Jones' RBI single in 9th helps Braves beat Dodgers

[April 27, 2012]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Chipper Jones singled home the go-ahead run in his final regular season at-bat at Dodger Stadium after Dan Uggla tied it with his second RBI single earlier in the ninth inning, and the Atlanta Braves defeated Los Angeles 4-2 Wednesday night.

Dodgers closer Javy Guerra (1-3) lost for the third time in his last five apprarances after giving up five consecutive one-out hits in the ninth. The second one was a liner that ricocheted off his face, but manager Don Mattingly kept the right-hander in there and he surrendered RBI singles to Uggla, Jones and Jason Heyward.

Jonny Venters (2-0) struck out the side in the 8th inning and Craig Kimbrell got the last three outs for his seventh save.

Dodgers left-hander Ted Lilly outdueled Brandon Beachy through seven innings in a matchup of pitchers who came in with sub-1.00 ERAs and Matt Kemp tied a Dodgers franchise record for April with his 10th home run.

Lilly threw just 79 pitches, allowing a run and three hits. The two-time All-Star, who spent the first two weeks of the season on the disabled list because of a neck strain, was trying to win his first three starts of a season for the first time in his 15-year career. He lowered his ERA to 0.90.

Beachy allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings, raising his ERA from 0.47 to 1.05. The 25-year-old right-hander returned to the site of his first major league victory on April 19, 2011, when he yielded just two hits over six scoreless innings in a 10-1 win.

The score was tied 1-all in the sixth when a brief but steady rain began to fall as Kemp got into the batter's box to lead off the inning. He then drove a 2-2 pitch from Beachy deep into the left-field pavilion, matching the 10 homers Gary Sheffield hit for the Dodgers in April 2000 with four games to spare. It was the first homer allowed by Beachy in four starts this year.

The Dodgers threatened for more that inning, but Jones, one day past his 40th birthday, robbed A.J. Ellis of a potential RBI single with a diving stop in the hole at third base and threw him out with runners at first and second to end the sixth. Jones, who announced last month that he is retiring at season's end, was 1 for 4 in his final game at Dodger Stadium after homering the night before in the Braves' 4-3 win.

Freddie Freeman doubled with one out in the fourth, advanced on a groundout and scored the game's first run on Uggla's single. Tony Gwynn Jr. led off the Dodgers' fifth with a single and scored the tying run on a broken-bat groundout by Dee Gordon.

NOTES: When White Sox 1B Paul Konerko hit his 400th career home run on Wednesday, he became the third player who began his career with the Dodgers and reached that milestone with another club. The others were Duke Snider (Mets) and Mike Piazza (Padres). ... Tuesday marked the 36th anniversary of the day that Rick Monday of the Chicago Cubs swiped an American flag away from two protesters who were about to set it on fire in the outfield at Dodger Stadium during a game. Monday spent the next eight seasons playing for the Dodgers, and is now in his 19th year as a broadcaster with the team. ... Jones played 60 games at Chavez Ravine during the regular season, hitting. 241 with 13 homers and 35 RBIs. In two postseason games in 1996, he was 0 for 6 with three strikeouts. ... Lilly, who allowed an average of 27 home runs over the previous nine seasons, has not given up one to any of the last 245 batters he's faced during a span of 62 1-3 innings. The last one hit off him was by Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 26, 2011 at Dodger Stadium. The last 11 homers he's given up have been solo shots.

[Associated Press]

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