Dodgers 8, Braves 1: Bobby Miller impresses and gets win in debut, bats take advantage of early error

After a brief skid against the Cardinals that saw their streak of six series victories in a row snapped, the Dodgers have now won the first two against the Braves to take this series thanks to a 8-1 victory tonight.

Of course, a hopeful debut was the star today.

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Spencer Strider is just about as good a pitcher as you’ll find in baseball today, and the Dodgers were up for the challenge immediately. Mookie Betts led the game off with a double down the line in left, and he advanced to third on a grounder that moved him over from Freddie Freeman. Against a drawn-in infield, Will Smith poked a groundball right up the middle to make it 1-0.

That lead didn’t last long, though. As far as MLB debuts go, Bobby Miller got a tough assignment. Things started well with two quick outs, but a single and then an Austin Riley double on an 0-2 fastball tied the game at 1-1.

Fortunately, the Dodgers came right back in the 2nd against Strider. Jason Heyward stepped up and took the first pitch he saw back in Atlanta in a Dodgers uniform deep to right for his 5th homer of the year and a 2-1 lead.

A pair of strikeouts followed that, but then Miguel Rojas hit a grounder to first off his hands and Matt Olson literally kicked it into the wall for an error.

That didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but it became one after Mookie drew a seven-pitch walk, both runners advanced on a wild pitch, they issued an intentional walk against Freddie, and Dills made them pay with a two-run single to push the lead to 4-1.

Olson truly is the MVP here, because the Dodgers didn’t get much else against Strider, who worked through the 6th and gave up just a walk and a single from the 3rd through 6th frames.

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Credit to Miller, who never really looked out of place. He worked around a lead-off single in the 2nd, a lead-off walk and stolen base in the 3rd, and a one-out double and wild pitch in the 4th with some help from Max Muncy.

In the 5th, well past his season high in pitches, he had his best inning. It was the first 1-2-3 frame of his career, and he punctuated it with a pair of strikeouts.

That it was a quality start is a bonus, but getting through five is great: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 95 Pitches.

In relief of him was Yency Almonte for the second straight game, and I continue to pray he has found whatever was ailing him. While it took him 20 pitches, he struck out the side in order in the 6th and certainly looked like his 2022 self at times.

As the Braves pen entered for Strider, so did the runs return for the Dodgers. Betts again got things started with a lead-off walk in the 7th, a Smith single (his third hit) put a pair of runners on, and Muncy came through by drilling a ball off the wall in right for a single to plate a run. The combination of Acuna out there and the hard carom kept it from a better result, but it was 5-1 nevertheless.

In the 7th, Brusdar Graterol entered and lowered his ERA to 2.18 after a scoreless inning. He gave up a single and also did … whatever this is.

Following him, it was Evan Phillips against the heart of the Braves order in the 8th, and he worked around a two-out walk and wild pitch to put up a 0.

Meanwhile, the Braves pen worked around an error to start the 8th, but the 9th made this an easy one. A one-out single from Freeman was followed by a two-out walk from Muncy and then J.D. Martinez smashed a three-run shot to left, his 9th of the year to make it 8-1.

To close things out, it was Victor Gonzalez, who got a fly out, ground out, and strikeout to end it.

——

Marcell Ozuna hit Will Smith again, lol. Christ.

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NL WESTRECORD
Dodgers31-19
Diamondbacks29-20 (1.5 GB)

*Either still playing or will play later.

The series concludes tomorrow at 1:20 PM HT/4:20 PM PT/7:20 PM ET with Tony Gonsolin (1.13 ERA/3.45 xERA/5.21 DRA) facing Bryce Elder (2.06/4.57/4.13). Probably their best matchup of the series, so I’m terrified because baseball.

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"A highly rational Internet troll." - Los Angeles Times