LA sweeps ATL in 2 game set @ Dodger Stadium

GAME 1 (LA 9, ATL 0): George Stone and Claude Osteen hooked up in a fantastic pitcher's duel for 8 innings. Then the wheels came off the cart. LA found their bats and reliever Cecil Upshaw was all too willing to show them the way. The Dodgers batted around and scored 8 unanswered runs to blow out the Braves. The final score is not indicative of how close this game was or even how classic the pitcher's duel was for 7+ innings. Stone was a victim of shoddy fielding, poor relief, and lack of clutch hitting. Osteen, who left the game with 2 outs in the 8th was simply brilliant scattering 7 hits in 7.2 innings of work. Ralph Garr and Earl Williams made key errors to sink the Brave cause. Willie Davis went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .357.

GAME 2 (LA 7, ATL 4): Don Sutton upped his record to 5-0, but he did not have his best stuff and he had to rely on his offense, which is normally not the best course of action when pitching for the Dodgers. Atlanta posted 4 runs in the 4th inning. The big blow was a bases clearing triple by Brave second baseman Felix Millan. LA cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the frame with 3 singles and a costly error by Brave center fielder Sonny Jackson, who is obviously not in the lineup for his offensive prowess. Atlanta nursed their 2 run lead until the bottom of the 6th when the wheels fell off Ron Reed's cart. LA scored 4 runs, and chased Reed from the hill. 5 consecutive Dodgers reached base either by hit or walk. With the bases loaded Jim Lefebvre singled home two runs to cap off his 3 for 4 day at the plate. LA tacked on an insurance run in the 8th and Atlanta went down without a fight in the 9th as Jim Brewer came on to notch his 7th save of the season.
--series played online h2h between Marc Weiss (LA) and Jack Crownover (ATL)--