Dodgers hit 4 home runs in first 3 innings to beat Braves

LOS ANGELES — Opportunity had been knocking persistently. The Dodgers yet answered.

With the first-place Giants losing for the 3rd clip successful their past 4 games, the Dodgers took advantage, peeling a crippled disconnected the NL West pb by beating the Atlanta Braves, 5-3, Monday night.

The Dodgers had besides mislaid each of the erstwhile 2 times the Giants did, the 2 teams moving successful tandem arsenic if it were a sack race. With Monday’s win, though, the Dodgers moved wrong 1½ games of archetypal place, arsenic adjacent arsenic they person been capable to get since a nonaccomplishment to the Giants connected July 21.

They did it by beating a Braves squad that had hung those 2 losses connected the Giants implicit the play successful Atlanta and had been conscionable a tick (18-6) down the Dodgers (19-6) arsenic the National League’s hottest squad successful August.

The Dodgers’ discourtesy had not been precise blistery recently, not adjacent lukewarm. In their 10 games earlier facing the Braves, the Dodgers deed .187 arsenic a squad and averaged 3.4 runs per game, culminating successful a shutout astatine location by the Colorado Rockies connected Sunday.

They had conscionable 1 deed aft the 4th inning Monday, but they had already done capable damage, hitting 4 location runs successful the archetypal 3 innings disconnected Braves left-hander Drew Smyly.

Max Muncy started the powerfulness show with 1 retired successful the archetypal inning. Will Smith went heavy with 2 outs successful the 2nd and Mookie Betts led disconnected the 3rd with a enactment thrust into the near tract seats.

Corey Seager broke the solo parade with a two-run changeable aboriginal that inning, putting the Dodgers firmly connected top, 5-0.

It was the 2nd clip this play the Dodgers deed 4 location runs successful the archetypal 3 innings of a crippled – they besides did it connected Aug. 4 against the Houston Astros – and the archetypal clip successful franchise past they’ve done it doubly successful a azygous season.

The Braves astir matched the Dodgers’ homer total. But it took a while.

Dodgers starter Julio Urias was cleanable done 4 innings, retiring the archetypal 12 batters helium faced. The Braves got a mates of singles successful the 5th inning to extremity Urias’ cleanable drawstring past Jorge Soler and Freddie Freeman deed back-to-back location runs successful the sixth.

Urias finished the sixth, his longest outing since July 21. In 8 starts since then, helium has a 2.03 ERA portion holding opposing hitters to a .191 batting average.

Adam Duvall deed the Braves’ 3rd solo homer of the crippled successful the seventh disconnected Dodgers reliever Phil Bickford. Corey Knebel and Blake Treinen combined to get the last six outs but Treinen had to onslaught retired Adam Duvall and get Stephen Vogt to alert retired with the tying runs connected successful the ninth to get there.

More to travel connected this story.