It was the Matt Kemp show again today as he homered and drove in the winning run in the 10th inning, sending the Braves to a 3-2 loss.
Atlanta struck against Zack Greinke in the second inning for the first run of the game. A single by Andrelton Simmons hit Dee Gordon in the glove and squirted into the outfield, allowing Evan Gattis, who had doubled with one out, to score.
Kemp knotted the score with his third home run of the series in the home half of the second, and that's where the score would stay for the next five innings. Greinke struck out 13 Braves in eight innings while Alex Wood held the Dodgers to six hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts.
Tommy La Stella preserved the tie with a nice defensive play in the fifth inning, keeping Dee Gordon's ground ball on the infield to keep A.J. Ellis at third.
Atlanta's mounted a sixth-inning rally, but nothing came of it as it would be the closest they'd get to getting a second run off Greinke.
In the eighth, Jordan Walden pitched himself into a mess after a pair of quick strikeouts. He walked Kemp, and then after a single by Carl Crawford, Juan Uribe hit a 15-hopper up the middle that Simmons snagged and fired home, but it was too late to keep Kemp from scoring the go-ahead run.
All was not lost yet, however. Justin Upton quickly re-tied the game in the ninth, crushing a home run into the LA bullpen leading off against Kenley Jansen.
We're all aware leadoff walks are a cardinal sin in baseball, and when Jordan Schafer drew one in the 10th, it looked like it could start something good. It's too bad, then, that Schafer barved in a big way when he got picked off second base with one out. Even after B.J. Upton walked and stole second, the rally was over before it could begin.
Then in the bottom of the 10th, a wild pitch in the dirt by David Hale put the winning run at second before Kemp singled him in.
This was a forgettable game in more ways than one. The loss certainly hurt, a great effort by Alex Wood went unrewarded and B.J. Upton struck out four times.
It doesn't get any easier for the Braves with Clayton Kershaw pitching in the finale.
Win Expectancy