Braves allow seven runs in ninth inning in loss to Dodgers

ATLANTA — Raisel Iglesias allowing an earned run for the first time in nearly three three months is certainly headline worthy. But his two-out struggles during the Dodgers’ seven-run ninth (five of those allowed by Iglesias) stood as just one of the reasons the Braves suffered a 9-2 loss on Sunday night at Truist Park.

“We’ve had a really good series other than one inning,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Had the Braves gotten a third straight win, they would have gained the lead in the battle for the National League’s final Wild Card spot. The rough ninth inning combined with a squandered eighth-inning scoring opportunity, Dylan Lee’s pitch timer violations and the inability to chase a vulnerable Walker Buehler kept Atlanta tied with the Mets in the WC standings.

Iglesias was eventually going to bid adieu to a streak that reached 30 straight appearances (35 1/3 innings) without allowing an earned run. But the ending was uglier than most could have expected. The right-hander allowed five earned runs and recorded just two outs during the ninth-inning eruption. That’s just three earned runs less than his season total he had allowed through 62 innings entering Sunday.

“They put good swings together, good at-bats together and were able to get a handful of runs off of someone who hasn’t given up an [earned] run in a couple months,” Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud said.

Iglesias hadn’t allowed an earned run since June 16, and it looked like he might extend the streak when he followed Will Smith’s triple off the top of the right-center field brick wall by getting the inning’s second out. But after Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked, Mookie Betts laced a go-ahead single to left field.

“You walk a Hall of Famer to get to a Hall of Famer with another Hall of Famer on deck,” Snitker said. “That’s tough sledding right there, and we’ve done a really good job with those guys.”

Freddie Freeman followed with an RBI single, and Betts also came around to score when the ball got past left fielder Jarred Kelenic. Freeman scored when Teoscar Hernández homered off the Braves reliever, who had held opponents to a .089 batting average (10-for-112) during his previous 30 appearances.

“[Iglesias] is one of the best in the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He was an out away from putting up another clean inning. Will Smith got a [sinker] in the zone, and Mookie hit a flat ground ball up the middle. From there, Freddie had a seeing-eye single. At that point in time, Teo put a good swing on a [slider]. But Iglesias, you’re just not going to get to him very often.”

Iglesias had never allowed five earned runs in any of the 501 career relief appearances he had made before Sunday. The last time he had allowed as many as four earned runs coming out of the bullpen was on June 26, 2019, when he was trying to help the Reds beat the Angels. Ohtani was in his second MLB season. He tallied three hits that day, including a single off Iglesias.

Iglesias left before the media had access to the clubhouse.

“It was a little blip,” Lee said. “He’s going to come back and be ready to go the next day.”

Lee accepted some of the blame after squandering the 2-1 lead Charlie Morton helped create by limiting the Dodgers to one run over six innings. Morton has a 2.68 ERA over his past seven starts.

Lee was charged with two pitch timer violations during the seventh. The second resulted in a two-out walk to Smith, who scored two batters later on Ohtani’s game-tying double.

Snitker said the pitch timers are hard to see for some left-handed pitchers. Lee was fully accountable.

“It was on me,” Lee said. “That wasn’t the clock’s fault or anything like that.”

Matt Olson contributed a double that gave Atlanta runners at second and third with none out in the eighth. Michael Kopech was then wildly effective. He found the strike zone with just two of eight pitches to d’Arnaud, who flied out to left against a 3-2, 101 mph fastball that was inside.

Orlando Arcia then swung at three pitches out of the zone before Kelenic swung through three straight 100-plus mph heaters that were all in the zone. This just added to the offensive frustration that began against Buehler, who got through six innings, despite needing 70 pitches to complete the first three innings.