Dish blacked out an Atlanta Braves game Friday night. Why?

Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman takes his helmet off as he returns to the dugout after grounding out into a double play in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday, May 6, 2016, in Atlanta. The Braves lost 7-2. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Credit: Rodney Ho

Credit: Rodney Ho

Atlanta Braves' Freddie Freeman takes his helmet off as he returns to the dugout after grounding out into a double play in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday, May 6, 2016, in Atlanta. The Braves lost 7-2. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Saturday, May 7, 2016

For three years, Dish Network blacked out weekend Atlanta Braves games from its subscribers over a pay dispute.

So when Dish subscribers tried to watch last night's Braves/Diamondbacks game and found it blacked out, many had bad flashbacks.

But a Dish spokesman assured meit was not a long-term problem.

"This was a technical issue and Dish subscribers who can’t see the Braves game should call customer service and request a box reset," he wrote.

Tod Miller, a Dish customer, said when he called Dish about the blackout, they told him it was the Braves telling them to black out the games to get more people to buy tickets. That makes no sense. No other service had the games blacked out.

Given the Braves are having such a horrid season, maybe a blackout is not a bad idea. And Braves fans didn't miss much last night. They lost 7-2 and are now 7-21, worst in Major League Baseball. They are an astonishingly bad 1-13 at home.