Dodgers welcome NL-best Braves to Dodger Stadium

After an uneven .500 road trip, the Dodgers return home to Chavez Ravine to welcome one of the best teams in MLB, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are tied with the surging Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball. The Dodgers offense, who has been hot and cold, will start

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What is the story about?

After an uneven .500 road trip, the Dodgers return home to Chavez Ravine to welcome one of the best teams in MLB, the Atlanta Braves. The Braves are tied with the surging Chicago Cubs and the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.

The Dodgers offense, who has been hot and cold, will start off with a tough challenge right off the bat. The Braves will send Chris Sale to the mound on Friday night. Sale is 6-1 with a 2.14 ERA and has allowed one run or fewer over at least six innings in six of his

seven starts this season, including his last outing in Colorado when he allowed one run on three hits with a season high 11 strikeouts. Over his last four starts, Sale is 4-0 with 33 strikeouts and just seven walks. It will be a real test for the offense which is coming off a game in which they scored 12 runs but still isn’t quite firing on all cylinders.

Emmet Sheehan will take the mound for the Dodgers and is coming off a start in which he allowed three earned runs in the first inning against St. Louis. He has one career start against the Braves which was in 2023 where he allowed one run on three hits over four innings.

Braves first baseman Matt Olson is leading the National League in homers, with four of his 13 coming in the last six games. Second baseman Ozzie Albies has been hot as of late, owning a .386 BA with a 1.115 OPS over his last 15 games. The Braves as a team lead the NL in home runs with 55.

Some things could be in the Dodgers’ favor. The Braves are coming off their first series loss of the season to the Mariners in Seattle this week. Atlanta also hasn’t fared well at Dodger Stadium in recent years, with the Dodgers taking 21 of 27 games, including playoffs. The Braves swept the Dodgers in 2023 at Dodger Stadium but have lost their last seven games there. Chris Sale also hasn’t historically performed well against the Dodgers, having a 1-2 record with a 6.65 ERA lifetime, and in his two starts in L.A. he’s 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.