BRAVES ERUPT TO WIN IN 12; BROWN'S OUTING A PLUS FOR DODGERS : ATLANTA 11, DODGERS 4.

Byline: Brian Dohn Daily News Staff Writer

With the bullpen depleted, Dodgers ace Kevin Brown gave the kind of effort desperately needed to rest the staff. He pitched eight innings. But a long, extra-inning battle and a complete collapse by the bullpen rendered that incidental Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Gerald Williams' one-out single broke a tie and the Atlanta Braves scored seven times in the 12th inning to beat the Dodgers 11-4. It's the third straight series the Dodgers have lost.

Mike Remlinger (1-0) got the win. Dodgers left-hander Jeff Kubenka (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque earlier in the day, took the loss.

``It's a tough one, our bullpen is just a little short right now,'' Dodgers manager Davey Johnson said. ``With all the injuries we've had, I wasn't going to go with Jamie (Arnold).''

Pinch-hitter Brian Hunter started the 12th with a bloop single to right. Andruw Jones hit into a fielder's choice and Walt Weiss reached on an infield single. Williams then delivered his single through the left side of the infield to give the Braves a 5-4 lead.

Remlinger bunted to move the runners over, but Kubenka threw to third and all runners were safe. Bret Boone pushed the lead to 6-4 with a sacrifice fly to center, Chipper Jones added an RBI single and Brian Jordan had a two-run double. The insult was compounded by Javy Lopez's second homer of the game, a two-run shot off Robinson Checo.

``I made the wrong call,'' Dodgers catcher Paul LoDuca said of the sacrifice attempt. ``I should have called `first' and I called `third.' It cost us six runs.''

Kubenka allowed five earned runs on five hits in 1-2/3 innings. Checo gave up two runs on two hits.

Lopez homered off Jeff Shaw to give the Braves a 4-3 lead in the top of the ninth, but the Dodgers tied it in the bottom of the inning.

Gary Sheffield began the rally in the ninth with a one-out double. Raul Mondesi was walked by John Rocker and reliever Kevin McGlinchy walked Eric Karros to load the bases. Devon White then hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Sheffield and tie the score 4-4. Adrian Beltre grounded out to end the inning.

Though he wasn't around for the decision, there was enormous value in Brown's start. He needed to give the withered bullpen rest and pitch deep into the game. He did so by allowing four hits and striking out seven in eight innings. Brown allowed three runs, but none were earned. He threw 118 pitches.

Brown's will has been well-documented throughout his career and it's been evident in his brief time with the Dodgers.

During a spring training outing, the right-hander reached out with his exposed right hand and tried to snare a line drive. The ball glanced off Brown's finger tips - he was fine. Last week in his return to San Diego, Dave Magadan hit a grounder back through the middle. Brown stuck out his foot to stop the ball and threw Magadan out at first.

Against the Braves, Weiss hit a sharp ground ball back through the middle. Brown stuck out his right foot, deflecting the ball with his instep toward first baseman Eric Karros, who caught the ball and flipped it to Brown for the out.

It's becoming routine for Brown to use every and any piece of his body to keep an opponent from getting a hit. And, no doubt, he's going to give the folks at Fox ulcers. They've invested oodles of cash in Brown to pitch for the next seven years. They pay him to pitch, not play hacky-sack with a hard-hit baseball.

Brown continued to pitch against the Braves but ran with a limp. After he was hit - or he hit - Weiss' grounder with his foot, he retired the next five hitters. Lopez broke the string with a leadoff single to center in the seventh. A one-out walk pushed Lopez to second, but Brown struck out Weiss and got pinch-hitter Keith Lockhart to fly to right to end the inning.

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PHOTO (Color) Atlanta's Odalis Perez had lousy control at the start - he walked three of the first six Dodgers he faced.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press