Aug 30-Sep 1: Big series vs hot Braves, especially after losing a series to worst team at home. We need our bats to come alive.
Game 1- Muncy comes alive and smokes a high fastball (his fav) for a 1-0 lead. (Muncy won’t see another fastball.) Rest of Dodgers look like Little Leaguers trying to hit a curveball. But they sure can hit high fastballs, as Will Smith continues his homerun tear with a solo: 2-0. Then even El Torito Urias gets a taco — line drive hit. Turner reaches out for a low curve and scores a hit (didn’t try to pull it!). Muncy ends it on a comebacker off a curve (duh). All Betts are on for Mookie Bobblehead (and his mom) for a 3rd solo jack in the 3rd: 3-0. And next a 2-run homer, as Seager bangs a hanger going with it to LF: matching Seager’s number (5). Seager up again in the 5th and gets wrung up on a check swing (correct call). Seager (I repeat) up again in the 8th gets another hit. Will Smith ropes one to LF looking like a double, but Will gets picked rounding 1B (yet again) to end the inning (cardinal sin).
Pitching: Urias dominates at start with K of first 3/4 batters, and is perfect through 4. Julio gives up a pair of hits in the 5th but survives. Then appears to tire in the 6th, as the Braves start playing jacks too — 2 of them (last one a cookie to Freddy). Julio barely survives the 6th and appears done. Now 5-2. Reliable Bickford for the 7th gives up the Braves’ 3rd solo (6th solo of game) on a high fastball (bad pitch call) to powerful Duvall (who ties Muncy at 29 for 2nd in NL). Now 5-3. Can the Dodgers hold on? Strange play ensues: Braves batter called for interference as Smith’s attempt to throw out a baserunner at 2B goes into CF. All good, but umps can’t figure out the latest version of the rule: who is out, the runner or batter? After review, they get it right: batter is out, runner has to go back to 1B.
We go to the 9th 5-3. Treinen still in after getting out FF, gets 1st out, but then gives up 2 hits. Nail biter with slugger Duvall up, Blake goes full and gets him looking on a masterful front-door slider. End of Home Run Derby (all 8 runs scored by homers).
Game 2- Nice catch of long fly in RF by Mookie to save a cheap homer. (Mookie should have gone all the way to the fence first, so as to not bang into it — “find the fence”.) 2nd inning JT leadoff double and stays there, as Morton strikes out the side — with both Smith and AJ looking at fastball after fastball (swing!). 3rd sees a Joc pop (what’s with the blond hair?) to deep RF on a tomahawk of a very high fastball — 1-0. Belli squares one up finally but pulls it into the shift. Dodgers finally score in the 4th on yet another solo, kiss by Mookie: 2-1. But Dodgers leave 2 on. 5th: Belli rinse and repeat hitting into the shift (at least he is hitting it hard and not popping up). Dodgers quiet 6th, but score the tying run on a PH CT3 sac fly in 7th. In the 8th, Mookie, after a walk, scores all the way from 1B on a Seager double to the gap to take a 3-2 lead.
Pitching: Buehler good through 2, Joc pop in 3rd, then 2 cheap hits for another run in 4th: 2-0. Walker leaves Joc stranded at 3B in the 5th on a great curve K. Walker clean through 7. The Great Treinen strikes out the side in the 8th on wicked sliders. Now here comes Jansen for the save: Jams hot Riley; K D’Arneau on cutters; K Swansby on sliders. Dodgers hold on for 3-2 win. Squeaker. Too bad Buehler didn’t get the win (Treinen did).
Game 3 (for the sweep)- Sweeping a hot Atlanta would be a big deal. Muncy starts it off with his 30th homer off Braves ace (and Harvard-Westlake grad) Max Fried. Then in the 3rd, an unlikely solo from Barnes, followed by a triple by Muncy (high off the wall for the hard half of the cycle), who is stranded: 2-0. In the 7th, Dodgers get 2 on, 2 out, and send up Belli to PH, but he grounds out (predictable). In the 8th, the Dodgers get a leadoff double by Trea, who makes it to 3B with 2 outs, but finally the Dodgers get 2 big-time hits with RISP — by JT, walk to Seager, single by AJ for a 4-3 lead.
Pitching: Max Scherzer strong with a 3-hit shutout through 6. But he is removed due to a tight hamstring. Graterol takes the hill in the 7th, but gets ambushed on a 100 fastball for a 2-run homer by Rosario to tie the game at 2. Vesia for the 8th, also gets ambushed for a jack, this time by Swanson for a solo: 3-2 Braves. After the Dodgers re-take the lead 4-3, Joe Kelly is called upon for the save, and he retires them in order. The Dodgers win 4-3 for the sweet sweep.