FSM Essential Recap: Dodgers vs Braves - Series 43

FSM Essential Recap: Dodgers vs Braves – Series 43

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Los Angeles Dodgers (85-49)  |  Atlanta Braves (70-62)

 

“Listen, if you start worrying about the people in the stands, before too long you’re up in the stands with them.”

– Tommy LaSorda

 

 

Game 3:

The Dodgers once again had some clutch hitting in the eighth, coming from behind to defeat the Braves, 4-3. Not only did L.A. pick up the sweep with the win, but the Dodgers now sit atop the NL West in first place following a Giants loss to the Brewers.

For the Dodgers, it’s their first time in first place since April 28.

“It’s a start,” Dave Roberts said following the game. “We’re getting there. We have to continue to play good baseball. there’s a lot of baseball left.”

A lot to get to tonight, but we’ll start with the eighth inning. After Alex Vesia allowed a solo home run in the top half of the inning, the Dodgers entered the bottom of the inning trailing a run.

Trea Turner led off the bottom of the frame with a double, immediately putting the tying run in scoring position. Max Muncy advanced Turner to third base on a groundout, putting the tying run only 90 feet away. Mookie Betts couldn’t cash him in, striking out for the fourth time on the night, tying a career-high.

It all came down to Justin Turner, who stepped to the plate with two outs. On a 2-2 count, Turner singled through the hole on the left side, tying the game at three apiece.

Corey Seager then followed with a walk, advancing Turner to second base, where he represented the go-ahead run. AJ Pollock, who was the hero multiple times last week in San Diego, stepped up to the plate. He wasn’t there long, as he singled to left field on the first pitch, scoring Turner from second base to give the Dodgers the 4-3 lead.

With Blake Treinen and Kenley Jansen unavailable tonight, Joe Kelly took the ball in the ninth. He retired the side on only 10 pitches, giving the Dodgers the victory.

Max Scherzer had yet another dominant start for the Dodgers. He tossed six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits while issuing zero walks. For the night, Scherzer struck out nine. In addition to the strikeouts, he had 20 swings and misses. Not bad for only six innings of work. It’s his third time with L.A. in which he’s struck out at least nine.

 

The Braves really didn’t do any damage against him. They had runners on first and second at one point, but he struck out Max Fried to end the inning. He was overpowering Atlanta all game and it looked as if he was on pace to potentially throw a shutout.

After cruising through six innings, Scherzer wasn’t back out there for the seventh inning. Following the game, Scherzer told the media that he was dealing with some tightness in his hamstring and it was his decision to leave the game.

“I came out because I had a tight hamstring,” he said. “It tightened up in warm-ups. I didn’t injure it, I just knew it was tight. I’ve had this happen in the past. there’s time where this happens and you just got to work around it.”

Scherzer said he was able to push through, but after the sixth inning, he knew that would be it for him. He said he couldn’t get enough strength from his back leg, which was putting more stress on his arm. Given where he was at, he said it was the appropriate time to come out of the game.

“This is something that just pops up and something you got to deal with. Listen to the trainers and do what they want to do with it. In the past, I’ve always been able to make my next start and I definitely feel I’ll be able to make my next start.”

Max Muncy hit his 30th home run of the season. He’s now hit at least 30 homers in three of his four seasons with the Dodgers. He’s the ninth Dodger to have three seasons with at least 30 homers.

 

Game 3 Boxscore:

 

WP: Phil Bickford (3-1)

LP: Chris Martin (2-4)

SV: Joe Kelly (2)

HR: Max Muncy (30) Austin Barnes (6)

 

The Dodgers won’t play on Thursday, as they’ll have their first off-day in three weeks. They’ll travel to San Francisco, where they’ll face the Giants for the biggest series of the season this weekend.

 

 

Game 2:

 

Corey Seager’s RBI double in the eighth inning completed a methodical Dodgers comeback, beating the Braves 3-2 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

Coupled with the Giants’ home loss to Milwaukee, the Dodgers now trail in the National League West by only a half-game, the closest they’ve been in the division since July 6.

 

Mookie Betts walked to open the eighth inning, and one out later scored with ease on Seager’s double, showing no ill effects of the hip injury that has sidelined him on the injured list twice in the last month and a half.

“Ten days ago, having this conversation didn’t seem like it was going to happen,” manager Dave Roberts said of Betts’ hip. “I’m really happy he’s feeling well.”

Down 2-0 to the Braves early, the Dodgers scored single runs in the fourth, seventh, and eighth to finish off August at 21-6 (.778), the fourth-best month for the franchise since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.

The first of those runs came on a home run by Mookie Betts, who went deep for a second straight night. Since the All-Star break, Betts has six home runs and 10 extra-base hits in 14 games, with an .833 slugging percentage.

That was the only run off Charlie Morton, who stymied the Dodgers through six innings, allowing only three hits while striking out eight.

Betts also helped on defense, in the second inning by reaching over the short wall in right field to rob Travis d’Arnaud of a home run.

 

Game 2 Boxscore:

 

WP: Blake Treinen (5-5)

LP: Tyler Matzek (0-4)

SV: Kenley Jansen (30)

HR: Mookie Betts (19); Joc Pederson (16)

 

The Dodgers and Braves finish things off on Wednesday night with Max Scherzer on the mound for Los Angeles, against left-hander Max Fried. The first pitch is at 7:10 and on SportsNet LA.

 

 

Game 1:

 

It was a thriller on Monday night, as the Dodgers pulled out the 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves. With the victory, the Dodgers are now 1.5 games out of first place in the NL West.

Things got very interesting late in the game, starting in the eighth inning. I’m going to do my best to explain this as best as I can, so take it easy on me. Okay, so Ozzie Albies singled with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate in Jorge Soler. On a 1-1 pitch, Soler swung and missed, but hit catcher Will Smith on the follow-through.

Soler was ruled out because of interference, making it two outs. However, the umpires said Albies was also out, and it was a double play…. wait what? After about five minutes of confusion, Albies returned back to first base and there were two outs.

Dave Roberts turned to Blake Treinen, looking for him to complete the four-out save. With no Kenley Jansen, it was in Treinen’s hands to close the game. He faced Freddie Freeman, who he got to ground out to end the inning.

Things got suspenseful in the ninth inning as Treinen allowed two runners to reach base with only one out. With the tying run on and the go-ahead run at the plate, Treinen recorded two outs to secure the save. This came moments after the Giants lost to the Brewers, moving L.A. to 1.5 games behind their rival in the division race.

The theme of the night was home runs, more specifically solo home runs. There were seven combined home runs between the two teams, with six of them being solo shots.

Max Muncy got the party started in the first inning as he crushed his 29th homer of the season. It was much needed from Muncy, who was 2-for-32 coming into the night over his last several games. He matched that hit total as he had two hits on the night.

 

Will Smith followed an inning later with a solo homer, his 22nd of the season. Smith has been arguably L.A.’s hottest hitter over the last few weeks. That was his seventh homer over his last 13 games. Oh, and by the way… he was 8th in the lineup tonight. Now that is truly unfair.

The Dodgers hit two more home runs in the third inning. Mookie Betts hit a solo shot, adding to the list of Dodgers players to hit a home run on their bobblehead night. Corey Seager then added a home run a few batters later…. but he wasn’t as cool as the others, as this was a two-run shot.

By picking up the victory, Julio Urias became the first pitcher in all of baseball to reach the 15-win mark. Nowadays wins aren’t really important anymore for pitchers, but that’s still an impressive feat to reach, especially considering he’s the Dodgers’ current No. 3 starter.

Urias was solid for the Dodgers, as he gave them six innings and allowed two runs, both of which were solo homers. He took a perfect game into the fifth inning, as the Braves had no answer for him through the first four innings.

He finished the game with seven strikeouts and zero walks.

 

Game 1 Boxscore:

 

WP: Julio Urias (15-3)

LP: Drew Smyly (9-4)

SV: Blake Treinen (5)

HR: Max Muncy (29) Will Smith (22) Mookie Betts (18) Corey Seager (7) Freddie Freeman (28) Adam Duvall (29) Jorge Soler (21)

 

The Dodgers will look to win their second straight game, as Walker Buehler takes the mound on Tuesday night against the Braves Charlie Morton. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:10 on SportsNet LA.

 

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– Joe Arrigo

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