ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep, and rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki earned the first win of his Major League Baseball career as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 early Sunday morning for their seventh straight victory.
The Dodgers (23-10) have won the first two matchups of the three-game series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7.
Atlanta (14-18) has lost three games in a row since winning nine of 11 to get within a victory of .500 for the first time this year.
Sasaki (1-1) allowed three runs and six hits over five innings in a game pushed back more than three hours because of rain, with first pitch not coming until 10:21 p.m. Saturday. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Atlanta second baseman Ozzie Albies but received plenty of offensive support in his seventh MLB start since arriving from Japan to much fanfare.
The Dodgers piled up 12 hits and pulled away with a four-run fourth inning. Freeman hit a three-run homer off Scott Blewett in the eighth.
Atlanta starter Spencer Schwellenbach (1-3) lasted only 3 2/3 innings. He gave up six runs (five earned) and eight hits.
Rain and lightning led to a delay of 3 hours, 6 minutes, before the first pitch. The start time was the latest in Truist Park’s nine-year history. The game ended at 1:26 a.m. Sunday.
The teams were set to be back on the field less than 18 hours later for a series finale that will be televised by ESPN. Both teams are scheduled to start right-handers on the mound, with Atlanta giving the ball to Bryce Elder (1-1, 5.33 ERA) and Los Angeles countering with Dustin May (1-1, 3.95).
Ahead of Saturday’s game, reigning National League MVP Ohtani threw 35 pitches in the bullpen as he continues his comeback from 2023 elbow surgery in his plan to become a two-way player again. Ohtani, who has appeared only at designated hitter this season (just as he did last year), still has not faced hitters and has not thrown sliders.
“From what I hear he was ramping it up a little more with his velocity,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
Ohtani, who won two American League MVP awards during his time with the Los Angeles Angels before signing with the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season, hasn’t pitched in an MLB game since Aug. 23, 2023.