The Dodgers have the best record in the majors and are in the midst of one of the greatest two-month runs in major league history, but the Braves must look at that and go, pfft. Because the Braves, of all teams, have made them look like mere mortals during that otherwise torrid stretch.
Tyler Flowers hit a two-run, two-out pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning Wednesday to lift the Braves to a 5-3 win against the Dodgers at SunTrust Park, their third win in two weeks against a Dodgers team that has lost to no other team since July 4.
You read that right: The Dodgers have lost only three times in 23 games since July 4, and all three were against the Braves, who also got a two-run homer from Danny Santana on Wednesday on their way to evening the three-game series at one apiece and the season series at three games apiece.
The Dodgers had an 11-game winning streak before the Braves won consecutive games July 20-21 to start a four-game series at Dodger Stadium, and they had a nine-game winning streak between those consecutive defeats and Wednesday’s loss before a crowd of 28,107 SunTrust Park.
Their win in Tuesday’s series opener made it the fastest the Dodgers reached 75 wins in franchise history, and they entered Wednesday on a jaw-dropping 40-6 run that was the best 46-game stretch in franchise history and best in the majors since the 1941 Yankees also had a 40-6 run. To which the Braves can shrug their shoulders and say, meh.
The Braves have won only four of their past 16 games, but three of those wins came against the Dodgers. Go Figure.
The Braves, who took an early 2-1 lead on Santana’s two-run homer in the second inning, had a chance to reclaim the lead in the seventh inning when former Braves lefty Luis Avilan walked Freddie Freeman and Kurt Suzuki consecutively with two out and the score tied, 3-3. Nick Markakis followed with a single that glanced off Avilan’s leg and nearly got through to center field, but was stopped by second baseman Logan Forsythe.
The ball was stopped but Freeman was not – third-base coach Ron Washington sent Freeman all the way from second base and he was thrown out easily at the plate for the third out in the inning.
Braves starter Julio Teheran was charged with four hits, three runs and no walks in five innings and exited early with cramping in his right thigh after throwing just 64 pitches. He tweaked the leg on a fourth-inning at-bat, but stayed in the game after being checked by a trainer, then seemed to have no issue fielding Yasmani Grandal’s bunt and throwing to first base for the out when the Dodgers tested Teheran to start the fifth inning.
Cody Bellinger’s second-inning homer was the rookie sensation’s 30th of the season and the 27th allowed by Teheran to match the career high he set in 2015 in 33 starts. He’s given up that many in 22 starts this season.
It was also the seventh homer allowed by Teheran in a span of 13 innings over three starts, including three homers in 6 1/3 innings of a 6-2 loss to the Dodgers on July 22. He gave up three more homers and eight earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings of a 10-3 loss at Philadelphia on Friday.
So when he gave up the homer to Bellinger, the fourth batter he faced Wednesday, there was reason for concern, especially given Teheran’s season-long struggles at SunTrust Park. Before Wednesday he was 1-7 with a 7.05 ERA in 10 home starts compared to 6-2 with a 3.57 ERA in 11 road starts.
But after the Bellinger homer, Teheran retired six of the next seven batters before hitting Chris Taylor with an 0-2 pitch to start the fourth inning.
The Braves, meanwhile, took a 2-1 lead when Santana answered Bellinger’s homer with a two-run shot on the next pitch after Markakis’s one-out walk in the second inning. They were the first two earned runs allowed by Dodgers starter Brock Stewart, who made his second start after six scoreless relief appearances.
Stewart gave up a walk and a single to the next two batters after the Santana homer, but Ender Inciarte struck out with two in scoring position to end the inning after Teheran’s sacrifice bunt.
The Dodgers tied the score in the fourth after Teheran hit Taylor to start the inning. He stolen second base, advanced to third on a Bellinger fly-out to right and scored on Joc Pederson’s ground-out to first baseman Freeman, who made a nice diving stop to catch the ball near the base but had no chance to make a play at home with the speedy Taylor going on contact.
The lead went back to the Dodgers in the fifth inning after Yasiel Puig doubled and scored on Chase Utley’s two-out single, but the Braves answered with a tying run again in the bottom of the fifth after Inciarte hit a leadoff single, advanced on a ground-out and scored on Freeman’s one-out single.
Teheran snapped a string of three losses in his past three starts but still has only one win in six decisions over his past eight starts. He’s 1-5 with a 5.52 ERA and 11 homers allowed in 45 2/3 innings over that span.
