ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer against his former team and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Atlanta 9-0 on Monday night, dropping the Braves out of a playoff position.
Shohei Ohtani was 0 for 4 with a walk and a pair of run-scoring grounders that increased his RBI total to 108. He did not hit a home run or steal a base during the series, remaining at 47 home runs and 48 steals as he tries to become the first 50-50 player.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed 4 hits and 2 walks in 4 innings, throwing 72 pitches in his second start since returning from a right arm injury — up from 59 on Sept. 10.
“We’ve tried to take our time with him and make sure he is at full health and built him up the right way,” Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts said. “It is a shot in the arm and he knows how valuable he is to our club. These last two starts, I feel like we have a good foundation and we are almost to the point where we can just let him go.”
The Dodgers extended their scoreless streak to 15 innings and pitched their 13th shutout.
NL West-leading Los Angeles (89-61) began the night 3 1/2 games ahead of second place San Diego. The Dodgers scored nine runs on just four hits for the second time since 1906: The other was on June 4, 2021, also at Atlanta.
After losing the first two games of the series by a combined 16-3, the Dodgers outscored the Braves 18-2 over the last two.
“When you start off a series like this at the end of the year and you want to play well and drop the first two, to come back and respond, I thought that was big by the team,” Freeman said. “I’ve played a long time and that was probably one of the weirdest offensive games I’ve been a part of.”
Atlanta (81-69) dropped one game behind the New York Mets (82-68) for the NL’s third wild card spot. The Braves were 0 for 12 with runners in scoring position, including 0 for 10 against Yamamoto.
Los Angeles took advantage of seven walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch. Miguel Rojas was 1 for 1 with two walks, a steal and three runs scored.
“He really exemplifies what I expect in a ballplayer,” Roberts said. “Tonight, he won a ballgame for us.”
