Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — New streak starts tomorrow, amirite? After winning the first game in the series against the rival Braves, the Dodgers found themselves completely overmatched tonight. Local product Max Fried was shoving all night, and basically that is all there is to say about that. The Dodgers could only manage a couple of singles on the night, one of which didn’t even leave the infield. Simply put, it wasn’t their night. They drop the game to Atlanta 3-1 on what proved to be a very quiet night at the plate.
Traffic on the paths all night for Bravos
On the other hand, the Braves were relentless against Walker Buehler et al tonight. It seemed like every inning there was a rally brewing for the visitors. In fact the Dodgers should consider themselves lucky that it was only a two-run game, because they easily could have been blown out in this one. In all, Dodger pitching was touched up for twelve hits on the night, eight of which were surrendered by the starter Walker Buehler.
It’s not that Buehler was bad on Tuesday night. He just wasn’t Walker Buehler. He fought his way through five innings, and left trailing the game 0-3. The big blows for the Braves were a solo home run from Travis d’Arnaud in the second inning, and a two-out double to score another run off the bat of Orlando Arcia in the fourth. The Braves tacked on an insurance run in the fifth, and those three runs would prove more than enough.
Fried throws a perfect five
The story of the night, no doubt, was the performance of Santa Monica native Max Fried for the Braves. He had the Dodgers chasing all night, and making weak contact when they actually connected. The Dodgers have had good luck against Fried in the the past, but not on this night. He was just too good for anybody to handle. The perfect game was broken up in the sixth inning on a single from Haner Alberto, but he was quickly erased as the front end of a double play, so even that barely registered in the score book. The only other hit was a Trea Turner infield single, which was similarly irrelevant to the scoring.
The only run the Dodgers managed to scrape together was off reliever Tyler Matzek i the eighth inning. It was created without the benefit of a hit. Chris Taylor drew a walk with one out, and then was able to advance two bases when Matzek uncorked a wild pitch to Hanser Alberto. A couple of pitches later, Alberto got wood on the ball and bounced a grounder to short, slow enough to allow the run to score from third. The Dodgers had narrowed the gap to 3-1, but that was as far as they got. After that, nada.
Jansen gets a save
If last night belonged to Freddie Freeman, tonight in part belonged to Kenley Jansen. With the Braves ahead by two, the former Dodgers came on to pitch the ninth in a very familiar scene for Dodger Stadium, except it usually happens in the top of the ninth.
Here, pitching against his former team for the first time, Jansen was efficient and lethal. He induced a pop-up to short right from old battery mate Will Smith, and then struck out Mookie Betts on just five pitches. Finally, Freddie Freeman came to the plate (natch). This time it was Jansen who won the battle, getting Freeman to hit a fly ball to center field for the game’s final out. Just like it had happened so many times before in Dodger Blue, Jansen had secured the save, his third of the year.
Early start on Wednesday
The series wraps up with a day game on Wednesday afternoon. The Dodgers’ World Series nemesis Charlie Morton and his timeless curveball take to the mound for the Braves, and the law firm of Gonsolin and Anderson figure to be the pitchers for the home team. Early start, 12:10 first pitch. Then, it’s a day off, and down the 5 Freeway to San Diego for the first series of the year against the Padres.
Cans of Corn
- Jansen entered to a mix of boos and applause tonight. He didn’t show a whole lot of emotion on the mound.
- Between Hunter Greene and Max Fried, the local boys have been shoving a the Ravine this week.
- Gavin Lux sat tonight, citing back soreness. He’s day-to-day.
- Both David Price and Alex Vesia were able to work out of some big time jams in the later innings. Price was aided by a nifty sliding catch from Mookie Betts in foul territory.
- Mookie still looks very bad at the plate. Not sure what it will take to get him on track, but he’s not looking all that close right now.
- Too much chasing from the Dodger hitters tonight. They need to dial in that discipline again for Charlie Morton on Wednesday.
