Francis Specker / AP

Atlanta's Adam LaRoche, left, is greeted at home plate by teammates Andruw Jones, center, and Jeff Francoeur after LaRoche hit a three-run home run on Monday.

The season was 5 minutes old, and the fans were already booing the new-look Dodgers, who made numerous changes following their second-worst season since moving from Brooklyn in 1958.

Kent hit an RBI single in the third, but the Braves scored another four in the fifth to take an 8-1 lead and knock out Lowe. Chipper Jones hit an RBI single and, after Little visited the mound, Andruw Jones hit Lowe’s first pitch into the left-field bleachers for his three-run homer.

“It was a struggle from the first batter to the end of the fifth,” said Lowe, who gave up nine hits and eight runs, seven earned, in five innings. “My job is obviously not to put us in such a big hole. You look forward to this game for so long and then you go out there. ... I didn’t really have that many competitive pitches.”

The Dodgers scored four times to chase Hudson in the fifth. He gave up six hits and five runs in four-plus innings.

“I got some balls up,” Hudson said. “I wasn’t great today — it was a battle. We don’t want to play too many games like this. The important thing is, it’s a win.”

Slide show   NBCSports.com’s All-Stars Check out our predictions for the best players at each position in 2006.

The Braves’ 14 straight division championships is a major league record, and they’ve won them all with John Schuerholz as general manager and Bobby Cox as manager. Atlanta moved from the NL West to the NL East in 1994, and is the only team to win that division since then.

Notes: Nomar Garciaparra’s debut with the Dodgers was put off because the converted first baseman injured a muscle in his right side during his first at-bat in Sunday’s exhibition finale against the Los Angeles Angels. ... Heavy rain was expected Monday night and Tuesday, and that could cause a problem since this three-game series is the Braves’ only visit to Dodger Stadium this season. ... Little said Garciaparra might be placed on the disabled list. “They will re-evaluate him tomorrow and we’ll go from there,” the manager said. The Dodgers already have one starting player, CF Kenny Lofton, on the DL. ... The Braves have a 1,432-931 record since the start of the 1991 season — the best in baseball. ... Kent was presented with the Silver Slugger award before the game as baseball’s best hitting second baseman last season. ... Hall of Famer Tom Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers from 1977-96 and is now a team vice president, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

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