Pitching Mish-Mash Spells Dodgers' Doom

The Los Angeles Dodgers fell to the Atlanta Braves 9-5 in 12 innings, evening the series at a game apiece. The Dodgers were cruising along with a 5-2 lead until Chad Billingsley hurt his hamstring running the base-paths. Hong-Chih Kuo was brought in, but without being able to warm up in the bullpen, he gave a large chunk of the lead back after surrendering a two-run homer to Kelly Johnson. LA nursed the lead going into the ninth, and with Jonathan Broxton on the mound, he gave up a single to Garret Anderson that scored Nate McLouth with two out to tie the game. Things were quiet up to the 12th inning, with Scott Elbert coming in to get the final two outs of the frame with two runners on despite being penciled in for the start on Sunday. Yunel Escobar singled to plate Anderson, and Ryan Church stuck the nail in the coffin with a three-run homer. Casey Blake had his own three-run blast, and Russell Martin had three hits and a run scored.

Jason Schmidt was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to pain in his right shoulder. Infielder Tony Abreu was called up to replace him. Abreu hasn't been on the big-league club since the 2007 season.

Mets Gift-Wrap Win for Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 3-2, their second win in a row. The game was tied at 2 apiece after Gary Sheffield hit a single to score Angel Pagan, and it eventually entered extra-innings. In the 11th, the wheels fell off for the Mets when Ryan Church, who singled, missed third-base as he headed home on a Pagan-triple, ending the inning. In the bottom of the inning, after Mark Loretta walked, Pagan and Carlos Beltran miscommunicated on a fly-ball from Xavier Paul and it dropped in. Juan Pierre was intentionally walked, and Orlando Hudson grounded a ball to Jeremy Reed at first. However, Reed threw the ball away as he tried to get Loretta at home. The Mets made a total of five errors. Rafael Furcal had two hits and scored a run, and Hudson singled twice and drove in a run. Pagan finished with four hits for the Mets, and David Wright doubled twice and scored a run.