Atlanta Braves’ Austin Riley (27) celebrates his two-run homer against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the third inning of a baseball game, Sunday, May 4, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
by Brady Penn
ATLANTA — After winning 9 of 11, the Braves entered Sunday Night hoping to snap a three-game losing streak and avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Atlanta had been outscored 10-3 on Saturday and was staring down an 0-6 record against L.A. this season. But with Bryce Elder on the mound and Austin Riley swinging a hot bat, the Braves found the formula they needed.
Elder struck out Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in the first inning, matching Grant Holmes’ Friday start. The momentum carried over to the bottom of the inning when Alex Verdugo walked and Riley crushed a 426-foot home run to left, giving Atlanta a 2-0 lead — its first of the series after 19 innings.
Riley wasn’t done. In the third inning, he launched another two-run homer, stretching the Braves’ lead to 4-0. Atlanta threatened to add more but stranded runners on the corners.
The Dodgers got on the board in the fourth when Max Muncy doubled in Teoscar Hernández. Elder navigated through the fifth but was pulled in the sixth after allowing back-to-back baserunners. Pierce Johnson came in with runners on the corners and nobody out.
Betts scored on a one-out ground ball to second baseman Ozzie Albies, but Johnson escaped the jam by striking out Andy Pages.
In the seventh, Miguel Rojas homered and Ohtani doubled, putting the go-ahead run at the plate in Betts. But reliever Daysbel Hernández got Betts to ground out to Nick Allen to end the inning.
Hernández followed with a clean 1-2-3 eighth, punctuated by a diving catch from Eli White in left. White singled in the bottom of the inning but was picked off to end the frame, sending the Braves to the ninth clinging to a 4-3 lead.
Closer Raisel Iglesias, who entered with a 5.25 ERA and five home runs allowed in 12 appearances, faced pressure right away. Pages led off with an infield single, and pinch runner Hyeseong Kim stole second. Kim advanced to third on a wild throw as Will Smith struck out.
With the tying run 90 feet away and one out, Iglesias struck out Rojas, then finished off Austin Barnes on three pitches to lock down win No. 15 for the Braves.
“That’s the best he’s been all year,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Iglesias. “Stuff ticked up in that situation. That was really good to see.”
Atlanta will open a four-game series against the Cincinnati Reds this week as it continues trying to climb back to the .500 mark after snapping its losing skid.
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