Atlanta blasted by L.A.

ATLANTA - John Thomson wasn't overly pleased with what he did over the weekend in his first start in nearly three months.

Four earned runs in six innings against Arizona wasn't really enough to catch anybody's eyeball or raise an eyebrow in his return from a finger injury.

What he didn't do in that Aug. 13 game, though, was walk anyone. And he got a no decision.

So it's no coincidence Thursday that he walked two, fell behind most batters and was subsequently rocked by Los Angeles for eight hits and seven runs in 3w innings in the Dodgers' 7-4 victory at Turner Field.

"Terrible," Thomson said of his performance. "Fell behind every hitter. Threw the ball over the plate. They were sitting on my fastball."

Milton Bradley sat on a hanging changeup for a three-run homer in the fourth that put Los Angeles up 7-1 and chased Thomson (3-3), who was out from May 16 until Saturday. He wondered aloud after the game if rust or mechanics were causing the location issues.

"I don't know what it is," said Thomson, who went 8-1 with a 2.45 ERA in the second half last year to pick the Braves up. "I've got to find out what's wrong and make it better."

Thomson threw 85 pitches in his first start back. Sixty-four of those pitches were strikes.

He pounded the strike zone, seeing what the Diamondbacks lineup could do with his pitches. On Thursday, that wasn't the case.

He threw 76 pitches to get 11 outs, and 30 were balls.

"He's a control guy," manager Bobby Cox said. "He just didn't control the ball at all tonight."

First baseman Adam LaRoche, who homered in the sixth, said without strong efforts from starters such as Thomson and tonight's pitcher, Mike Hampton, the Braves will be dead - again - come the postseason.

"In my opinion, that's our only shot," LaRoche said. "If those guys aren't on, I don't see us making it past the first round.

With the series loss to the Dodgers (55-65), the Braves are 5-4 on their current homestand against the horrid NL West.

Reach Travis Haney at travis.haney@morris.com.