This was very nearly a major letdown but fortunately, the Braves were able to hold on to a series-salvaging win over LA.

Austin Riley’s two home runs and four RBIs ended up being enough for the Atlanta Braves in this one, as they just about held on to a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in order to salvage this series with a win.

Just like we all predicted, Bryce Elder struck out the side to get this game going and the offense rewarded him by keeping the good vibes going into the bottom of the first inning. Alex Verdugo coaxed a walk out of Dustin May to get the game going and then Austin Riley crushed a no-doubter over the fence in left field in order to make it 2-0 Braves right out of the gate. Atlanta went down in order from that point forward but the damage had been done and the Braves were playing from ahead against the Dodgers, for once.

The Braves had a chance to add onto their two-run lead in the second inning after Michael Harris II led off that inning with a walk. Money Mike then went to the baseball bank and forcibly withdrew second base, which meant that Harris was in scoring position with nobody out. Unfortunately, the Braves went down in order after that happened — including Michael Conforto (who normally isn’t a great defensive outfielder) robbing Eli White of what would’ve easily been an RBI hit for White. That was as close as the Braves got to pushing a run across, which meant that it was up to Bryce Elder to make sure that the lead continued to hold up.

Elder kept them quiet heading into the next frame, which is when Atlanta’s lineup got active once again. This time, Alex Verdugo got the Braves going in the third with a leadoff single, which brought Austin Riley to the batter’s box with another chance to do some damage. That’s exactly what he did, as he proceeded to mash his second two-run dinger of the night. Riley’s second trip to the left-field seats made it a 4-0 game for the Braves, which meant that Elder had plenty of breathing room to work with heading into the middle portion of this contest.

The breathing room ended up coming in handy, as the Dodgers finally made their presence felt at the plate in the top of the fourth inning. Los Angeles strung together a one-out single from Teoscar Hernández and a double from Max Muncy in order to put the Dodgers on the board. Fortunately, Elder clamped down from that point forward and LA was forced to settle with just the one run scored in the fourth inning.

The top of the fifth brought a pretty loud scare from Shohei Ohtani with two outs in that inning, as he absolutely crushed a slider that Bryce Elder left in the zone. The thing that might’ve saved Elder here is the fact that he didn’t leave it in the dead middle of the zone and Ohtani was unable to pull it. Instead, it ended up being a 399-foot, .790 xBA fly ball for a very loud out and the three-run lead was still intact heading into the bottom half of the inning.

The sixth inning ended up being the end of the road for Bryce Elder, as Ohtani’s loud out heralded the beginning of his third trip through the order. That third trip only lasted through a Mookie Betts walk and a Freddie Freeman single that moved Betts all the way to third base. Pierce Johnson entered the game with runners on the corners and nobody out as he was looking to keep the three-run lead intact.

The Dodgers were able to cut into the lead thanks to a productive out from Max Muncy with two men in scoring position. Any time you in a situation where the Dodgers have guys on second and third with one or fewer outs, it’s a scary scenario! Fortunately, Pierce Johnson was able to strike out Andy Pages after Muncy’s productive out an d that made sure that the Braves kept the lead — just that it was now two runs instead of three.

Pierce Johnson got the first out of the seventh inning before Dylan Lee was called upon for the the rest of the seventh. The Dodgers responded to Lee entering the game by bringing in Miguel Rojas to pinch hit and the move ended up working out for LA, as Rojas hit a line drive into the road bullpen that cut the deficit down to one and this game was officially too tight for comfort. Things got even more nervy when Shohei Ohtani hit a double to get into scoring position for Mookie Betts.

Lee’s night was done after Ohtani’s double and it was up to Daysbel Hernández to make sure the Braves got out of the seventh still out in front. Hernández was able to get a ground ball to end the inning but it was becoming clear that the Braves were probably going to need some more runs if they were going to salvage a win from this series. Marcell Ozuna delivered a single in Atlanta’s half of the seventh inning but the Braves were unable to get anything going past that, so the bullpen was tasked with holding onto what was looking like a very tenuous one-run lead at this point in the contest.

Daysbel Hernández stayed in the game for the eighth inning and was able to help ensure that the Braves went into the ninth inning with a chance to leave as the winners. A huge assist went to the defense in this frame as well — Ozzie Albies made a diving stop on a ground ball from Freddie Freeman for the first out and then Eli White made an acrobatic catch in right field to rob Max Muncy of a hit off of a line drive.

While Eli White was able to get on base in the bottom half of the eighth, he got caught stealing to end the inning, which meant that it was officially up to Raisel Iglesias to help push the Braves over the finish line in this one.

Naturally, this didn’t come easy as Iglesias had to deal with a runner in scoring position to lead things off after Andy Pages battled his way on base with a leadoff single and then pinch-runner Hyeseong Kim stole second base. Kim then made it to third after pinch-hitter Will Smith struck out but Raisel Iglesias was able to strike out Miguel Rojas as well in order to bring up Austin Barnes with the game on the line. Iglesias then proceeded to strike out Barnes on four pitches in order to preserve a much-needed win for the Braves.

It always feels good to win and although the Braves are going to end this season series with the Dodgers with a pretty rough-looking record, avoiding the sweep was key for Atlanta and they were able to get the job done in that regard. Atlanta will now have to tangle with the Reds for the next four games but for now, they’ll be able to at least head into that series with Cincinnati back in the winner’s column. Hopefully they’ll be able to keep the good vibes from this win rolling into next week.