ATLANTA _ On his first night back from the disabled list, Yasiel Puig received an offer from Alex Wood. If Puig could supply a home run on Saturday night, as Wood toiled on the mound against the Atlanta Braves, Wood would greet him a bearhug. Puig met his end of the bargain, blasting a two-run homer in the sixth inning of a 5-1 victory. As he traded high-fives with his teammates, Puig was ambushed by Wood inside the clubhouse.
"I like it," Puig said. "It's OK."
After missing three weeks with a strained oblique muscle, Puig powered the team's offense with three RBI and handed Wood a lead. Wood permitted only one hit across 5 2/3 scoreless innings. The lineup added a two-run rally in the ninth as the Dodgers (59-46) won for the third game in a row.
The return of Puig thickened the plot of this three-city road trip, which ends on Sunday at SunTrust Park. The team has played well in his absence. Yet he offered a reminder of his ability at the plate, and cleansed any residual discontent about his performance before landing on the disabled list earlier this month.
Before he injured himself on July 8 against the Angels, Puig had irritated some Dodgers officials with his performance during that series, in which he made a handful of mistakes in the outfield. Manager Dave Roberts indicated before the game he planned to speak with Puig about the need for attention to detail.
"That's my job, our job as coaches, to continue to remind players how important it is to hit the cutoff man, throw to the right base, not give up outs on the bases," Roberts said before Saturday's game. "He'll be reminded of that."
Roberts sounded more sanguine afterward. He praised Puig for his tenacity when facing Braves reliever Luke Jackson on the home run, and for showing patience with a walk in the ninth inning to spark the flurry.
"That was a big hit," Roberts said. "It was good for him, to get back in the swing of things, and get a big lift for us."
Wood kept the lead save. He did issue four walks, which led to his departure. Caleb Ferguson turned in two innings of relief, giving up a solo homer to his first batter before buckling down. The offense in the ninth allowed Roberts to give Kenley Jansen a day off, handing the four-run lead to Erik Goeddel instead.
Wood has struggled when facing his former team since departing in the summer of 2015. The Braves taxed him for four runs and prevented him from finishing the fifth inning on June 9.
Wood considered that start part of one of the worst stretches of his career. In seven subsequent outings heading into Saturday, he had produced a 2.95 earned-run average in 42 2/3 innings. He struck three times as many batters as he walked. He aimed to extend this string of success at SunTrust Park.
The Dodgers staked Wood a one-run lead in the second inning. Enrique Hernandez led off with a single, took second when Braves starter Max Fried hit Cody Bellinger on the hands with a pitch, moved to third on a flyout by Logan Forsythe and scored on a sacrifice fly from Puig.
Wood threw without pinpoint command. He issued a leadoff walk in the second inning. He hit outfielder Ronald Acuna, Jr., with a curveball in the third inning. He handed out another walk in the fourth inning. Atlanta could not punish Wood for the inaccuracy. He bulled his way out of danger by inducing groundouts, including double plays in the third and the fourth.
"It was good tonight," Wood said. "I thought we had a really good game plan, and I had all three (pitches) working for the most part. I felt pretty good."
Puig added to the advantage in the sixth. Fried exited after five. In his place arrived right-handed reliever Luke Jackson. After a walk by Bellinger, Puig settled into a duel with Jackson.
Jackson either trusted his slider in the strike zone or had no ability to control the pitch. Puig fouled off one belt-high slider and then another at his thighs. When Jackson tried a 2-2 slider over the middle, Puig was ready. He hooked a two-run shot into left field. The ball crashed off a scoreboard and landed in the Dodgers bullpen.
"I tried to hit every pitch he threw to me," Puig said. "I was a little late, and finally he threw me a slider. I got it in front, and I hit that ball well."
Wood could not finish the sixth. He collected two groundouts and appeared set to depart after a third grounder rolled toward the right side of the infield. Sprinting toward it from his position in the shift was shortstop Chris Taylor. He bobbled the ball for an error.
After Wood walked outfielder Nick Markakis, manager Dave Roberts sent in J.T. Chargois in relief. Wood screamed into his glove as he departed. His anger would not last long. Chargois spun a slider past the stationary Flowers for the third out.
Wood retired to the clubhouse as his teammates finished the game. Puig opened the door in the ninth. Taylor and Manny Machado each contributed RBI singles. When Puig ventured back into the clubhouse, Wood was there to jump him.
"It's great to see him back in there," Wood said. "And doing damage."
