Dodger Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Braves over the years, and it continued to be so on Friday night as they lost yet again, 3-1. Atlanta had chances to score in seemingly every inning and just couldn’t get the big hit to swing the game. They ended the night 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position with 10 runners left on base.
Yikes.
The lone run came by way of an Austin Riley single up the middle in the second to score Michael Harris. It seemed like more could be on the way, but back-to-back
strikes from Mike Yastrzemski and Jim Jarvis promptly ended the threat.
Shortly after the Braves took the lead, the Dodgers quickly responded with an RBI double from Kyle Tucker to tie it up. In the fifth, LA took the lead with a Shohei Ohtani single to make it 2-1. And in the sixth, Freddie Freeman homered to make it 3-1. And that’s all she wrote.
Chris Sale was really strong for seven innings; he deserved a better fate tonight. He struck out seven, didn’t walk anyone, and scattered five hits. One of the three runs he allowed was unearned as Jarvis uncorked a wild throw that ultimately plated the go-ahead run. Aaron Bummer threw a clean 8th inning against the top of LA’s lineup, an encouraging sign.
The series continues Saturday night and all eyes will be on Spencer Strider, who needed 80+ pitches in his season debut to record 10 outs. Strider will be opposed by Blake Snell, who may be a bit limited as he makes his season debut a little earlier than expected. First pitch will be an hour earlier at 9:10 p.m. ET.
