Perez, Dodgers Walk By Glavine

Davey Johnson said he ordinarily wouldn't take out a pitcher with a three-hit shutout in the sixth inning.

He did it Saturday night to give struggling Carlos Perez some confidence, and his bullpen made the move work.

Perez snapped a personal six-game losing streak against Atlanta, and the Los Angeles Dodgers used two bases-loaded walks by Tom Glavine to beat the Braves 2-1. Perez had lost his last three starts.

"He had had trouble against this club and he was pitching too good for him to lose it," Johnson said. "I wasn't going to let that happen. He didn't want to come out."

Perez (2-6) beat the Braves for the first time since Aug. 6, 1995 when he was a rookie in Montreal. Perez allowed three hits and two walks in five-plus innings. He struck out three and hit two batters.

"It was a big game personally for him," Mark Grudzielanek said of Perez. "He needed to build his confidence. It's the best game he's had so far."

"Perez had us off stride, or something," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "We just didn't get to him at all. He did a great job tonight. It was probably the best he's pitched all year."

The left-hander was lifted after he hit Bret Boone and gave up a single to Chipper Jones to open the sixth. Reliever Jamie Arnold got Brian Jordan to hit into a forceout and Javy Lopez to hit into a double play.

The Dodgers lost their shutout bid in the eighth when Jones hit his 13th homer on a 2-1 pitch off Alan Mills, the fourth Dodger pitcher.

Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 12 chances.

The loss snapped Atlanta's four-game winning streak.

Glavine (3-6) was coming off his worst outing of the year, a 2 2-3 inning stint against Milwaukee on Monday when he gave up a career-high nine earned runs and 11 hits in a 10-7 loss.

The Dodgers scored a pair of unearned runs in the fifth.

Grudzielanek singled and Angel Pena was safe when his grounder went through first baseman Bria Hunter's legs for an error. Perez then advanced the runners with a sacrifice and Glavine got a chance to get out of the inning when Devon White flied to shallow right and the runners held.

Glavine then walked Eric Young, Gary Sheffield and Raul Mondesi in succession to force in the two runs.

"I'm not going to throw a pitch down the middle just to avoid walking a run in," Glavine said. "You don't think two runs will beat you, but they did. I'd rather walk a run in than to throw the ball over the plate and give up a grand slam."

"If I pitch like this the majority of the season, I will win some games," Glavine added. "I'm happy with the way I threw the ball."

Glavine gave up five hits and walked four in seven innings.

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