Dodgers discover just enough of this thing called offense in 5-4 victory over Braves

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Runs! Runs from the heavens! Runs everywhere! Runs like stars in the night!

OK, so I get a little excited.

Sit through 33 innings only to see the Dodgers score a mere five runs, and then they actually push across a few with something approaching regularity, and a guy just gets all giddy.

In truth, it was hardly an offensive outpouring. If only a reasonable display, comparatively, it was a quick downpour.

The Dodgers matched their total from the previous 33 innings in the first seven innings of Friday’s game against the Braves, proving just enough for a 5-4 victory.

That snapped Atlanta’s nine-game winning streak and in the process put a little hop in the Dodgers’ dragging offensive step.

Five different Dodgers drove in a run Friday. The Dodgers scored two in the first on a sacrifice fly by Andre Ethier and a Ronnie Belliard double. They scored two more in the second on a double by Rafael Furcal and a sacrifice fly by Matt Kemp.

And then after the Braves had rallied to tie the score with a pair of runs in the seventh after starter Clayton Kershaw exited, the Dodgers added one more in the bottom of the inning after Ethier doubled and scored on James Loney’s single.

A regular embarrassment of riches.

The Dodgers finished with 10 hits, half going for extra bases.

All this made something of a hard-loser, again, out of Braves right-hander Kenshin Kawakami, who took the loss to fall to 0-8.

--Steve Dilbeck