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Sunday, 05/15/05
Braves tarnish Gagne's return
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Eric Gagne returned last night and gave up homers to Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, his first two batters since coming off the disabled list, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1.
Andruw Jones homered twice and drove in three runs, Raul Mondesi also homered and Adam Bernero (3-0) allowed a run and four hits in three innings for the victory after Braves starter Mike Hampton left the game with tightness in his left forearm.
Hampton threw 40 pitches in 21/3 innings. The two-time All-Star has a 1.96 ERA this season and is 15-2 in 22 starts since last July 4.
Aside from J.D. Drew's RBI single in the sixth, the only thing the Dodger Stadium crowd of 49,112 had to cheer about was the season debut of Gagne, who missed the first 35 games because of a sprained left elbow. But those cheers quickly died down when Chipper Jones drove a 3-1 pitch over the center field fence and Andruw Jones hit an 0-2 delivery to left-center field for his eighth homer.
Mondesi, who began his career with the Dodgers and was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1994, hit a two-out homer to left field in the fifth against Odalis Perez (4-4). The left-hander lost his third consecutive start, allowing three runs, five hits and no walks in six innings while striking out six.
Mondesi also made a perfect throw on the fly to third baseman Chipper Jones in the fourth, retiring Milton Bradley for the third out as Bradley tried to advance two bases on a single by Olmedo Saenz.
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