Steve Webb
ATLANTA, GA — Okay, I’ll say it just this once so we can get it over with: Tuesday was Miller Time!!!!
Alrighty, now that I got that out of my system, we can talk about the ballgame. On paper, it looked to be one that the Dodgers were punting on Tuesday night. They had an untested rookie in righty Bobby Miller starting against the fearsome Quadzilla, he of the filthy stuff and nasty mustache. However, the Dodgers flipped the script on this one with a convincing 8-1 over the Braves in a game whose outcome was never that much in doubt.
In fact, when Mookie Betts led off the game with a double, the Dodgers were off to the races against NL strikeout leader Spencer Strider. Freddie Freeman moved Betts to third with a groundball out, and then Will Smith pulled a ball past an pulled-in infield and the Dodgers’ were on the board before Miller even set foot on the mound.
Things were a little rocky in the 1st inning after two quick outs, but after that Bobby Miller pretty much had his way with the Braves for the rest of his five innings of work. After that first inning, he only gave up a couple more hits, and came out with the Dodgers up 4 -1 after the fifth inning. It was an impressive debut from a kid with electric stuff.
“He was really impressive,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought he showed a lot of poise tonight. Did a great job of managing his emotions, adrenaline. He showed just enough attitude … and a little edginess, and just competed. For him to get through five was a big boost.”
“It feels great. I was very fired up going into it,” Miller said after notching his first-ever big-league win. “I mean, that’s a great lineup. You have to stay confident out there. It’s easy for a lot of guys to fold. As rough as that first inning was — they put a few barrels on me — you’ve got to stay in the moment, stay where my feet are, keep executing pitches, stay in the zone.”
On the offensive side of things, it was another good night for Will Smith at the plate. One night after his dust-up with the drunk driver Marcel Ozuna over getting knocked in the helmet with a back swing, Smith let his bat do the talking for him. 3-for-5 with 3 RBI should quiet Braves fans pretty well.
In fact, the Atlanta faithful had to sit on their tomahawk-chopping hands for most of the night. Late in the game, J.D. Martinez put the contest out of reach with his third homer in the last four days. This lineup is really starting to come into its own. Other than Martinez, six more Dodgers were in the game with OPS over .800, and James Outman was sitting on the bench with an OPS in that neighborhood as well. Even David Peralta and los dos Miguels have started to hit better of late. Look out world. This team is for real.
