LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson each had two RBIs and the Atlanta Braves rocked Blake Snell for five runs in three innings in his season debut for a 7-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night.
Spencer Strider (1-0) threw six scoreless innings, Austin Riley, Michael Harris II and Drake Baldwin each drove in a run, and the Braves snapped an eight-game losing streak at Dodger Stadium.
Snell (0-1) had been dealing with left shoulder
fatigue, delaying the start of his season after missing much of 2025 because of a left shoulder injury before contributing in the playoffs to the Dodgers’ second consecutive World Series title. He had been scheduled to make one more rehabilitation start in the minors, but Los Angeles moved him up with the hope Snell would able to throw five innings.
Instead, Snell was pulled after allowing four earned runs, six hits and two walks on 77 pitches with five strikeouts.
Snell immediately found himself in a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the first inning, but he limited the damage to one run.
The Braves again loaded the bases in the second, and they capitalized to take a 5-0 lead when Albies stretched out to connect on a two-run single, followed up by Olson's two-run single.
Andy Pages prevented the shutout with a two-run homer in the ninth for the Dodgers.
There was a pregame moment of silence honoring longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox, who died Saturday, and former Braves owner Ted Turner, the media mogul who died Wednesday.
The Braves will go with Bryce Elder (3-1, 2.02 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday. He has allowed a .136 batting average over 19 2/3 innings in three road starts this season. Justin Wrobleski (5-0, 1.25) has allowed two earned runs in 32 innings during a five-game winning streak for the Dodgers.
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