Atlanta: Drew Butera hit a two-run homer, his first in almost three months, Roberto Hernandez threw six strong innings to earn his first win with Los Angeles and the Dodgers beat the slumping Atlanta Braves 6-4 on Thursday.
Hernandez (7-8), making his second start since his trade from the Phillies on Aug. 7, allowed one run on three hits and four walks in six innings.
Butera’s second-inning homer off Aaron Harang (9-7) was only his third of the season and his first since May 16. Adrian Gonzalez drove in three runs with three hits and Dee Gordon scored four runs for the NL West-leading Dodgers, who won three of four in the series.
The Braves, who began the day five games behind first-place Washington in the NL East, have lost 12 of 14.
Kenley Jansen struck out B.J. Upton with runners on second and third to end the game.
The Braves trailed 5-1 before Justin Upton’s two-run double off Brian Wilson in the eighth. Andrelton Simmons’ single off Jansen drove in Upton, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to one run.
Jansen struck out pinch-hitter Evan Gattis to end the eighth but ran into trouble in the ninth. After giving up a one-out walk to Jason Heyward, Jansen struck out Emilio Bonifacio. Freddie Freeman doubled, moving Heyward to third. Jansen wrapped up his 34th save on Upton’s swinging strikeout.
Gonzalez doubled in Gordon in the ninth. Yasiel Puig, who had three hits, was thrown out by shortstop Andrelton Simmons’ relay throw to the plate.
While the Braves’ parade of leadoff hitters continued with Heyward given his second straight day atop the line-up, Gordon showed how it is done. Gordon reached on three hits and a walk, scored four runs and stole two bases, increasing his total to 53, the most in the major leagues.
The Dodgers’ first three hitters combined for nine hits.
Harang had his worst start in two months, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in 4 1-3 innings. Harang hadn’t allowed as many runs since he was charged with nine runs, eight earned, in a 10-5 loss to Philadelphia on June 18.
Puig made a leaping catch of Freeman’s drive at the 400-foot mark, falling with his back against the centrefield wall in the sixth.
