Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — That’s what a big league ace does. When your team is scuffling a little bit offensively, you take the mound and absolutely SHOVE for seven inning, allowing your team to scratch across a few runs and win the ballgame. And that’s just what Bobby Miller did on Sunday in this weekend’s finale against the Atlanta Braves. Miller’s stellar seven led the Dodgers to a 3-1 win, and gave fans a great ending to what had been a rather disappointing weekend.
Miller wasn’t just good on Sunday — he was spectacular. Mixing his pitches with ease, he had Atlanta hitters guessing all afternoon. In all, it was a 96-pitch outing in which he gave up only three hits along the way. The lone blemish on his box score was Matt Olson‘s 44th home run, which the Braves slugger deposited into the visitor’s bullpen in the seventh. His line for the day: 7.0 IP, 3 H 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
“I knew I needed my best stuff and still, I don’t think the breaking balls were that great today,” said Miller after the outing. “But luckily, I had the changeup to keep them off the fastball a little bit.”
“Especially after getting our teeth kicked in the first three games, we really needed this one today and I was really locked in,” he continued. “I had a great feeling going into this game; probably the most locked in I have ever been so far.”
Dodger manager Dave Roberts was impressed with his rookie righthander, especially given the three-game skid that preceded Sunday’s game. “He was unfazed today by the opponent,” he said of Miller, “by the desire for us to win a baseball game and salvage [something from] the series. He felt it, but he wasn’t fazed by it.”
As far as the offense was concerned, the Dodgers couldn’t get much going against starter Charlie Morton until the fifth inning. After James Outman worked a leadoff walk, Miguel Rojas absolutely crushed a pitch, banging off the top of the wall in left centerfield for a double that easily scored Outman from first. When Rojas took third on an errant throw in from the outfield, Mookie Betts was gifted the hitter’s dream: a drawn-in infield. And it took every inch of that drawn-in positioning for Betts to get a hit. He hit a ball that bounced right in front of home plate and then took the mother of all hops over shortstop Orlando Arcia‘s head and into left field. Rojas scored from third and it was 2-0 Dodgers.
After the Olson dinger cut the Dodger advantage to 2-1, the Dodgers got some much needed insurance in the bottom of the eighth, when James Outman sneaked a single through the infield for a two-out RBI. Shelby Miller and Brusdar Graterol were not at their best, but both pitchers hung a zero on the scoreboard to finish up the game.
And so ends the Braves/Dodgers season series. This year, the Braves won the series 4-3, capturing one game back in Atlanta and then the three in a row this weekend. When you add it all up, the Dodgers outscored the Braves in the season series 34-30, but came up on the losing end of three very close games that made all the difference. And now… we wait until October.
The Dodgers have an off-day on Monday as they travel to the East Coast, and will start their six-game road trip in Miami before heading to Washington to face the Nats. So, time to sneak out of work early this week, cuz we got some EDT baseball to watch! First game of the series in Miami has a 3:40 pm first pitch. It’s going to be a battle of lefties: Clayton Kershaw vs. Jesus Luzardo. Here we go… baseball is always better after Labor Day!
