There was no rest for the weary Thursday afternoon as the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers were back at Turner Field not long after Wednesday night’s extra-innings game. Clayton Kershaw and Matt Wisler were on the mound in the rubber match of the three-game series.
After Wisler struck out Chase Utley to open the game, Corey Seager reached on Adonis Garcia’s throwing error. Seager then stole second base on called strike three to Adrian Gonzalez. Joc Pederson, celebrating his 24th birthday and batting cleanup for the first time in his Major League career, gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single.
Drew Stubbs nearly made a sliding catch, but couldn’t control the ball. The lead didn’t last long as Erick Aybar led off the bottom of the first with a double. Daniel Castro’s RBI double tied the game, though Castro was thrown out at third base.
Wisler retired the Dodgers in order in the second inning, collecting his third strikeout of the game in the process. The Braves loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the second behind base hits from Tyler Flowers, Jeff Francoeur and Stubbs.
Kershaw struck out Mallex Smith on three pitches, then got help from Utley, who made a diving stop to start an inning-ending double play. Wisler collected another strikeout as he tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the third.
Kershaw followed suit, bookending the inning with strikeouts to mark the first time he retired the Braves in order to that point. Gonzalez led off the fourth with a base hit to center, which was followed by Pederson beating the shift with an infield single to third base.
Both runners were stranded however, as Trayce Thompson struck out in a 10-pitch at-bat, and Kiké Hernandez and A.J. Ellis flied out.
CONTINUE READING: Clayton Kershaw throws 46 mph pitch, reaches double-digit strikeouts
