Hot-Lanta! 15 Straight For Braves

Just when it appeared the Atlanta Braves' winning streak was going to end, they found another way to survive.

"You've got to have the breaks, and we've had more than our share," manager Bobby Cox admitted after the Braves became the first National League team in 49 years to win 15 straight games, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 Tuesday night.

"A lot of things are going right," said ace pitcher Tom Glavine, who grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. "We've won extra-inning games, close games, every different way."

The Braves trailed 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh when the Dodgers loaded the bases with no outs and their best hitter coming to the plate.

Then in the eighth, with the aid of Terry Adams' wildness, the Braves scored three times, with Andruw Jones hitting a two-run single to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs.

The Braves, who set a franchise record for consecutive wins a night earlier, are the first NL team with a 15-game winning streak since the New York Giants took 16 straight from Aug. 12-27, 1951, as they overcame the Brooklyn Dodgers to win the NL pennant.

Minnesota was the last major league tam to win 15 straight, accomplishing the feat from June 1-16, 1991, en route to a World Series title.

John Rocker pitched the ninth for his seventh save in seven chances. Unlike Monday night, when a fan ran on the field and mooned him, spectators remained calm.

Fans booed when he entered the game, and nearly two dozen security men went on the field and the Braves' dugout. With two outs and two on, Rocker retired Gary Sheffield on a fly to center, then walked off the field as security again went on the field and the dugout.

As has been the case recently, Rocker refused comment afterward.

Back-to-back doubles by Adrian Beltre and Todd Hundley with one out in the sixth had given the Dodgers a 3-2 lead, and it appeared they would extend their advantage in the seventh.

However, Chen got Sheffield to ground into a double play and struck out Dave Hansen.

Wally Joyner and Bobby Bonilla walked opening the Atlanta eighth against Adams (2-2). Pinch-runners Brian Jordan and Walt Weiss moved up on a wild pitch before Jones lined a 2-2 pitch to center, putting the Braves ahead 4-3.

"I swing at a bad pitch that he threw in the dirt," Jones said. "After I got two strikes, I calmed down. He hung a slider; he made a mistake pitch over the plate and I got a hit."

After Javy Lopez singled, Mike Fetters relieved Adams and retired the next two batters before first baseman Dave Hansen misplayed a pickoff attempt for an error that allowed Lopez to score from third.

"It's a good streak they're on, but basically, we gave them the game tonight," Hundley said. "They've got all the breaks going for them, and they're playing good baseball in key situations."

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead off Terry Mulholland in the second on Kevin Elster's infield out. The Braves tied it off Chan Ho Park in the fourth on a two-out, RBI double by Lopez.

Park appeared to hit his first big-league hom leading off the fifth, but first-base umpire Larry Young ruled a fan leaned over the box seat railing in the right-field corner and caught the ball, making it a ground-rule double. Dodgers manager Davey Johnson argued to no avail.

The call became moot when Shawn Green hit a one-out single to drive in Park, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead, but Joyner's homer in the sixth tied the game again.

The Dodgers reached Mulholland, who won his three previous starts, for 10 hits in six innings, but managed only three runs.

Park allowed two runs and three hits in 6 2-3 innings while walking seven, equaling a career high, and striking out six.

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