In his first at-bat against his former team, Freddie Freeman hit a home run and helped power the Dodgers to a 7-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Playing against the Braves for the first time since leaving Atlanta to sign with the Dodgers, Freddie Freeman shows plenty of love for his old teammates.“Emotions are all over the place,” Freeman echoed.When Jansen showed up to the ballpark, he had to ask a Braves staffer how to get to the visitors’ clubhouse. After 350 saves, three All-Star selections and a World Series championship with the Dodgers, it was his first time being a visitor at Chavez Ravine.
Freeman, on the other hand, was out on the field early in the afternoon. He headed straight to the visiting dugout,and other team personnel. Then he went into their clubhouse, seeing most of his old teammates for the first time since their World Series parade last year. Jansen’s longtime entrance song, “California Love,” blared from the speakers. A still-arriving crowd rose to its feet in applause.
“He did all the fanfare, the media stuff before the game,” Roberts said. “So hitting a home run, first at-bat, getting us on the board, giving us a lead, couldn’t have been any better.” In the bottom of the fourth, the Dodgers surged to a 6-0 lead after RBIs by Cody Bellinger and Edwin Ríos, and a bases-loaded, three-run double from Trea Turner. In just their 10th game, it was already the fifth time the Dodgers scored at least five runs in an inning.Kershaw began to waver soon after, giving up solo home runs to Guillermo Heredia and Ozzie Albies before leaving behind two baserunners with no outs in the sixth.