Shohei Ohtani flipped a game-ending home run to left-center field in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers kept their season-opening win streak alive by rallying from an early five-run deficit to earn a 6-5 victory over the visiting Atlanta Braves on Wednesday.
Max Muncy had a game-tying two-run double in the eighth to atone for two early errors as the Dodgers became the first defending champion to open a season 8-0. The Braves dropped to 0-7 as they head toward their home opener Friday.
Tommy Edman and Michael Conforto hit home runs for the Dodgers to help left-hander Blake Snell overcome a rocky outing. All five runs Snell allowed over four innings were unearned while he walked four with two strikeouts.
Ohtani’s home run, his third of the season, came on the first pitch from right-hander Raisel Iglesias (0-1) and sent a near sold-out crowd into a frenzy on the star’s first of four bobblehead nights of the season. Rookie Jack Dreyer (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for his first career win.
Nick Allen, Ozzie Albies and Matt Olson all delivered run-scoring doubles for the Braves, while right-hander Bryce Elder gave up three runs on three hits over four innings in his first start of the season.
Atlanta’s season-opening losing streak is its worst since an 0-9 start in 2016.
Muncy’s two-out throwing error in the first allowed the Braves to score their first run and Allen followed one batter later with an RBI double. Muncy again made a throwing error in the top of the second inning on a Stuart Fairchild grounder. He scored on Albies’ double to the warning track.
Olson’s two-run double with two outs in the second gave the Braves a 5-0 lead.
The Dodgers closed the gap with a two-run home run from Edman in the bottom of the second, his fourth. Conforto hit his first home run with his new team in the fourth as the Dodgers got within 5-3.
The Dodgers were without former Braves star Freddie Freeman (ankle) for the series.
–Field Level Media
