On a night that will be remembered as the debut of both Ozzie Albies and Lucas Sims, the final result was not a favorable one for the Atlanta Braves. The team never led on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers and, much like the misery in Philadelphia over the weekend, Atlanta fell by a final score of 3-2.
Sims performed admirably in his first MLB start, allowing three runs (and six baserunners) across six innings of work. The young right-hander did not yield a single walk, though he only struck out three, and Sims’ performance was strong enough to keep the Braves competitive.
However, the scoring began with two doubles (from Yasiel Puig and Chris Taylor) in the third inning and it was quickly followed by a Cody Bellinger leadoff home run in the fourth. From there, the Dodgers would tack on an insurance run in the fifth after a throwing error from Tyler Flowers behind the plate and that, as they say, was that.
On the offensive side, Albies’ debut was a relatively quiet one, as he finished the evening without a hit but the speedy prospect did reach base on a leadoff walk in the eighth inning. Overall, though, the Braves managed very little in the way of offensive production before (and after) Johan Camargo’s two-run blast, that plated Albies, in the eighth.
That swing did provide a glimmer of hope in the form of a one-run deficit and Brandon Phillips then singled to place a runner on base with no one out in the inning. On cue, Ender Inciarte was asked to bunt, bringing Danny Santana (inexplicably hitting in the No. 2 hole) to the plate. Both Santana and Freddie Freeman recorded outs and the final threat was vanquished.
Of note, Matt Adams, who made his first start in left field, exited the game in the sixth with what the team described as dizziness. Elsewhere, Camargo was the only member of the lineup to record an extra-base hit and that paints an accurate picture.
The Braves and Dodgers will be back in action on Wednesday evening, with Julio Teheran facing off against former Atlanta left-hander Alex Wood.
