*Photo from AP News*
April 25. That's how long it had been since the Los Angeles Dodgers could say they were in first place in the NL West. Not all of it was their fault, most of it was because the San Francisco Giants are so good. But now, the Dodgers are back on top. Max Muncy homered, AJ Pollock hit the go ahead single, and the Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Wednesday night.
The Dodgers received some help last weekend from the Braves, who won two of 3 games they played against the Giants to win the series. But, this series, the Braves were no friend, despite what they've done. So the Dodgers have just kept winning, after spending a total of 117 days out of first place.
On getting back into first place, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said "It's a start. We're getting there. I think that we just got to continue to play good baseball. There's a lot of baseball left, and I just like the way our guys are just so resilient and pick each other up."
Muncy got the Dodgers going almost immediately, cranking his 30th homer of the season in the first inning, a solo home run to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. In the 3rd inning, Austin Barnes got in on the fun with a solo home run to left field, and the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead. It stayed that way until the 7th inning, when Eddie Rosario hit a game tying two run home run for the Braves, knotting things up 2-2.
In the top of the 8th, the Braves took a 3-2 lead thanks to Dansby Swanson, who hit a go ahead solo home run to center field. In the bottom of the 8th, a single into left field by Justin Turner scored Trea Turner to tie the game. Soon after, Pollock singled into left field, scoring Turner to give the Dodgers a 4-3 lead, that was held on to.
Phil Bickford got the win for the Dodgers, moving to 3-1 on the season, after completing the 8th inning for Alex Vesia, who gave up the home run to Swanson. Max Scherzer started for the Dodgers, allowing 3 hits, walking no one and adding 9 punchouts over 6 shutout innings. Brusdar Graterol pitched the 7th, and Joe Kelly picked up his second save of the season to move the Dodgers into first.
Pollock said of returning to first place that "It feels great. Obviously, we're focusing on us and doing what we have to do and trying not to worry too much about what's going on outside of this locker room, but we knew if we took care of business that we'd be at the top."
The Braves fell to 2-6 in their last 8 games with the loss, after playing the New York Yankees, Giants, and Dodgers, with their only two wins coming against the Dodgers. Despite the recent swoon, the Braves still hold a two game lead in the NL East, ahead of the second place Phillies.
Chris Martin fell to 2-4 after taking the loss, and he blew his 4th save of the season, being charged with one of the two runs in the 8th inning, with Tyler Matzek charged with the other run. Max Fried had a strong start for the Braves, allowing two runs on 3 hits and one walk, with 9 punchouts in 6 innings. Richard Rodriguez pitched a clean 7th for the Braves.
\
Swanson said of the tough stretch of play that "I really think we just played a lot of playoff baseball. I feel like the teams we played were top teams. The Yankees were hot when they came to play us. Each game, we were in it. We just didn’t get a big hit or come up with a two-out base hit."
The Dodgers start a weekend series with the Giants on Friday, with David Price starting the series opener. The Braves face the Colorado Rockies tonight, where Touki Toussaint getting the start.
Comments
Post a Comment