ATLANTA _ The Dodgers' latest late-inning, game-changing salvo began with a two-out single in their 8-3 win Friday night at SunTrust Park. Pinch-hitter A.J. Pollock, limited by a sore groin, supplied it off the bench against Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Soroka in the seventh inning. It was an inconspicuous launch. Soroka had been keeping the Dodgers in check. Trouble did not appear forthcoming for the hosts in the first of three games between the top two teams in the National League.
But Braves manager Brian Snitker decided to remove his ace there with a one-run lead, opting to turn to his flammable bullpen and summon left-hander Sean Newcomb. The Dodgers responded by pinch-hitting Kyle Garlick, a right-handed batter, for Joc Pederson, a left-handed batter. Los Angeles won the chess battle. Garlick walked.
What followed was a stunning barrage few teams in the majors can conceive. Max Muncy, already at a disadvantage facing a left-hander, fell behind 0-2 on two sliders against Newcomb. The next pitch, another slider, looped at Muncy's knees, a smidge below the strike zone. Muncy somehow laid off. Two pitches later, Muncy, after fouling off a 97-mph fastball, demolished a slider over the right-center field wall. He admired it with his trademark bat flip before the sellout crowd. His dugout burst with commotion.
The three-run shot, Muncy's 30th homer this season, gave Los Angeles a two-run lead. Before the celebration could conclude, Justin Turner whacked Newcomb's next pitch over the center-field fence for his fifth home run in five games. An inning later, Will Smith nailed the foul pole down the left-field line for two-run home run. The blast _ Smith's 10th home run this season _ was the Dodgers' 22nd homer over the last five games, setting a major league record.
Julio Urias closed the win out with a three-inning save as the Dodgers (83-41) moved 10 games ahead of their closest competition in the National League.
Fastball command is the most important variable for Kenta Maeda. When he's precise with the pitch, affording him a third option to complement his plus slider and change-up, he can become dominant. When he's not, it can get ugly. His outing Friday was an apropos demonstration.
Maeda's command was absent in the second inning and, consequently, the results were disastrous. He allowed three hits and issued three walks, which the Braves (72-52) converted into three runs. It could've been worse for Maeda; Freddie Freeman crushed a 336-line drive to Joc Pederson in right field for the third out to leave the bases loaded.
Then it all clicked for Maeda. He struck out seven straight batters between the third and fifth innings. All were swinging. His victims included Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, and Freeman, the vaunted top third of Atlanta's lineup. Then it quickly deteriorated for Maeda. With two outs in the fifth inning, he gave up a two-out single to Josh Donaldson and followed it with a walk to Brian McCann, which gave Maeda four on the night to tie his season high. That spelled the conclusion to his night after 87 pitches in 4 2/3 innings.
Soroka outlasted Maeda, but fell one out short of completing seven innings for the fourth straight start. The right-hander entered the night with the lowest home-run rate among qualified starters this season, but served one up to Cody Bellinger in the second inning. Bellinger turned on a 1-0 fastball and deposited over the wall in right-center field for his 41st home run.
Los Angeles added another run in the third when Matt Beaty smacked a leadoff double and Pederson drove him in with a single. That was all the Dodgers would muster off Soroka. He delivered a quality outing, holding the highest-scoring offense in the National League to two runs on seven hits and three walks across 6 2/3 innings. But the Braves' bullpen, the club's underbelly, blew it before it could get an out.
