Phil Niekro helped himself to his 10th victory by beating out an infield hit in the fifth inning when the Braves scored twice to defeat the Dodgers, 3-1. After reaching second on his hit and a throwing error by Maury Wills on the play, Niekro scored on a single by Ralph Garr to snap a 1-1 tie. Garr stole second, advanced to third on a wild throw by Tom Haller and counted an insurance run on a sacrifice fly by Hank Aaron. [The Sporting News]



Atlanta Braves 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 1
Game Played on Friday, July      16, 1971 (Night game) at Atlanta Stadium
Dodgers      0  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   1  7  4
Braves       1  0  0    0  2  0    0  0  x  -   3 12  1


Dodgers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Braves               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Wills ss              4   0   3   1     0   1   .294      Millan 2b             4   1   1   0     0   0   .312
Buckner rf            4   0   1   0     0   2   .301      Garr lf               4   1   3   1     0   1   .329
Davis cf              4   0   1   0     0   1   .353        Didier c            0   0   0   0     0   0   .222
Allen 3b              4   0   1   0     0   1   .279      H. Aaron 1b,rf        3   0   2   1     0   0   .313
Parker 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .289      Evans 3b              3   0   1   0     1   1   .280
Crawford lf           4   0   0   0     0   1   .308      Lum rf,lf             3   0   1   1     0   0   .284
Lefebvre 2b           3   0   0   0     0   0   .271      Williams c,1b         4   0   0   0     0   0   .239
Haller c              3   1   1   0     0   0   .230      Jackson cf            4   0   3   0     0   0   .276
Sutton p              2   0   0   0     0   0   .213      Perez ss              4   0   0   0     0   1   .190
  Valentine ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .252      Niekro p              3   1   1   0     0   1   .143
  Mikkelsen p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .143

Totals               33   1   7   1     0   6             Totals               32   3  12   3     1   4

Time of Game: 2:16   Attendance: 15,884
Left on Base: Dodgers 5, Braves 8
DP: Dodgers 1, Braves 0
Errors: Wills 2, Haller 2, Jackson
Stolen Bases: Wills (10), Jackson (3), Garr (15)
Caught Stealing: Wills (7), Evans (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Lum (3), H. Aaron (4)


Dodgers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Sutton L(9-8)           7    11   3   3   1   3   0  31   2.80
Mikkelsen               1     1   0   0   0   1   0   4   2.52
Totals                  8    12   3   3   1   4   0  35

Braves                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro W(10-8)          9     7   1   0   0   6   0  33   2.89
Totals                  9     7   1   0   0   6   0  33

Passed Balls: Haller (1)

Umpires: HP - Chris Pelekoudas, 1B - Harry Wendelstedt, 2B - Andy Olsen, 3B - Tom Gorman


DODGERS 1ST: Wills singled to center; Wills stole second;
Buckner struck out; Davis struck out; Allen singled to shortstop
[Wills to third]; Parker flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves 0.

BRAVES 1ST: Millan singled to left; Garr singled to pitcher
[Millan to second]; H. Aaron singled to third [Millan to third,
Garr to second]; Evans struck out; Lum hit a sacrifice fly to
right [Millan scored, Garr to third]; Williams forced H. Aaron
(shortstop to second); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves
1.

DODGERS 2ND: Crawford grounded out (second to first); Lefebvre
grounded out (first unassisted); Haller lined to second; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves 1.

BRAVES 2ND: Jackson grounded out (shortstop to first); Perez
made an out to second; Niekro flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves 1.

DODGERS 3RD: Sutton grounded out (second to first); Wills
singled to right; Buckner singled to center [Wills to second];
Wills was caught stealing third (catcher to third) [Buckner to
second]; Davis grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves 1.

BRAVES 3RD: Millan grounded out (shortstop to first); Garr
singled to third; H. Aaron singled to left [Garr out at third
(left to shortstop)]; Evans walked [H. Aaron to second]; Lum
grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers
0, Braves 1.

DODGERS 4TH: Allen flied out to center; Parker flied out to
center; Crawford flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 0, Braves 1.

BRAVES 4TH: Williams flied out to right; Jackson singled to
pitcher; Jackson stole second [Jackson to third (error by
Haller)]; Perez hit into a double play (pitcher to third)
[Jackson out at home]; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 0, Braves
1.

DODGERS 5TH: Lefebvre flied out to center; Haller singled to
center [Haller to second (error by Jackson)]; Sutton grounded
out (second to first) [Haller to third]; Wills singled to center
[Haller scored (unearned)]; Buckner struck out; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H,
1 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves 1.

BRAVES 5TH: Niekro singled to shortstop [Niekro to second (error
by Wills)]; Millan made an out to second; Garr singled to right
[Niekro scored]; Garr stole second [Garr to third (error by
Haller)]; H. Aaron hit a sacrifice fly to right [Garr scored];
Evans singled to right; Evans was caught stealing second
(catcher to shortstop); 2 R, 3 H, 2 E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves
3.

DODGERS 6TH: Davis flied out to left; Allen grounded out (third
to first); Parker grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves 3.

BRAVES 6TH: Lum singled to left; Williams forced Lum (shortstop
to second); Jackson singled to right [Williams to second];
Haller allowed a passed ball [Williams to third, Jackson to
second]; Perez flied out to center; Niekro struck out; 0 R, 2 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves 3.

DODGERS 7TH: Crawford flied out to left; Lefebvre made an out to
third; Haller flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Dodgers 1, Braves 3.

BRAVES 7TH: Millan grounded out (third to first); Garr struck
out; H. Aaron reached on an error by Wills [H. Aaron to first];
Evans flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Braves 3.

DODGERS 8TH: DIDIER REPLACED GARR (PLAYING C ); H. AARON CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); LUM CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF);
WILLIAMS CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); VALENTINE BATTED FOR
SUTTON; Valentine grounded out (first to pitcher); Wills struck
out; Buckner popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves 3.

BRAVES 8TH: MIKKELSEN REPLACED VALENTINE (PITCHING); Lum flied
out to left; Williams flied out to left; Jackson singled to
center; Perez struck out (catcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Dodgers 1, Braves 3.

DODGERS 9TH: Davis singled to right; Allen struck out; Parker
grounded out (pitcher to first) [Davis to second]; Crawford
struck out (catcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Dodgers 1,
Braves 3.