Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — How about next time, we DON’T spot the Braves a six-run lead, mmmmkay? For the second straight night, a Dodger starter has been rocked by this hard-hitting Atlanta team, and for a second straight night, a late inning comeback fell short. This one was not nearly as dramatic as the series opener. In fact, the 6-3 loss to the Bravos was something of a bummer.
This time it was Julio Urias who took it on the chin. After a few solid starts in August, it seems like Urías is struggling once again, and against a team that is chasing the single-season record for homers, that’s not a good place to be. Travis d’Arnaud homered. Ronald Acuna Jr. homered. Marcel Ozuna homered. And a bunch of other bad stuff happened, and by the time Urías exited the game, it was 5-0 Braves. The final line for the night for Urías: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
“Obviously I didn’t pitch the way that I wanted to pitch,” Urías said in Spanish after the game. “I gave it all my all, but I failed and now I just have to pitch better the next time out.”
“Julio wasn’t sharp,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “There were a lot of pitches middle-middle. There wasn’t a whole lot of chase or swing-and-miss. Obviously these guys can hit it out of the ballpark. If you make a mistake, that’s what’s going to happen.”
Meanwhile, the Dodgers just couldn’t get anything going against SoCal native Max Fried. Fried pitched seven innings of shutout ball, and he had the hot-hitting Dodgers flailing around at the plate for most of the night. After being on the shelf for most of the summer, Fried’s resurgence in the final weeks of the season gives Dodger fans one more reason to fear an October matchup with Atlanta.
There was a brief glimmer of hope in the bottom of the eighth when new Dodger Kolten Wong (recently let go by the Mariners) walloped a screamer of a three-run homer down the right field line. A few batters later and the Dodgers had the tying run at the plate. Unfortunately, David Peralta was rung up on a bad call and Chris Taylor went down swinging and the score stayed where it would remain for the rest of the night: 6-3 Braves.
So after taking two of three in Atlanta, these first two games in LA raise serious questions on the Dodgers ability to pitch with the Big Boys of the NL East. Strider and Fried were both clearly better than Lynn and Urías. And given Clayton Kershaw‘s spotty postseason resume, you have to wonder if the 2023 Dodgers have the starters to make a deep run. Yes, Walker Buehler is nearing a return, but as with Dustin May last season, you never know what you’re going to get with someone coming off a yearlong rehab. Will the Dodgers have enough to make it back to the Fall Classic? Insert shrugging emoji here.
Game three of the series is on Saturday evening, a 6:10 pm start time. Rather than throwing Clayton Kershaw in one of these final two games, the Dodgers have opted to go with a bullpen game of some sort on Saturday night. The Dodger bats will try to wake up from their slumber against righty Bryce Elder (11-4, 3.50 ERA). In order to win the season series the Dodgers will have to take two in a row from the Braves. Doable, but not with this pitching. Let’s go, boys. Time to buck up.
