LOS ANGELES, CA — And so the long-awaited showdown between the two best teams in baseball in the regular season begins tonight at Dodger Stadium. Is it a do-or-die situation for either team? Not a chance. Both clubs will win their division and likely will meet again in the NLCS. Both clubs won over 100 games last year and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. They look determined not to let that happen again.
Dodger starter Lance Lynn owns a 10-9 record over 26 starts, with a 5.56 ERA. He will face Atlanta for the eighth time in his career, where he is 4-3 with a 3.32 ERA. He last faced Atlanta on July 15, 2023, with the White Sox, going 5.1 innings and giving up six hits, four runs, and three walks while striking out six in the win.
Braves starter Spencer Strider, 15-4, 3.46 ERA, 236 strikeouts, is an altogether different animal. He dominates with a heavy supply of 98-100 mph fastballs and 86 mph sliders.
Spencer Strider in Braves dugout during recent August road stand – Image Credit: Simon Lindenblatt/Latino Sports
Strider has allowed just seven hits and one run over his last three games. He has 25 strikeouts with six walks during that span and has gone seven innings each start.
The Braves exploded in the second inning with six runs. Lynn walked the first run in after a hit, hit batter infield hit and walk. Then Ronald Acuña Jr., La Guaira, Venezuela, launched a 429-foot bomb into the left-field pavilion for a grand slam. It was the third grand slam of his career, and he is now the first player in major league history to have 30 home runs and 60 stolen bases in a season.
.@RonaldAcunaJr24 just SLAMMED his way into the record books. pic.twitter.com/7FDZBc8H57
— MLB (@MLB) September 1, 2023
Austin Riley also homer with a 407-foot shot into the left-center-field pavilion. Lynn Allowed seven earned runs and three home runs over 4.1 innings. Michael Harris would tack on another run with a solo homer in the top of the fifth inning.
The Dodgers were not finished though, as Mookie Betts parked a three-run home run into the right-field pavilion off of Strider. He then added a solo shot into the left-field pavilion for number 38 on the year after Michael Bush hit a home run into the right-field seats.
MOOKIE AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/oOWwdDeGDd
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 1, 2023
Betts now has 51 hits for the month of August. The most hits in franchise history in any month since the Dodgers have been in LA.
Then Max Muncy’s home run in the bottom of the eighth inning made it 8-7 Braves. Atlanta finally stopped the scoring in the ninth inning, as the Dodgers left two on base when the game ended.
Mookie Betts at first base – Image Credit: Emma Sharon/Latino Sports
Someone had to lose, but if this indicates what these head-to-head confrontations will be, we are in for some exciting baseball.
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