Mike Salas
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA – Blake Snell took the mound for his second start at Dodger Stadium on 5-day’s rest, and it was not good. Snell struggled with his command, and it seemed he let the umpire get in his head after some bad calls. But in the end, it didn’t matter. Dodger fans waited in line since 5:00 am to get their Shohei Ohtani MVP bobblehead and then watched Shohei crush a ball to center field for a walk-off home run.
In the first inning, the Braves got on the board first with walks by Snell and poor throwing by Max Muncy. Muncy’s mechanics did not help in the second inning either, with a bad throw to first base on a routine bunt scoring another run for the Bravos. The Dodgers continued to fall apart in the top of the second inning. Braves laid down a bunt to first base, and Snell could not cover the base, and Andy Pages dropped a routine fly ball, scoring another runner. The Braves added two more runs, with Matt Olson hitting a double that scored two. At the end of their at bat, the Braves led the Dodgers 5-0.
However, the comeback began promptly. Tommy Edman put one over the center field wall in the bottom of the second to put the Dodgers on the board and to stop the bleeding.
In the top of the third, Snell finally pitched a clean inning, with the defense making a few plays. Snell was sitting on 68 pitches and one strikeout after the top of the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, Michael Conforto hit his first home run as a Dodger. He crushed the ball over the center field wall, getting the Dodgers to within two runs of the Braves.
In the top of the fifth inning, Blake Snell’s night was done, as he was replaced by Ben Casparius. Snell ended the night with 80P / 45S / 4IP / 5H / 5R / 4BB / 2K with very few swings and misses.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Dodgers had a good opportunity to add runs to the scoreboard. With a Conforto walk, Edman hit a shallow base hit to right field. Conforto did not stay at second and tried for third and was easily thrown out for the second out. Muncy came up to bat with Edman on first and continued his struggles at the plate, striking out to the end of the inning.
The bullpen gave the offense plenty of chances to put runs on the board. Kirby Yates, Ben Casparius, and Jack Dreyer pitched three scoreless innings, keeping the Dodgers in the game. In the bottom of the eighth, Max Muncy put his torpedo bat back in the box and used his old lumber me to scorch a line drive to right-center field, scoring two to tie the game up 5-5.
In the bottom of the ninth, Shoehei came up to bat and crushed the first pitch over the center field wall for a walk-off home run on his bobblehead night. The Dodgers become the first team in history to start the season 8-0 after winning the World Series.
The Dodgers have a travel day tomorrow and start a three-game series in Philly. The game starts at 3:45 PST and can be seen on Apple TV.
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