There was no rest for the weary Thursday afternoon as the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers were back at Turner Field not long after Wednesday night’s extra-innings game. Clayton Kershaw and Matt Wisler were on the mound in the rubber match of the three-game series.
After Wisler struck out Chase Utley to open the game, Corey Seager reached on Adonis Garcia’s throwing error. Seager then stole second base on called strike three to Adrian Gonzalez. Joc Pederson, celebrating his 24th birthday and batting cleanup for the first time in his Major League career, gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single.
Drew Stubbs nearly made a sliding catch, but couldn’t control the ball. The lead didn’t last long as Erick Aybar led off the bottom of the first with a double. Daniel Castro’s RBI double tied the game, though Castro was thrown out at third base.
Wisler retired the Dodgers in order in the second inning, collecting his third strikeout of the game in the process. The Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the second behind base hits from Tyler Flowers, Jeff Francoeur and Stubbs.
Kershaw struck out Mallex Smith on three pitches, then got help from Utley, who made a diving stop to start an inning-ending double play. Wisler collected another strikeout as he tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the third.
Kershaw followed suit, bookending the inning with strikeouts to mark the first time he retired the Braves in order to that point. Gonzalez led off the fourth with a base hit to center, which was followed by Pederson beating the shift with an infield single to third base.
Both runners were stranded however, as Trayce Thompson struck out in a 10-pitch at-bat, and Kiké Hernandez and A.J. Ellis flied out.
CONTINUE READING: Clayton Kershaw throws 46 mph pitch, reaches double-digit strikeouts
Kershaw recorded two quick outs, even throwing a 46 mph curveball to Flowers in the bottom of the fourth. Francoeur and Stubbs combined for back-to-back two-out base hits and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Kershaw ended the inning with a strikeout of Smith.
Utley made a nice sliding stop and throw on a grounder up the middle to record the second out in the fifth. Kershaw then collected his sixth strikeout to send the game to the sixth inning, still tied at 1-1.
Wisler worked around a one-out single by Gonzalez and a two-out walk issued to Thompson to throw another scoreless inning. Freddie Freeman led off the bottom of the sixth with a base hit. Freeman was then thrown out attempting to advance on a pitch that momentarily kicked away from Ellis.
Freeman did beat the throw, but was came off the base and had his back leg blocked by Utley’s ankle while the veteran infielder applied the tag. However, had the Braves not lost their challenge, they may have been successful in getting the call overturned.
The play loomed large as Garcia dropped a flare single into right field that resulted in a double as Thompson overran the ball. Kershaw stranded Garcia by retiring Flowers and Francoeur. Garcia’s error allowed Ellis to reach to start the seventh.
Garcia then atoned for it by fielding a sharp grounder one pitch later to start a double play. Kershaw reached on a two-base error as Smith and Francoeur collided in right-center field. Wisler’s 115th pitch of the game was ball four to Utley, and the right-hander was removed.
Eric O’Flaherty entered and gave up a base hit to Seager, but Kershaw was thrown out at the plate by Francoeur to end the inning. Los Angeles challenged the call, which was upheld after a review that lasted nearly five minutes.
Kershaw struck out Smith a third time on the afternoon en route to throwing a 1-2-3 seventh inning. In getting through that frame, Kershaw completed at least seven innings in each of his first four outings to begin a season for the first time in his career.
Jim Johnson gave up a leadoff single to Gonzalez in the eighth, then got a force out at second base. Hernandez and pinch-hitter Yasmani Grandal both walked to load the bases with two outs. Justin Turner pinch hit for Charlie Culberson and lined out on the first pitch to end the threat.
Kershaw struck out Aybar and Castro in the eighth to reach 10 strikeouts in the game. Freeman kept the inning alive with a two-out walk, which was followed by a Garcia single to right field. Flowers left both runners on base as he hit a chopper to Turner for the third out.
Utley hit a one-out double off Ardonys Vizcaino in the ninth inning. He was advanced to third base on a Seager grounder, then Vizcaino intentionally walked Gonzalez. Pederson struck out swinging and the game remained tied at 1-1.
Chris Hatcher entered in the bottom of the ninth and set the Braves down in order. Grandal followed Hernandez’s one-out single in the 10th with a go-ahead double to center field. Kenley Jansen worked around a one-out double to convert the save opportunity in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win.