June draft, 6-foot-7 Arizona right-hander Ben Diggins, and assigned him to Class-A San Bernardino. ... The Dodgers placed SS Kevin Elster on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring and recalled RHP Mike Judd from Triple-A Albuquerque.
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