The Los Angeles Dodgers completed a sweep of the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday with their 9-4 victory at Dodger Stadium. The series was relatively one-sided, as Los Angeles outscored Atlanta, 23-7, in the three-game matchup.
Though he wasn’t at his best, Clayton Kershaw improved to 2-0 on the season with a respectable outing against one of the National League’s most well-rounded lineups. In 6.2 innings of work, he allowed four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts.
One of Kershaw’s lone blemishes in the contest was a hanging curveball left over the middle of the plate that Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. sent over the center field wall for a two-run homer in the fourth inning.
Kershaw would regroup and yield just two more runs over the remainder of his outing. After the game, he offered high praise for the Braves and believes they should be considered a threat in the NL East.
“Yeah, I think so,” Kershaw said, on the Braves being a factor in the National League East. “I think so. I think the Braves are a really solid team.
“Their lineup one through eight doesn’t change a whole lot, they’ve got pretty much the same guys in there with the exception of catcher for the most part. It’s a great lineup all the way up and down. They’re going to be right in it over there in the East. It feels good to sweep them here at home, for sure.”
For as well as the Dodgers are playing, it’s always satisfying to come away with a solid series win against a playoff-caliber team such as the Braves.
The two teams previously faced off in the 2018 NL Division Series, to which the Dodgers were victorious in four games. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts believes his club was again solid against a formidable Braves team.
“I think it was,” Roberts said of the Dodgers’ complete effort. “I think you can look at this series and look at is as team wins. That’s a really good club over there, it really is.
“You’re talking about starting pitching, guys in the ‘pen, making plays defensively, running the bases, timely hitting, creating stress by taking walks. It was just a really well-played series.”
The Dodgers and Braves will face off one additional time during the regular season, for a three-game series at SunTrust Park beginning on Aug. 16.
