Kenley Jansen is congratulated by catcher Travis d’Arnaud after earning the save against the Dodgers.
Photo: Kevork Djansezian / Getty Images
In a scene that would have been impossible to imagine before, Kenley Jansen dominated Freddie Freeman to secure the Atlanta Braves victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night. Both players are historical of the teams they faced in the match.
Kenley Jansen, the Dodgers’ franchise leader in saves with 350, retired the last three batters, including Freeman on a flyout to center field, for the 3-1 win for the Braves, who snapped Los Angeles’ seven-game winning streak and tied the series between the last two world champions at one victory apiece.
The night before, Freddie Freeman hit his first home run with the Dodgers and he did it against none other than Atlanta, a club for which he was a star for 12 seasons.
The great figure of the game was actually the starting pitcher Max Fried, who retired the first 15 Dodgers hitters in order. Although Hanser Alberto broke the perfect game with a single in the sixth, the left-hander from Los Angeles did not allow a run and won with a gem of 7 innings, only 2 hits, 8 strikeouts and 0 bases.
For his part, Dodgers starter Walker Buehler received a solo home run from Travis d’Arnaud in the second inning and then in innings 4 and 5 he accepted hits with two outs from Orlando Arcia and Austin Riley who produced runs to make it 3-0.
Hanser Alberto drove in the Dodgers’ only run with a groundout in the eighth inning, but the powerful Los Angeles lineup was kept in complete control: just 2 hits.
A curiosity of the party was the presence of rap singer Kendrick Lamar in the stands of Dodger Stadium. The artist from Compton appeared in the ‘bleachers’ -the stands behind the gardens-, that is, one of the popular seating areas.
Lamar, who, wearing a gray sweatshirt and black beanie, posed with countless Dodgers fans who asked him to, was part of the Super Bowl halftime show.
