Matt Olson homers, but Braves come up short against Dodgers

The Atlanta Braves saw their winning streak come to an end with a 3-1 loss Sunday to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The game was a bit of a slog to start with a pair of replay challenges in the first inning. Ozzie Albies singled with one out, but then was erased on a ground ball by Austin Riley. Riley was originally ruled out at first, but replay overturned the call. With Matt Olson at the plate, Riley took off for second. He was called out on the play and the Braves challenged again, but this time the call was upheld.

Marcell Ozuna doubled off the top of the wall with one out in the second, but Bobby Miller got Eddie Rosario and Travis d’Arnaud to fly out to leave him stranded.

Charlie Morton worked around a single by Will Smith in a scoreless first. He found himself in trouble again in the second as Jason Heyward singled with one out. Morton picked him off first base for the second out, but then issued back-to-back walks to Chris Taylor and James Outman. However, he would recover as Miguel Rojas grounded into a force out to strand the runners.

The Dodgers missed out on an opportunity in th third. Mookie Betts singled to lead off the inning. Morton struck out Freddie Freeman, but Betts moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Smith then sent one into the gap in left that Rosario ran down for the second out. Betts lost track of how many outs there were and the Braves threw back to second to complete the double play.

Morton allowed a leadoff single, but nothing else in the fourth, but the Dodgers finally broke through in the fifth. Outman walked to start the inning and then came all the way around to score on a double off the wall by Rojas who advanced to third on a throwing error by Orlando Arcia. With the infield in, Betts sent a chopper over the head of Arcia to score Rojas to make it 2-0. That would be the end of the day for Morton as Brian Snitker would call for Dylan Lee. It was Lee’s first appearance since returning from the injured list and he wasted no time in putting out the fire by getting Freeman to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play. Smith would follow with a double, but Lee struck out Max Muncy swinging to end the inning.

Morton wasn’t nearly as sharp as he had been in his previous four starts. He allowed six hits, three walks and three runs in just four innings of work. He struck out three while throwing 90 pitches.

Brad Hand replaced Lee in the sixth and allowed a leadoff double to Amed Rosario, but nothing else in a scoreless frame. The story of this game though was Dodgers rookie Bobby Miller who retired 16 Braves hitters before Matt Olson took him deep with two outs in the seventh inning. For Olson, it was his 44th home run of the season and tied him with Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead.

Ben Heller worked a scoreless seventh. Michael Harris doubled with two outs in the eighth off of Shelby Miller, but Ronald Acuña Jr. flew out to center to again leave him stranded.

The Dodgers added an insurance run against Heller in the eighth on a single by Outman that scored Hayward to push the lead to 3-1. The Braves tried to get something started in the ninth as Albies walked to start the inning, but Riley bounced into a 5-4-3 double play. Olson followed with a single, but Brusdar Graterol struck out Ozuna to end the game.

The loss snaps Atlanta’s six-game winning streak. They wrap up their 10-game road trip with an 8-2 record. They will enjoy an off day Monday before beginning a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday at Truist Park.