LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rookie right-hander Bobby Miller threw a career-best seven innings of three-hit ball, and the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a four-game sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday to complete their meeting of the NL's top two teams.
Miguel Rojas had an RBI double and Mookie Betts added a run-scoring single in the fifth for the Dodgers, who prevented Atlanta from sweeping a four-game series at Dodger Stadium for the first time. James Outman added an RBI single in the eighth for Los Angeles.
Matt Olson hit his 44th home run in the seventh to pull even with Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead, but Atlanta's six-game winning streak ended with only its second loss on a 10-game West Coast trip. The Braves still have the majors' best record at 90-46.
Miller (9-3) underlined his ace potential with this effort against the powerhouse Braves less than four months after he made his major league debut with a solid outing in Atlanta. The 24-year-old retired 16 consecutive Braves between Marcell Ozuna's double in the second and Olson's homer, then finished the seventh to a standing ovation.
Miller outpitched 39-year-old Charlie Morton (14-11), who yielded six hits and three walks in four-plus innings for Atlanta.
Brusdar Graterol allowed two baserunners in the ninth, but hung on for his seventh save. He hasn’t allowed a run in 15 appearances since July 24.
Ronald Acuña Jr. went 0 for 4 and made three inning-ending outs after homering in each of the series’ first three games.
LA's Freddie Freeman also went 0 for 4, ending his 10-game hitting streak when facing his former team.
Neither team got a runner to third until Outman drew a leadoff walk in the fifth and scored on a 391-foot line drive by No. 9 batter Rojas, who has hits in nine of his last 10 games after a tepid offensive summer with his new team.
The Dodgers finally had their first lead since the first inning of Thursday's series opener, and Rojas scored moments later on Betts' bouncing single, which chased Morton after 90 pitches.
Olson was 0 for 17 in the series before he ended his 18-game homer drought since Aug. 13 with a two-out solo shot to right. Miller then walked Ozuna, but induced an inning-ending groundout by Eddie Rosario.
The Braves franchise hasn’t swept a four-game road series against the Dodgers since April 1906, when the Boston Beaneaters took four straight in Brooklyn.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Braves: Dylan Lee returned from 3 1/2 months on the injured list with a shoulder problem when he relieved Morton in the fifth. Lee got Freeman to ground into a double play while throwing a one-hit inning.
Dodgers: Max Muncy left after striking out with an awkward swing to end the fifth. The team didn't announce whether he was injured. ... Walker Buehler pitched two perfect innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City in his return to competition after his second Tommy John surgery last summer. Los Angeles hopes the two-time All-Star and World Series champion can contribute in the majors this season.
UP NEXT
Braves: Open a homestand Tuesday against St. Louis. No starter had been announced.
Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw (12-4, 2.48 ERA) takes the mound Tuesday in Miami to open a six-game East Coast trip.
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