Ozzie Albies singled home Matt Olson with two outs in the eighth inning, giving the Atlanta Braves a 4-3 win over the Dodgers in Tuesday night’s series opener at Truist Park. The Dodgers got the tying run on third base with nobody out in the ninth, but couldn’t bring home the equalizer.
The run came off Tanner Scott, who allowed the leadoff double to Olson but got two infield outs before Albies singled in the go-ahead run, just the third run scored off Scott in his last 18 appearances, dating back
to before the All-Star break.
We both know I’m not what you need
Shohei Ohtani tripled to the wall in left field to open the ninth with the heart of the order following. But Freddie Freeman struck out against closer Raisel Iglesias and Mookie Betts grounded out. After Max Muncy was intentionally walked, Tommy Edman harmlessly flew out to center to end the game.
It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it
Tyler Glasnow’s first major league start in over three and a half months got off to a frustrating start with four batted balls finding grass for singles in the first five batters of the game, only one of them hard hit. That led to three runs but more importantly 35 pitches in a tiring opening frame.
Tide’s gonna turn and it’s all gonna roll your way
Glasnow immediately got things in order in the fifth inning, inducing seven swinging strikes in the second inning alone as he struck out the side. That was part of a run of five straight strikeouts for Glasnow, who struck out seven on the night and got through five innings.
After 35 pitches in the first inning, he only needed 54 to get through the next four frames, and only allowed two singles and no runs after the first. After inducing only two swinging strikes in the opening inning, Glasnow got 13 whiffs over those final four innings. Overall, this was a good first game back for Glasnow, who didn’t walk a batter.
Here you come again
The Dodgers called up Thomas to help fill in for the loss of Andy Pages because of his superlative defense in center field. But so far, Thomas has played in all three games since getting called up from Triple-A, and he has an RBI single in all three games, including a second-inning hit that game the Dodgers’ their first run on Tuesday.
I may have just what you’re looking for
Thomas batted eighth on Tuesday, just ahead of catcher Hunter Feduccia, two players who weren’t in the organization to open the season. Batting seventh was Alex Call, making his third start in the last 29 games, having batted only twice in the team’s previous seven games.
The bottom third of the lineup drove in all three Dodgers runs, and combined for five hits in nine at-bats — what a way to make a living — plus two walks, reaching base a convenient seven times in 11 plate appearances.
Message is clear, this could be the year for the real thing
The Dodgers are a game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the top seed in the National League, with Milwaukee owning the tiebreaker. But Tuesday was the third win in four tries against the Dodgers for the Braves, who now are just three games behind Los Angeles for the two seed. The top two division winners in each league get byes into the Division Series, while the division winner with the third-best record has to play during the best-of-three wild card round.
Tuesday particulars
Home runs: none
WP — Dylan Dodd (4-1): 1 up, 1 down
LP — Tanner Scott (1-4): 1 IP, 2 hits, 1 run
Sv — Raisel Iglesias (28): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 intentional walk, 1 strikeout
Up next
Roki Sasaki is on the mound as the Dodgers try to rebound on Wednesday (4:15 p.m. PT; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), while right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver starts for Atlanta.
