It ended up being a footnote after the Dodgers erased Atlanta’s three-run lead and snapped the home team’s four-game winning streak, but in the early part of the game Daniel Castro and the Braves got more of the big hits they’ve been getting during the past week.
Castro’s two-out, bases-loaded single up the middle in the fourth inning had pushed the Braves lead to 3-0 and made it 17 runs scored with two outs in the past five games by the Braves. They totaled 11 such runs in their nine-game losing streak to start the season.
Castro, added to the lineup after third baseman Adonis Garcia (knee) was scratched, came through after the Dodgers intentionally walking Nick Markakis to load the bases. Markakis came in 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position and two outs, and Dodgers starter Ross Stripling walked him with first base open.
“He has a knack for coming up big in some big situations,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said of Castro. “They walk Nicky there to face him, and he made them pay for it.”
After getting behind in the count 1-2, Castro reached across the plate and got enough bat on a curveball outside, hitting it up the middle to shallow center to bring in two runs and make a productive inning out of what was briefly shaping up to be a wasted opportunity for the Braves.
Erick Aybar led off the inning with a double, and Jace Peterson singled to put runners on the corners with none out. Rookie Mallex Smith tried a bunt and the ball was fielded just in front of the plate by catcher Yasmani Grandal, who threw to third base and got Aybar in a rundown for the first out.
After Teheran’s sacrifice bunt advanced the runners, Markakis’ intentional walk gave Castro a prime opportunity to do some RBI damage, and he came through like several other Braves have done with two outs during the winning streak.
A.J. Pierzynski’s RBI single in the third inning also came with two outs, scoring Castro for a 1-0 lead. Castro had reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second with two out. The run was unearned after Nick Markakis reached on a fielding error by shortstop Corey Seager to start the inning.
“Our offense got a couple of runs early, but then we didn’t do anything after that,” Gonzalez said. “We had a chance to win the ballgame, but we didn’t score any runs after the fourth inning. You’re going to let a team back in the game like that, and not score any more runs, you’re going to have an outcome like we did tonight.”
Coincidentally, it was a Markakis fielding error that helped the Dodgers in the fifth, when Howie Kendrick singled to right and the ball bounced past Markakis and to the wall, allowing Kendrick to reach third. Joc Pederson followed with a single to cut the Braves’ lead to 3-1.
While the rookie backup Castro and 39-year-old catcher Pierzynski came through with clutch hits for the Braves, Freddie Freeman did not, going 0-for-5 with four strikeouts to drop his average back to .156 with a .321 OBP and 15 strikeouts in 45 at-bats. He struck out each of his first three times up — every time with at least one runner on base and twice with at least one in scoring position.
