With a record of 33-23, the Los Angeles Dodgers will visit the Atlanta Braves in a weekend three-game series for the first time since last year’s NLCS.
As we know, the Dodgers fell behind 3-1 to the Braves in the 2020 NLCS before ultimately coming back to win the series 4-3 on their way to a World Championship.
The Braves are currently 26-28, but are only 3.5 games back out of first place in the NL Central. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are in third place in the West. The Dodgers will have to execute a perfect game plan to contain the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr.
Acuna has arguably been one of the best players in the majors for the past couple of seasons. He currently is tied for the most home runs in the league with 17. He’s also batting .290 and figures to be a starter in the All-Star Game.
The Dodgers just took two of three from the Cardinals, so they will look to win another series, this time on the road. On Thursday, Los Angeles activated right-handed pitcher Jimmy Nelson and outfielder AJ Pollock from the injured list. To make room on the active roster, the team optioned relievers Edwin Uceta and Alex Vesia to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers.
The Dodgers figure to get healthier in the next couple of games as pitchers Tony Gonsolin and Brusdar Graterol finish up their respective rehab stints.
To begin this road trip, left-hander Julio Urias will get the first start, followed by Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer. The Braves will send right-handers Ian Anderson and Charlie Morton to the mound and left-hander Max Fried to close it out.
Urias was roughed up in his last start against the Giants, as he gave up six earned runs and allowed 11 hits in an even five innings. He still has had quite a nice season overall, going 7-2 with a 3.61 ERA. Atlanta’s Anderson took the loss in his last outing against the Mets, throwing four innings while allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk.
Kershaw also struggled against the Giants in his last start, surrendering five runs over six innings. Kershaw will go up against Morton, who the Dodgers faced in the World Series last year. The veteran right-hander this season is 4-2 and has posted a 4.26 ERA. To close it out, Bauer will oppose Fried, who the Dodgers have seen multiple times in recent seasons. Fried is 2-3 this year and has posted a 5.35 ERA.
The Dodgers look to continue their success from Wednesday when they erupted for 11 runs in the first inning. Cody Bellinger looked like his former MVP self going off for six RBI. The Dodgers also hope to ride the hot bats of Chris Taylor and Max Muncy. Taylor leads the Dodgers in average this season at .281. Muncy leads the Dodgers in home runs with 13 and in RBIs with 30.
For the Braves their hottest hitters are Acuna and Austin Riley, who leads the team with a .302 average.
The series will being Friday with the first pitch scheduled for 4:20 p.m. Pacific.
Well, this lineup seems to be doing just fine so far. I got to the point where I was contemplating another 11 run inning.
On the other hand Muncy left with an ankle problem. If we wind up trading Pollock for Max, that’s probably not going to be a good trade. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.
Julio settled down after making way too many pitches in the first inning. Dodgers could not figure out Anderson at all. Poor guy gives up 1 hit and loses the game. Almost another no hitter last night in Milwaukee. Baseball has to do something about the lack of offense and the increasing strikeout total, so their solution is checking baseballs for foreign substances???? Pitchers have been cheating for years. The new ball has something to do with it. But mainly it is the way hitters approach hitting these days. All about launch angle. Situational hitting is the last thing on their minds. Cannot wait for the electronic strike zone and the return of the DH. If hitters learned to go the other way instead of trying to pull everything, you listening Muncy>>>???? Then there would be less shifting.
1914 Babe Ruth pre rookie card sold for 6 million dollars. Passed the 5.2 mil for a Mantle card earlier this year. Both of those far more than the 4 mil paid for the very rare Honus Wagner card by Bruce McNall and Wayne Gretzky years ago.
What’s your most prized card Bear?
Just watched Moneyball for the twentyteenth time. Still a good movie. Aaron Sorkin had a hand in the screenplay.
I say give the pitchers protective gear and let the hitters use altered bats. A little Pelican Grip will help get those 2800 rpm over the plate and a corked maple bat, that is just a little bigger, say a 3” diameter instead of 2.61, will launch homers 450’ with regularity. Give the fans what they pay out their asses for – Sky King home runs and spin rates over 3000.
My 1959 complete set of Dodgers. All original cards. Koufax, Big D, Snider, Hodges were the most expensive. Art Fowler and Gene Snyder the hardest to find. They never made a Wills card because Maury did not sign with Topps until he was traded to the Pirates. Only cards of him you could get were the Bell Brand cards. Just recently a company started putting out cards of the guys who did not have one as Dodgers that year, Essegian, Sherry, Wills, Chuck Churn. I got them all. My brother gave me a bunch of Yankee bobbleheads while I was home, Mantle, Maris, Ford, DiMaggio, Ruth, Gehrig. Pretty cool stuff. The Mantle show’s him wearing a crown for his triple crown year. I watched 61 the other day. Pretty good movie about Maris and Mantle. Billy Crystal directed it.
That would be the NL East, not Central