Bellinger reaches 30, but Dodgers befuddled by Braves
By Cary Osborne
The Braves are the Dodgers’ anomaly.
At 49–57, 11 games out of first place in the National League East and 11 games out of the Wild Card, the Braves have limited the most dominant team in baseball.
The Dodgers’ nine-game winning streak and a Major League record 53-game winning streak when leading at any point during a game ended on Wednesday with a 5–3 loss in Atlanta. The Braves are one of four teams that have outscored the Dodgers in their combined matchups this season. Atlanta has outscored the Dodgers 31–23 this season — far and away the largest run differential. And the Dodgers have been limited to three runs in for of the six matchups.
Since July 4, the Dodgers are 17–0 against teams not named the Braves. They are 3–3 against the Braves.
“They’re a scrappy bunch,” said Dodger manager Dave Roberts to SportsNetLA’s Alanna Rizzo. “They have some athletic ability and with (Freddie) Freeman in the middle of the order — he was on base three times tonight — we only put together six hits, couldn’t get a lot of baserunners and really couldn’t put things together tonight.”
The Dodgers took a 3–2 lead in the fifth inning on an RBI single by Chase Utley, but the Braves tied it with a Freeman RBI single of Ross Stripling in the bottom of the fifth.
The score was tied 3–3 in the bottom of the eighth and Pedro Baez earned the first two outs of the inning. He then walked Johan Camargo and allowed a two-run, pinch-hit home run to Tyler Flowers, giving the Braves a 5–3 lead.
Prior to the home run, Baez led all Major League relievers in ERA since Sept. 1, 2016 (minimum 40 appearances) at 1.11. His ERA jumped to 1.42 since Sept. 1. Kenley Jansen is now the leader since that date at 1.38 with Baez now occupying second.
The Dodgers are now 40–7 since June 7.
Bellinger reaches 30
The Dodgers got on the board in the second inning with Cody Bellinger’s 30th home run of the year — a solo shot off Atlanta starter Julio Teheran. He reached the mark in his 87th game.
The only players in Major League history to reach 30 homers quicker are Detroit’s Rudy York (79 games, 1934 and 1937) and Oakland’s Mark McGwire (84 games, 1986–87). Bellinger is the second Dodger ever to reach 30 homers in his rookie season — joining Mike Piazza who hit 35 in 1993 (in 149 games).
Bellinger is the 28th rookie all time to hit at least 30 homers in a season. Fifteen of those players have won the Rookie of the Year Award. Bellinger is one of 10 rookies 22 or younger to reach at least 30 homers in a season.
Stewart now has an ERA
Brock Stewart got the start and went four innings, allowing three hits, three walks and two earned runs while striking out one. Stewart came into the game with a 0.00 ERA, having allowed zero earned runs in 16 2/3 innings. The ERA is now at 0.87.
Wood goes in the finale
Alex Wood gets the start in Wednesday’s series finale.
Wood allowed seven earned runs in 4 2/3 innings to his former team on July 21 at Dodger Stadium. Prior to that start, he had a 0.87 ERA in his previous 10 starts — which the Dodgers all won.
