Two of the best teams in baseball convened at Chavez Ravine on Friday night, the National League West-leading Dodgers and NL East-leading Atlanta Braves opening a three-game series that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts promised would be “a good matchup, exciting for our fans and players.”
The clubs did not disappoint, entertaining a crowd of 50,859 with some superb starting pitching, three home runs, clutch hits, a great defensive play, a key pickoff and a dramatic walk-off hit in a game that was so good it could not be contained to nine innings.
Dodgers rookie outfielder Andy Pages delivered the decisive blow in the bottom of the 11th inning, fouling off two full-count pitches from reliever Jesse Chavez before blooping a one-out RBI single to shallow right-center field for a 4-3 Dodgers victory.