ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Taylor hit a bases-loaded double in the eight-run fifth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 9-5 Friday night in a rematch of last year’s NL Championship Series.
In the teams’ first meeting since the defending World Series champion Dodgers rallied from a 3-1 deficit, Los Angeles sent 13 batters to the plate in the top of the fifth, which lasted over 40 minutes.
Braves starter Ian Anderson (4-3), facing Los Angeles for the first time in the regular season and the first time since Game 7 of the NLCS, retired the first nine batters he faced, five by strikeout, before allowing two walks in the fourth. He began the unravel in the fifth, walking Taylor and giving up his lone hit, a double by Gavin Lux.
“We have an explosive offense, and I feel like we can put up five, six, seven, eight runs whenever,” Lux said. “We have a lot of really good hitters, really good players. When we string together at-bats like that, it’s pretty fun to be a part of. That inning was huge. It was the difference maker in the game.”
Los Angeles tied it at 1-all when third baseman Austin Riley fielded A.J. Pollock’s grounder and hit Taylor in the back with his throw home, allowing a run to score. Lux used a headfirst slide to cross the plate on pitcher Julio Urías’ bunt that Anderson fielded in front of the mound and flipped too late to catcher William Contreras.
“The ground ball to Riley off the bat off Pollock and C.T. running in the baseline, getting hit in the back flipped the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s just a heads up play, taking away the angle from the third baseman. After that, it was just good to see our guys take the walks.”
Reliever Sean Newcomb walked Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger with the bases loaded to make it 4-1…
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