Battery Power - August 30: Dodgers 5, Braves 3Your one stop shop for everything Atlanta Braveshttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52890/favicon-32x32..png2021-08-31T01:12:54-04:00http://www.batterypower.com/rss/stream/224128012021-08-31T01:12:54-04:002021-08-31T01:12:54-04:00Drew Smyly surrenders four homers as Braves fall to Dodgers, 5-3
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<figcaption>Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Homers from Soler, Freeman and Duvall were not enough as the Braves lost game one of the series</p> <p id="FAMkbf">Baseball is an unpredictable game. But every very now and then, the stars align perfectly and a game goes exactly how you would expect it to go, beautiful randomness of the game be damned.</p>
<p id="7hvkMJ">Drew Smyly, who has been plagued by home runs all season, ran into a <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a> lineup that — you guessed it — hits a lot of home runs. Smyly was chased during the 5th inning after surrendering four homers early, and the Braves’ bats were unable catch up in time in a 5-3 loss.</p>
<p id="BCtIlG">Smyly gave up a no-doubter to Max Muncy in the first inning. Will Smith launched one down the line to make it 2-0 in the second. Mookie Betts led off the third with a homer, and Corey Seager followed a few batters later with a two-run shot of his own to make the score 5-0. Smyly had no chance as he routinely left pitches right in the middle of the zone all night.</p>
<p id="UybNtZ">The Braves chipped away in the middle innings against Julio Urìas and the Dodger bullpen as Jorge Soler (21), Freddie Freeman (28) and Adam Duvall (29) all left the yard to cut the deficit to 5-3. That was all the lineup would muster, though, as the back end of the Los Angeles bullpen was too tough to overcome.</p>
<p id="Lxf5oG">The Braves’ bullpen pitched well in relief of Smyly and kept the game close as Jesse Chavez, Chris Martin and Luke Jackson all worked clean innings.</p>
<p id="v8D6xE">The top of the ninth quickly got interesting as Travis d’Arnaud and Dansby Swanson hit back-to-back singles to bring the go-ahead run to the plate, but Adam Duvall struck out and Stephen Vogt flew out to end the night.</p>
<p id="GMSq0i">Game two of the series will feature Charlie Morton against Walker Buehler in what should be a tremendous game. First pitch is set for 10:10 p.m. ET.</p>
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https://www.batterypower.com/2021/8/31/22649826/braves-dodgers-score-recap-drew-smyly-freddie-freemanScott Coleman2021-08-30T21:13:29-04:002021-08-30T21:13:29-04:00Braves Notes: Outfield plan still coming together, Touki Toussaint could start in Colorado
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<figcaption>Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Joc Pederson îs out of Monday’s lineup. </p> <p id="mTA3yi">When the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> take the field Monday in their series opener against the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Los Angeles Dodgers</a>, they will do so with a new look outfield alignment. Adam Duvall will make his eighth career start in center field and will be flanked by Eddie Rosario in left and Jorge Soler in right. </p>
<p id="BdpmgV">“He’s played there. I just I kind of want to get a look at it,” Snitker said of the decision to play Duvall in center. “Really like what I saw on Rosario yesterday, especially against the lefties.”</p>
<p id="B75HuF">Duvall is arguably Atlanta’s best all-around defensive outfielder at this point. He has been worth <a href="https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/adam-duvall-594807?stats=statcast-r-fielding-mlb">three Outs Above Average per Baseball Savant</a>. Duvall made seven starts in center for the Marlins this season. </p>
<p id="4wBtdz">“I’ve seen a lot of guys a lot bigger than him playing centerfield this year,” Snitker said. “The way he runs and as good an outfielder as he is I think he’ll do really good out there.”</p>
<p id="GRx5UI">Rosario made his first start for the Braves in Sunday’s win over the Giants and went 2-for-4 including a sixth inning triple off lefty Sam Long. Rosario is hitting .272/.296/.379 with an 81 wRC+ in 110 plate appearances against left-handers this season. He has a .277/.303/.403 line with an 87 wRC+ against southpaws in his career. </p>
<p id="ui6ZkL">“Now all of a sudden the outfield thing is real,” Snitker said. “We’ve been talking about getting everybody back and I’m still not 100% sure how we’re going to navigate this.”</p>
<p id="WE944E">Snitker added that who plays in the outfield is being decided on a daily basis for now. Having plenty of options is certainly better than the alternative. </p>
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<p id="RFguMY">Touki Toussaint worked a scoreless ninth in Sunday’s win over the Giants. For the moment, he appears to be the odd man out in Atlanta’s rotation with the return of Ian Anderson. However, Snitker said Monday that Toussaint could still make a start later this week, most likely in Colorado, if he isn’t needed before then. </p>
<p id="CCgFC0">“Yeah, probably in the Colorado series if we don’t need him up until then,” Snitker said of the plan for Toussaint. “It was good to get him in yesterday just in case.”</p>
<p id="GRDQpK">Toussaint has appeared in eight games this season (7 starts) and has a 3.60 ERA and a 4.86 FIP in 40 innings. </p>
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<p id="7s8VFp">The Braves <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/2021/8/30/22647326/dodgers-braves-julio-urias-walker-buehler-max-scherzer-five-days-rest">will face the Dodgers three best starters</a> in the series in Julio Urias, Walker Buehler and Max Scherzer. That will no doubt be a tall task for any team but Snitker thinks that the pitching they have faced in the NL East has prepared Atlanta for situations like this. </p>
<p id="H8o5vs">“That three is about as good as it gets,” Snitker said of LA’s big three. “A former Cy Young Award winner and maybe a future one and the guy that finished the <a href="https://www.sbnation.com/world-series">World Series</a>. Pretty rough rides but it’s nothing that these guys aren’t used to. When you play in our division and you’re going up against the likes of all that type of pitching pretty regular, I think it’s just something these guys are accustomed to.”</p>
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https://www.batterypower.com/2021/8/30/22649588/atlanta-braves-notes-outfield-plan-adam-duvall-eddie-rosario-touki-toussaint-could-start-coloradoKris Willis2021-08-30T18:23:02-04:002021-08-30T18:23:02-04:00Adam Duvall starts in center for Monday’s opener against the Dodgers
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<figcaption>Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Eddie Rosario starts in left for the second straight game. </p> <p id="gNNBNp">A seven-game road trip for the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> begins Monday night when they begin a three-game series against the <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Los Angeles Dodgers</a>. The Braves have won seven of ten overall and most recently took two of three from the NL West leading <a href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">San Francisco Giants</a> at Truist Park. They will carry a franchise record 13-game road winning streak into Monday’s matchup. Drew Smyly will get the start for Atlanta while the Dodgers will counter with lefty Julio Urias. </p>
<p id="MgsBne">Brian Snitker will roll out a different looking lineup for the series opener. Travis d’Arnaud sat out Sunday’s game but is back in there tonight and hitting fifth. Adam Duvall will make his first start in a Braves uniform in center field and will be hitting seventh. Eddie Rosario will make his second straight start in left field and will hit eighth. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Braves lineup 8/30 at Dodgers<br><br>1. Albies 2B<br>2. Soler RF<br>3. Freeman 1B<br>4. Riley 3B<br>5. d’arnaud C<br>6. Swanson SS<br>7. Duvall CF<br>8. Rosario LF<br>9. Smyly P</p>— Kris Willis (@Kris_Willis) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kris_Willis/status/1432466444051226628?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2021</a>
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<p id="0VpFcL">No real surprises for the Dodgers with their lineup either. AJ Pollock starts in left field and will hit fifth. Chris Taylor gets the start in center while Will Smith will be behind the plate. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tonight’s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dodgers?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Dodgers</a> lineup <br><br>Trea Turner, 2B<br>Max Muncy, 1B<br>Mookie Betts, RF<br>Justin Turner, 3B<br>AJ Pollock, LF<br>Corey Seager, SS<br>Chris Taylor, CF<br>Will Smith, C<br>Julio Urías, P</p>— Blake Harris (@BlakeHarrisTBLA) <a href="https://twitter.com/BlakeHarrisTBLA/status/1432465934564814848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 30, 2021</a>
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<p id="B5m6Yf">Monday’s game is scheduled to get underway at 10:10 p.m. ET and can be seen on Bally Sports South. </p>
https://www.batterypower.com/2021/8/30/22648829/braves-vs-dodgers-lineups-adam-duvall-eddie-rosarioKris Willis2021-08-30T15:00:00-04:002021-08-30T15:00:00-04:00Braves set to begin road trip in Los Angeles against Dodgers
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<figcaption>Photo by Austin McAfee/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Atlanta has won a franchise-best 13-straight games on the road.</p> <p id="1unBNM">The <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> will head to the west coast for the first time this season when they begin a seven-game road trip with a three-game series against the reigning World Champion <a href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>. Atlanta took two of three against LA back in early June and will enter Monday’s series opener with a 4.5 game lead over the <a href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Philadelphia Phillies</a> in the NL East. The Braves have won seven of ten overall and are currently riding a franchise best 13-game winning streak. </p>
<p id="Xp57Sh">The Dodgers come into the series with an 82-49 record and are 2.5 games back of the <a href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">San Francisco Giants</a> for the NL West lead. They most recently dropped two of three to the <a href="https://www.purplerow.com">Colorado Rockies</a>, whom the Braves will see later this week. </p>
<p id="6f867b">Drew Smyly will get the start for the Braves in the opener. A couple of off days last week combined with the return of Ian Anderson allowed for some extra rest for the rotation. Smyly last pitched on August 21 where he allowed five hits, three runs and struck out eight in five innings against the Orioles. After a solid June and July, Smyly has struggled in August allowing 19 hits and 11 runs in 19 innings. He has allowed five home runs over his last four starts. Smyly had allowed just five over his previous 10 starts that encompassed 49 2/3 innings. </p>
<p id="Xlvwu4">The Dodgers will counter with left-hander Julio Urias in the opener who has been lights out over four starts in August. Urias allowed just one hit over five scoreless innings in his last start against the Padres. He has allowed a total of two earned runs in 20 innings this month. </p>
<p id="LXgaoy">Atlanta has gone 18-6 in August and are third in homers (39) and tied for third in runs scored (129) in the National League. Third baseman Austin Riley has played a huge part in that hitting .364/.396/.596 with six homers and a 163 wRC+ over his last 24 games. Riley leads the team now with 28 home runs and along with Freddie Freeman (27), Dansby Swanson (25) and Ozzie Albies (23), are trying to become the first team since the 2008 Marlins to have all four infielders with at least 25 homers. </p>
<p id="bn0VKs">Monday’s game is scheduled to get underway at 10:10 p.m. ET and can be seen on Bally Sports South. </p>
<h3 id="VOBbtF"><strong>Game Info</strong></h3>
<p id="tTJ6Gi"><strong>Game Date/Time:</strong> Monday, August 30, 10:10 p.m. ET </p>
<p id="NN4gex"><strong>Location:</strong> Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA</p>
<p id="vVNTjl"><strong>TV:</strong> Bally Sports South</p>
<p id="19OQw9"><strong>Streaming:</strong> MLB.tv</p>
<p id="o65kTs"><strong>Radio:</strong> 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, WNNX 100.5, Braves Radio Network</p>
https://www.batterypower.com/2021/8/30/22648617/braves-vs-dodgers-preview-time-tv-streaming-radio-drew-smyly-julio-uriasKris Willis