The Dodgers got the best of Chris Sale on Friday, but against the flamethrower Spencer Strider and crew, they were nearly left silent as the Braves defeated the Dodgers by a final of 7-2.
Blake Snell made his 2026 season debut after missing the first month of the regular season, marking his first appearance since coming out of the bullpen for Game 7 of the World Series last year. Atlanta immediately loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the first inning as Mauricio Dubón and Ozzie Albies
singled while Snell walked Drake Baldwin. Snell managed to strike out Matt Olson, but a fielder’s choice from Austin Riley gave the Braves an early 1-0 lead. Snell struck out Michael Harris II to complete his first inning of work having tossed 25 pitches.
Snell had a better start to the second inning, striking out Sean Murphy on three pitches, but the Braves rattled off a pair of singles from Eli White and Jorge Mateo, with Baldwin later walking for a second time to load the bases with two outs. Albies somehow made contact on a pitch just off the dirt and poked it into left field for a two-run single, with Olson following with another two-run single to make it a 5-0 Braves lead. Snell would face one batter over the minimum in the top of the third inning, but he ended his night having tossed 78 pitches over three innings. The Braves would tack on another run with an RBI double from Harris against Edgardo Henriquez to make it a 6-0 lead.
While Snell struggled over just three innings, the same could not be said about Braves right-hander Spencer Strider as he kept the Dodgers in check over six shutout innings, striking out eight while allowing just one hit— a single by Will Smith in the first inning— and walking just two on 90 pitches. Strider had a first pitch strike rate at 71.4 percent (15 first pitch strikes over 21 hitters) against the Dodgers, and even though he generated a 20 percent whiff rate on his fastball, his three complementary pitches totaled a combined 62.5 percent whiff rate.
After Jack Dreyer and Henriquez combined for one run allowed over three innings, Paul Gervase made his season debut and just his second appearance as a Dodger. Gervase completed three innings of work allowing four hits and a walk with five strikeouts, although he helped Atlanta get another run as Jorge Mateo singled in the top of the eighth to make it a 7-0 lead.
Freddie Freeman’s seven-game hitting streak came to a close as he went 0-3 before being pulled in the top of the seventh inning for Dalton Rushing.
The Dodgers were once again a handful of outs away from getting shut out, but Alex Call gave the Dodgers their first extra-base hit of the night with a double in the bottom of the ninth, with Andy Pages launching a home run to put the Dodgers on the board. Pages now has nine home runs on the season— four this week— tied with Max Muncy for the team lead. Teoscar Hernández kept the game alive with a single up the middle before Hyeseong Kim was called safe on a ground ball to first. The initial call was overturned, giving the Dodgers’ their second loss that was verified by replay review on the final play over their last three home games.
Game particulars
- Home runs— Andy Pages (9)
- WP— Spencer Strider (1-0): 6 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 2 walks, 8 strikeouts
- LP— Blake Snell (0-1): 3 IP, 6 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Up next
The Dodgers wrap things up against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday (1:10 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before welcoming the San Francisco Giants for a four-game set beginning on Monday. Justin Wrobleski starts the finale against Bryce Elder.
