Elder tames Dodgers as MLB-best Braves finish road trip on high note

LOS ANGELES -- The Braves exited Atlanta with MLB’s best record. Nine games and three cities later, they returned home looking to be even more formidable.

Bryce Elder’s latest dominant start, a Mauricio Dubón three-run double and Eli White’s incredible catch helped the Braves claim a 7-2 win over the Dodgers on Sunday afternoon. This was Atlanta’s first series win at Dodger Stadium since 2023 and just their second series victory here in the past 14 seasons.

“It’s always a litmus test coming in here,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “You’ve got to go through these guys if you're going to do anything in the postseason. So it's always a really difficult place to win games.”

The Braves entered Sunday having gone 14-38 at Dodger Stadium since the start of the 2013 season. A lot has gone wrong here over the years. But White prevented another disastrous finish when he caught Max Muncy’s bases-loaded drive just before slamming into the right-field wall to end the sixth.

White was put in concussion protocol after his head continued to hurt during the next inning.

“He smacked the wall,” Braves first baseman Matt Olson said. “He was putting it all out there to go make a grab. It was probably the biggest moment of the game.”

With wins in the final two games of a three-game set against the Dodgers, the Braves concluded a 6-3 road trip. They lost two of three in Seattle to suffer this season’s only series loss thus far. But thanks to impressive starts by Elder and Spencer Strider, they exited Los Angeles with MLB’s best record (28-13).

As the Braves prepare to host the 27-14 Cubs this week, here are a few reasons why they are stronger than they began this road trip more than a week ago:

Bryce is real and Strider is back

Strider worked out the kinks when made his season debut during this trip’s second game. He looked more like the 2023 dominant version of himself when he allowed one run and notched seven strikeouts over seven scoreless innings on Saturday. His re-emergence as a top-flight starter would significantly improve Atlanta’s World Series hopes.

Chris Sale remains the staff ace. But Elder has also pitched like a frontline starter while posting a NL-best 1.81 ERA through his first nine starts. Elder recorded eight strikeouts and allowed just one hit over 5 2/3 scoreless innings in this series finale against the Dodgers. He had no trouble before issuing three consecutive two-out walks in the sixth. This prompted the entry of Robert Suarez, who exhaled when White grabbed Muncy’s long drive in front of the wall.

The Braves entered Sunday ranked fourth in the Majors with a 3.11 starting pitching ERA. This group should be better with the addition of a healthy Strider.

High-leverage flexibility

The Braves were doing some mixing and matching with their bullpen while closer Raisel Iglesias was on the injured list. But since Iglesias was activated on Tuesday, Braves manager Walt Weiss has had the flexibility to use Suarez in any high-leverage spot before the ninth inning.

After escaping the jam in the sixth, Suarez worked a scoreless seventh to lower his ERA to 0.53 through 17 appearances. Iglesias hasn’t allowed a run in 10 1/3 innings this year and Dylan Lee has a 0.96 ERA through 19 appearances. This three-headed bullpen monster should continue to benefit the Braves.

“Our bullpen is back to what it was early,” Weiss said. “It allows me to use Suarez at any point in time. It changes everything when you have those guys lined up.”

Strong outfield

Right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. did some light jogging in the outfield on Sunday and could be activated from the injured list at some point within the next week. But Weiss once again dampened hope of the 2023 NL MVP being activated when he becomes eligible on Wednesday.

“It’s still going to be a little time,” Weiss said. “He's progressing very well. I saw him out there doing the drills, and he looks good. It's a big leap from doing the little agility drills and then having to run full speed. So he's got some boxes to check.”

As for Michael Harris II, he’s no longer limited by the quad issue that plagued him at the end of the last homestand and through the first half of this road trip.

Harris started the season slowly, but he has produced a 1.037 OPS over 86 plate appearances going back to April 10. Austin Riley showed signs he might be nearing a similar surge. He homered twice and constructed a .824 OPS during the nine-game trip. His season OPS rose from .588 to .640 during this span.

“There haven’t been any prolonged stretches where we haven’t been playing good baseball,” Weiss said.