Tony Gonsolin turned in one of the best starts of his career and Freddie Freeman provided the Los Angeles Dodgers with an early lead in their 5-1 win over the Atlanta Braves to take the rubber match at Dodger Stadium.
Gonsolin didn’t have command of his fastball but still managed to keep the Braves without a hit until Manny Piña led off the sixth inning with an infield single that beat the shift. Up to that point Atlanta had only mustered two walks.
Gonsolin nevertheless got through six scoreless innings with just the one hit and three walks allowed. The outing was his longest since also going six innings against the L.A. Angels on Sept. 26, 2020.
One night after Max Fried flirted with a perfect game, the Dodgers quickly jumped on Charlie Morton. Mookie Betts ended an 0-for-13 drought with a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning, which was followed by Freeman hitting a home run on a line drive that skipped off the wall in right field and carried into the pavilion.
Freeman entered the series against his former teammates without a homer, and went on to hit two in three games.
Edwin Ríos also hit a home run off Morton, with his solo shot in the fifth inning extending the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0.
Then in the sixth, Cody Bellinger continued adding to what’s been an encouraging showing at the plate of late. Having already legged out a hustle double earlier in the game, Bellinger pulled a curveball down the right-field line for an RBI triple.
The multi extra-base hit game was Bellinger’s third of the season, which is more than the two he had in both 2021 and 2020. Furthermore, it gave Bellinger a sixth multi-hit game this year, which he had only eight of last season.
Dodgers added on without big inning
An early theme for the Dodgers this season has been the lineup exploding for a big inning. That wasn’t the case Wednesday, but with Justin Turner’s RBI single in the fifth, they scored one run in three consecutive innings.
Being able to have a more even distribution of runs was an area manager Dave Roberts, Freeman and Turner all acknowledged needed to improve.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
