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.
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.
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.
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. 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 is hitting .313 with a .857 OPS. His bunt single helped set the stage for Dubón to deliver his bases-clearing double.
Dubón has been playing left field on a consistent basis while Mike Yastrzemski has struggled. He’ll likely continue to do so with shortstop Ha-Seong Kim nearing the end of a rehab assignment that will precede his season debut.