To say that Monday night’s game between the Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium wasn’t a breath of fresh air would be a lie. And though the usual suspects Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier did their same old thing (Kemp going 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored and Ethier going 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored), it was the bottom of Dodger line up who were the heroes of the 7-2 pounding of the Braves.

Struggling Dodger first baseman James Loney had a long double to the right field gap that undoubtedly would have been a home run were it not for the cool, damp night at the Ravine. Loney ended his night going 2 for 3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Dodger catcher A.J. Ellis went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and now has an incredible OBP of .412, second only to Kemp’s lofty .514 OBP. “It was time to pick up the slack,” said Ellis of Monday night’s game “Matt and ‘Dre have been carrying us. We want to be tough one through eight. It’s really big for us to get on base and create offense at the bottom of the lineup,” Ellis added.

But without question, this night absolutely belonged to the year-long slumping Juan Uribe, who went 4 for 4 for the first time since 2007, driving in three runs and scoring twice. This was, hands down, Uribe’s best game as a Dodger as he enters the second year of his 3-year/$21M contract with the club.

Braves catcher (and former Dodger) David Ross and Juan Uribe look to home plate umpire Jim Wolf for the call during the second inning of Monday night's game. The call was safe, giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead. The Dodgers would go on to beat the Braves 7-2 thanks to Uribe's 4 for 4 night at the plate. (Photo by Jon SooHoo)

Closely watching each of Uribe’s four at bats Monday night, it was clear to see that this was not the same “swing from the heels” hacking Juan Uribe that we have all come to know (and dislike), but rather a Juan Uribe that, to this point, has been completely unseen by Dodger fans. In each of Uribe’s four at bats, he actually went with the pitches and slapped the ball to right or up the middle rather than trying to rip the cover off the ball and pulling it down the line. Whether this “new” Juan Uribe did so because he was favoring his ailing wrist or the result of coaching by batting coach Dave Hansen or the one-on-one tutoring from Dodger great Manny Mota that he has been receiving remains to be seen, but we should know this REAL soon, should Juan continue hitting this way.

Although Uribe has struggled since the first time that he put on a Dodger uniform, he has always maintained a positive attitude. “That was nice for him,” said Dodger manager Don Mattingly. “This guy is a good teammate. Guys love him. He walks around with a smile on his face,” added Mattingly.

Chris Capuano picked up the win for the Dodgers after a gutsy seven-inning performance giving up just one run on six hits and is now 2-0 on the season. Josh Lindblom came on in relief in the 8th inning and gave up his first earned run of the season – a towering home run to center field by Braves second baseman Dan Uggla. Scott Elbert pitched a scoreless 9th inning. The Dodgers are now an MLB best 13-4 on the season.

As the old saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and the Dodgers will have some pretty tough going tonight when they face Braves lefty Mike Minor for the second game of this three-game series. Minor is 2-1 on the season with an ERA of 3.10 and 19 strikeouts. The Dodgers will send right-hander Aaron Harang to the mound tonight. Harang is 1-1 on the season with an ERA of 5.40 and 23 strikeouts. Aaron set a new all-time Dodger record on April 13 when he stuck out 9 consecutive batters.

GO DODGERS!