DHL » ventually took the lead for good, 126-125, on a jump

LOS ANGELES -- Matt Kemp is making a case for himself, regardless of where hes playing the rest of the season. With his name being bandied about ahead of Thursdays trade deadline, Kemp hit a pair of two-run homers to power the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Atlanta Braves 8-4 Tuesday night. His four RBIs were a season high as he surpassed 600 career RBIs with 603. Kemp is hitting .400 in 10 games since the All-Star break. "Im not worried about any rumours," he said. "Im just worried about helping my team win." Kemp is playing right field, where he began his career, having been moved from centre field in the Dodgers crowded outfield. "Id play anywhere right now," he said. "Im just happy to be in the lineup." Yasiel Puig had four hits with two runs scored for the first-place Dodgers, who won their season-high fourth straight. Adrian Gonzalez is also hitting .400 since the break. He had two doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs. "Thats what we envision offensively," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. "We got contributions from all over." The Dodgers trailed twice in their first meeting with the Braves since eliminating them in a National League division series last season. Puig came up a home run short of hitting for the cycle, lifting his team-leading average to .317. He struck out in his final at-bat after tying his career high in hits. Los Angeles rallied from a two-run deficit to tie it 4-all on an RBI double by Gonzalez and an RBI single by Carl Crawford in the fifth. That set the stage for outfielders Crawford and Kemp to put the Dodgers ahead in the seventh. Crawford had an RBI groundout to second base and Kemp followed with his second two-run shot over the centre field fence for a 7-4 lead. Gonzalez doubled in another run in the eighth. Brandon League (2-2) got the victory in one inning of relief, allowing one hit and one walk. Kenley Jansen got four outs for his 31st save. Kemps first two-run shot in the second briefly gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. "Matt did a good job hitting that curveball," Braves starter and former Dodger Aaron Harang said. "Thats the Matt Kemp I remember from the first half of 2012." Freddie Freeman, who went 2 for 4, put Atlanta back in front 3-2 in the third with his own two-run homer. Tommy La Stella tied a career-best with three hits and scored a run as the Braves three-game winning streak ended. Anthony Varvaro (3-3) took the loss, giving up three runs and four hits in one relief inning. Dodgers starter Josh Beckett struggled through another outing. The right-hander gave up four runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings, struck out two and walked one in dropping to 0-5 in his last six home starts. Harang faced his old team for the first time since being traded in 2012. The right-hander yielded four runs and nine hits in six innings, struck out three and walked one after going 4-0 in his previous six outings. TRAINERS ROOM Braves: Right fielder Jason Heyward was out of the lineup with lingering soreness in his lower back after straining himself while chasing a foul ball last Thursday. Rookie reliever Shae Simmons was placed on the 15-day DL with a sore shoulder. The team recalled reliever Juan Jaime from Triple-A Gwinnett to take the roster spot of Simmons, who accompanied the team for the start of an eight-game, three-city road trip. Dodgers: Left-hander Scott Elbert was reinstated from the 60-day DL and designated him for assignment. He made 15 rehab appearances, including two starts for Rookie-advanced Ogden, Class-A Rancho Cucamonga and Triple-A Albuquerque as he worked his way back from Tommy John surgery last year. Elbert was 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA for those minor league affiliates. He last pitched in the majors in August 2012. ON DECK Braves: Left-hander Alex Wood (7-8) starts for the Braves in the middle game of the series. He has pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings in two career games against the Dodgers, allowing one hit and striking out three. Dodgers: Zack Greinke (12-5) starts for the Dodgers. The right-hander is 6-1 at home with a 2.73 ERA and holds opposing batters to a .222 batting average. He is 1-1 with a 3.50 ERA in three career starts against the Braves. WHERES BARNEY? Newly acquired second baseman Darwin Barney could join the Dodgers by Wednesday. He was acquired in a trade with the Cubs on Monday for a player to be named. Barney will give the team depth off the bench. He won a Gold Glove in 2012, but was let go by Chicago after hitting .230 with 16 RBIs in 72 games this season. A PLEASANT GOOD EVENING Dodgers fans will continue hearing that opening line from 86-year-old Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully, who will return to the booth for his record 66th season in 2015. The announcement was made by a trio of players on the stadium video board during the game. HEAD FIRST Braves right fielder Jordan Schafer hit Puig, sliding headfirst, in the head with a throw in the seventh inning with the scored tied 4-all. The throw knocked Puigs helmet off before he barely got his hand safely on the base. QUOTE OF THE DAY "I made some bad pitches over the middle of the plate that he could hit," Harang said of Puig. "He has the power to drive the ball with authority and his speed helps him to get those extra bases." Zack Wheeler Mets Jersey .com) - Delon Wright made all 12 of his free throws and finished with 21 points and six assists as No. Jason Vargas Mets Jersey .C. -- Ryan Sproul scored the winner late in double overtime to lift the Grand Rapids Griffins to a 2-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat on Friday in Game 1 of their American Hockey League playoff series. http://www.metssale.com/mets-mookie-wilson-jersey/. The four-time Grand Slam champion has beaten Hantuchova nine straight times, with the Slovaks only win coming when they first played 10 years ago. "I had a tough first opponent who can play extremely good tennis," Sharapova said. Tom Seaver Mets Jersey . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. Todd Frazier Mets Jersey . But last years runner-up Jarkko Nieminen crashed out despite winning the first set against Denis Istomin. Istomin fired 10 aces and won 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2 to even his career record against Nieminen at 3-3. ORLANDO, Fla. -- Joakim Noah had a season-high 26 points, Carlos Boozer scored 23, and the Chicago Bulls held on to beat the Orlando Magic 128-125 in triple-overtime on Wednesday night. The Magic had a chance to win the game with less than 10 seconds to play, but Glen Davis jumper was partially blocked and rebounded by the Bulls with just 1.5 seconds remaining. The Bulls have now won the last seven matchups with the Magic played in Orlando and improved to 4-1 since trading Luol Deng. Victor Oladipo had a career-high 35 points and Jameer Nelson added 31 points and 10 assists for Orlando. Tobias Harris added 22 points and 16 rebounds. The Magic extended their season-high losing streak to nine games. Orlando played without Arron Afflalo and Nik Vucevic. Afflalo missed his third straight game with a strained right foot, and Vucevic was out for the fifth straight with a concussion. The game featured 20 lead changes and 14 ties. During their most recent road trip, the Magic were tripped up by injuries as they dropped five straight games. Despite losing by an average of 20 points during the trip, coach Jacque Vaughn continually lauded his teams improvement throughout. Orlando returned home still battered, but the strides showed up again against a Bulls team that came in with three wins in their first four games since trading Deng to Cleveland. In a game thhat didnt see either team take more than an four-point lead in any of the overtime periods, the Magic went ahead 125-122 in the third OT on a 3-pointer by Harris.dddddddddddd But Chicago kept chipping away, and eventually took the lead for good, 126-125, on a jumper by Tony Snell. The Bulls had a 119-116 lead in the second overtime on a tip-in by Noah. After several empty possessions on both ends, Davis tied it on a straightway 3 with just 4.2 seconds left. Noah got free on a drive on the other end, but was fouled. The Bulls then failed to get up a shot. The Magic controlled the early pace of first overtime and took a 111-108 lead on a free-throw by Harris with 1:22 remaining. But the Bulls committed their 17th turnover of the night on a bad pass by Noah with less than a minute to play, prompting a Magic timeout. Nelson briefly got free, but came up empty on a 13-foot jumper, giving it back to Chicago. Coming out of a timeout Mike Dunleavy got free on the wing and sank a 3-pointer to tie it with 13.4 seconds left. Nelson dribbled the clock down, but couldnt get a shot off before time expired. The Magic hovered above 55 per cent shooting as they built as much as a 15-point lead in the third quarter. NOTES: The Magic are now 0-11 without Vucevic this season. ... The Bulls recalled G Marquis Teague on Wednesday from the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League. ' ' '