The Los Angeles Dodgers had their 11-game win streak snapped at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, who in turn ended a three-game losing streak. Despite the loss, the Dodgers remain comfortably ahead in the National League West standings and still with the best record in baseball.
They’ll look to bounce back Friday night behind Alex Wood in what’s his first start against the Braves since being traded in 2015. Wood has been one of baseball’s best pitchers this season, as he 11-0 to go with a 1.56 ERA, 2.04 FIP and 0.88 WHIP in 16 games (14 starts).
He leads all pitchers who have thrown at least 60 innings in ERA, and enters the night 9.1 innings shy of qualifying for the ERA title. The 26-year-old has 101 strikeouts compared to just 23 walks in 86.2 innings pitched.
Los Angeles has not lost a game started by Wood since April 25, and in that span he is 10-0 with a 1.34 ERA in 11 starts.
Squaring off against Wood is Jaime Garcia, who was nearly traded to the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. The Braves flew out Aaron Blair to Los Angeles from Triple-A Gwinnett in the event Garcia was traded.
Trade speculation continued to swirl throughout Friday, but the veteran left-hander presses ahead in his scheduled start. Garcia has made 17 starts thus far in what’s his first season with the Braves, going 3-7 with a 4.33 ERA, 4.24 FIP and 1.33 WHIP.
The 31-year-old has faced the Dodgers six times in his career, starting five of those games, and going 2-2 with a 4.61 ERA and 1.50 WHIP.
Chris Taylor is tied with Dustin Pedroia of the Boston Red Sox for most hits in baseball since the All-Star break. Taylor is 14-for-25 (.560 batting average) with five multi-hit efforts in six games during the unofficial second half of the season.
Corey Seager has quietly amassed a 10-game hit streak, going 1-for-4 in nine contests and 3-for-4 in one other. Two of his hits have been home runs and Seager has collected seven RBIs during the hitting streak.
Braves leadoff man Ender Inciarte is swinging a hot bat in the month of July. In 15 games he’s hitting .318/.357/.485 with two home runs, eight RBIs and 14 runs scored.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Chris Taylor
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
2B: Logan Forsythe
CF: Kiké Hernandez
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Alex Wood
Braves lineup:
CF: Ender Inciarte
2B: Johan Camargo
1B: Freddie Freeman
LF: Matt Kemp
C: Tyler Flowers
RF: Nick Markakis
3B: Sean Rodriguez
SS: Dansby Swanson
P: Jaime Garcia
