The Los Angeles Dodgers were back at Dodger Stadium and welcomed the Atlanta Braves to town for the start of a nine-game homestand on Monday night, which began with a 5-3 victory that improved them to 23-14 on the season.
The Dodgers’ offense was as methodical as ever against Braves starter Kevin Gausman early, not hitting any balls out of the ballpark but touching him up for four runs in the first three innings.
Los Angeles then added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a double down the right-field line by Chris Taylor, who finished the game 2-for-4. Taylor has been seeing the ball much better as of late as he is 9-for-17 in the last four games.
The early runs were in support of Walker Buehler, who turned in one of his best starts of the season. Buehler gave up a pair of home runs late to Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis, but overall got through seven innings while allowing just five hits and three runs, striking out eight, which ties a season-high.
Kenley Jansen was unavailable in the series opener against the Braves after pitching in all three games over the weekend against the San Diego Padres. So it was young left-hander Julio Urias that was tasked with recording his first career Major League save.
Urias delivered a 1-2-3 inning to complete the Dodgers’ victory. His fastball touched 98 mph and he went through the heart of the Braves order rather easily.
