Atlanta Braves rout Alex Wood, Dodgers to secure series split

There was lots of talk Thursday night of a Jaime Garcia trade being in the works. No deal was reached, however, so the lefty made his scheduled start Friday night against the Dodgers.

The Atlanta Braves were able to take the first of a four-game series against the Dodgers Thursday night, and their momentum carried over into Friday night’s game.

Despite trade rumors surrounding him, Jaime Garcia took the mound for Atlanta to face an unblemished Alex Wood. Garcia struggled mightily in June, but took a huge step in the right direction after a dominant performance against the Diamondbacks Sunday.

His success would continue, even against the best team in the National League.

Let the scoring begin!!

After snapping the Dodgers’ 11-game winning streak, the Atlanta Braves figured they’d take a shot at Alex Wood’s 11-0 record as well.

The scoring started early for Atlanta. Ender Inciarte reached on an infield hit past Wood to begin the game, and scored on Johan Camargo‘s double to center. Tyler Flowers brought Camargo home with a single of his own. 2-0 Braves.

The Braves would tack on a two more runs in a pretty uncomfortable situation for the Dodgers. With runners on 2nd and 3rd, Jaime Garcia popped a ball up to Wood, who lost track of the ball as it bounced off his glove for a two-run error. 4-0 Braves.

This was just the beginning…

Braves put good wood on Wood

Former Brave Alex Wood just couldn’t catch a break.  An illness-plagued Freddie Freeman led off the 5th inning with a solo shot to left center field, and then things got wild.

In fact, given the circumstances, it was practically unbelievable.

A Matt Kemp single followed by two walks loaded the bases for none other than the G.O.A.T. himself, Jaime Garcia.  All Jaime did was put an Alex Wood 0-2 fastball in the outfield seats for a GRAND SLAM that would end Wood’s night after 4 & 2/3 innings. 9-0 BRAVES!

Garcia’s shot was the first grand slam by an Atlanta Braves pitcher since Tony Cloninger hit TWO on July 3, 1966… the first year for the Braves in Atlanta.

Have yourself a night, Jaime Garcia.

Yasiel Puig‘s groundout brought home a run for the Dodgers in the bottom of the 5th to cut the lead to 9-1, but it was going to take a superhuman effort to ruin Jaime Garcia’s night.

Singles by Camargo and Kemp in the 6th paved the way for a MONSTER 3-run home run by Tyler Flowers off of Dodgers reliever Grant Dayton. 12-1 Braves.

Dodgers’ comeback effort not nearly enough

Los Angeles thought it would be cute  to try and come back from a 12-1 deficit after 6 innings.

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Nice try.

Kike Hernandez tripled home Cody Bellinger in the 7th inning, and later scored on a Yasmani Grandal groundout to make it a 12-3 ballgame. Jaime would eventually settle down and get out of the 7th.

Garcia’s final line: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.

Ian Krol kept the Dodgers’ bats quiet with a 1-2-3 8th inning, and Akeel Morris worked around a leadoff walk in the 9th to seal the deal on what turned out to be quite a night for the Atlanta Braves. Morris has yet to give up an earned run in his 5 appearances (4.2 innings) this year.

Braves win, 12-3.

Notes:

• Matt Kemp hit into his MLB-leading 21st double play in the 3rd inning. He’s hit into a DP in each of his last three games. He did, however, finish the game 3-for-5.
• Alex Wood had his shortest outing since also going 4 & 2/3 innings on April 21st against the Diamondbacks
• The Atlanta Braves were rumored to be close to reaching a deal to send Jaime Garcia to the Twins Thursday night, but no deal was reached. The rest, as you now know, is history.
• Freddie Freeman had been battling an illness headed into Friday night’s game, and was replaced defensively by Matt Adams to start the 7th
• Sean Rodriguez has begun his Atlanta Braves career 0-9 with 4 walks and 2 runs scored

Next: Eric O'Flaherty is no longer a Brave

Julio Teheran looks to continue his success on the road against a very good Dodgers lineup Saturday night. He’ll start opposite Rich Hill, who has been near lights-out over his past three starts.