Braves lose late lead, get swept by Dodgers in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – The Braves played the reigning champion Dodgers close for three consecutive nights, but “close” is meaningless in a pennant race. A late bullpen move doomed the Braves in a 4-3 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

The Braves were swept in Los Angeles, a city in which they haven’t won a game since June 9, 2018.

“I really just feel like we didn’t hit consistently,” shortstop Dansby Swanson said. “We just didn’t hit consistently enough to give ourselves a chance. But I thought we pitched the ball pretty freakin’ great. It’s easy to get down for losing three in a row but I thought there were a lot of good things from this series. I know just from talking to guys, I feel like this was a really, really good experience for us, because this is what it’s going to be like come the end of the season and onto the playoffs.

“These are the things you need to go through. I’m just glad to go through them at the end of August and not in the middle of October.”

Here are five takeaways from Wednesday:

1. The Braves entered the eighth protecting a 3-2 lead. Lefty Tyler Matzek, who saw his 18-1/3 innings scoreless streak ended Tuesday, surrendered a leadoff double to Trea Turner, who seemingly always tormented the Braves when he was a National.

Max Muncy’s grounder advanced Turner to third. Matzek struck out Mookie Betts – who posted a four-strikeout showing for the second time in his career – for the second out. Braves manager Brian Snitker then opted to lift Matzek, turning to Chris Martin to face Justin Turner.

The move backfired. Turner singled through the left infield on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, scoring the game-tying run. Martin walked Corey Seager and surrendered a single to AJ Pollock that scored Turner, putting the Dodgers ahead and ultimately completing the sweep.

“I didn’t like (Matzek’s) matchup with Justin Turner,” Snitker said of his decision. “(Turner) hadn’t got a hit off Martin. He was 0-for-6. He was 3-for-8 off Matzek (note: Turner was 2-for-5 against Matzek, with both hits coming in 2014). I thought about (leaving Matzek in). But originally, when I brought Matzek in, I was just going to have him go through Muncy. I decided to give him Betts and felt like he emptied the tank there. But if (Martin) had got (Turner) out, you wouldn’t be asking me that question.”

One counterpoint: Martin hasn’t been the same pitcher who was once the team’s best reliever. He had a 4.71 ERA in 31 games since June began. Matzek, despite Tuesday’s hiccup, was one of the majors’ best relievers.

2. Swanson put the Braves ahead in the eighth inning. Swanson belted a homer off Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia. It was Swanson’s 26th home run.

Swanson entered the night with a .321/.377/.585 slash line across his last 49 games. He has 28 extra-base hits over his past 50 games. He’s vying to become the first shortstop in franchise history with a 30-homer season.

3. Braves left fielder Eddie Rosario, in his fourth game with the team, blasted a game-tying two-out homer in the seventh off Brusdar Graterol. It was Rosario’s eighth homer and first with the Braves, to whom he was traded on July 30 but didn’t play for until last week due to an abdominal injury.

Rosario was 2-for-7 in his first three games as a Brave. He had two hits Wednesday, further demonstrating how he’ll bolster the team’s depth for the season’s final month.

4. Braves starter Max Fried gave up one homer in 33 innings (five starts) in August. He gave up two homers before recording an out in the third inning Wednesday. For the second time in three games, Dodgers slugger Max Muncy hit a solo homer to put the Braves in a one-run hole. Eight-hole hitter Austin Barnes added a solo shot in the third.

Fried is coming off a sensational August in which he had a 1.36 ERA and 28:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in five starts. Outside two ill-placed pitches, he was impressive again Wednesday, holding the Dodgers to three hits over six innings while keeping pace with opposing starter Max Scherzer.

“We can compete with anyone,” Fried said when asked about the series. “Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted, but we have a lot of confidence in this clubhouse. We’re ready to get to Denver and get at it (Thursday).”

5. The Braves finished their eight-game run against the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers with a 2-6 mark. They were swept in a two-game series against the Yankees at Truist Park before taking two of three from the Giants at the same venue, setting up this week’s series in Southern California.

“I knew going in it was going to be rough,” Snitker said. “The start of that, when we were coming off that (9-0) road trip, man, I knew it was going to be a buzz saw when you’re playing the best in the league. We just have to circle the wagons and hopefully go out and win a series in Colorado, which is tough to do.”

Stat to know

4 (The Braves were outscored by four runs in the Dodgers’ three-game sweep.)

Up next

The Braves begin a four-game series in Colorado on Thursday. The Rockies, while comfortably below .500, are a good home team. They’ve posted a 43-22 record at Coors Field.