One of the most highly anticipated early-season three-game series in Atlanta Braves history began on a sour note Monday night as the Braves fell to the red-hot Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-4, at Dodger Stadium.
The Braves (5-7) dropped their second straight game of the current 7-game west coast trip, while the Dodgers (8-2) stayed perfect at home, extended their winning streak to seven.
Freddie Freeman greeted his former team by taking a 97-mph fastball from Huascar Ynoa (0-2, 13.50 ERA) and depositing it over the left field fence in the bottom of the first to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth the Dodgers sent Ynoa to the dugout by exploded for five runs, handing Clayton Kershaw (2-0, 3.00 ERA) a 6-0 lead.
Ozzie Albies, hit his fourth homer in as many games in the top of the fifth, and the Braves put three more runs on the board in the sixth to close the gap to 6-4, but that was as close as they would get on the evening.
The Dodgers got an insurance home run from Cody Bellinger in the bottom of the eighth inning that provided more than enough cushion for manager Dave Roberts to turn the game over to Craig Kimbrel to seal the win.
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Kimbrel who played eight seasons for the Braves to begin his career, overpowered his former team with mostly fastballs in an impressive ninth inning to record his third save of the season.
Max Fried (0-2) will take the mound for the Braves Tuesday evening looking to secure his first win of the season and stop Atlanta’s two game slide.