The list to choose from got a little longer after Andre Ethier drove in three runs in Tuesday night's 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves. Ethier was acquired from the Oakland A's for Milton Bradley and Antonio Perez at a time when it looked like the Dodgers would be willing to give away Bradley and his well-documented baggage.

"[General manager] Ned Colletti and his people made some good decisions in the offseason and that's one of them," said manager Grady Little.

Ethier, promoted four weeks ago, is hitting .313 with four homers and 12 RBIs. Bradley, disabled for more than a month with the A's, was hitting .246 with three homers and eight RBIs.

Ethier's fourth home run came in the fourth inning of this game, a two-run shot off Jorge Sosa, but it was his tie-breaking single in the eighth inning that was even more impressive, coming against left-handed reliever Mike Remlinger with two outs and two on.

"I don't think I was surprised (to face a left-hander), but it's a different ballgame up here," said the left-handed hitting Ethier, last year's Texas League player of the year. "All through my Minor League career, I've had success against lefties and in situations like that. It's a grander stage here, but you can't overanalyze it and get carried away with your emotions.

"Not many rookies get the opportunity to contribute and when you get the chance, to help the team leads to more trust from Grady."

Ethier was 0-for-6 against left-handed pitching since his promotion, but Little said he was confident enough to let the 24-year-old hit and not call on veteran right-handed pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz, who was saved to open the ninth-inning rally with an infield single.

"[Ethier] showed a lot in Spring Training, but what he's been able to do up here has been amazing," said Little. "We have a lot of confidence in the kid and it showed when we left him in there against Remlinger. He showed in Spring Training, he doesn't budge against lefties and he stays in there. That's very impressive for a young guy."

Ethier's opposite-field single brought home Nomar Garciaparra, who not only doubled to start the tie-breaking rally, but also doubled in a three-run ninth inning as the Dodgers repeated their knack for putting away the opposition late, scoring five unanswered runs over the final two innings, even with Jeff Kent sidelined again and "iffy" (according to Little) for Wednesday night's game.

The second consecutive late-inning eruption against the Braves bullpen resulted in another victory for a Dodgers reliever, this time Danys Baez, who pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Aaron Sele.

Sele allowed three runs over six innings, but of his five consecutive quality starts, this one required the most work. He made 112 pitches and left with the score tied, 3-3.

"I was just down and just off a lot tonight," he said. "It was a battle, but I kept the game close enough long enough and we scored runs late."

Sele said he is not surprised by the play of newcomers such as Ethier, catcher Russell Martin, infielder Willy Aybar, relievers Joe Beimel, Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito. He played with all of them at Triple-A Las Vegas in April.

"Maybe I didn't expect them to make this kind of impact this quickly, but you could see the potential impact they could have," said Sele. "They are quality people who work hard and want to do well. They study, they listen, they ask questions of the veteran players. They are the type of people you want to have in the system. They have a lot of talent and they use their brains."

Aybar doubled in a pair of runs in the three-run ninth inning that included the second double of the game by Garciaparra. He is hitting .379 in May and .364 overall, he's reached base 23 consecutive games, he has 35 RBIs in 34 games and he's batting .463 with runners in scoring position.

Little, who managed Garciaparra in Boston, pointed out one of the key's to his success.

"He never throws away one at-bat," Little said in a compliment to Garciaparra's focus. "He tries to get a hit every time he goes up there regardless of the score or the situation in the game, trying to hit the ball hard every time he goes to the plate."