Daily Clips

April 20, 2016

LOS ANGELES DODGERS CLIPS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016

OC REGISTER: Dodgers' sloppy play, Alex Wood's control problems spoil lefty's return to Atlanta-JP Hoornstra Final trip to Atlanta's Turner Field a bigger deal for Dodgers' Charlie Culberson than Chase Utley-JP Hoornstra Could years-long Dodgers TV blackout create a lost generation of young fans?-David Montero DODGERS.COM: Wood handed loss by former mates in Atlanta-Mark Bowman and Jon Cooper Wood wished for better in Turner Field return-Jon Cooper Rodgers, Blair among top prospect performers Tuesday-Mike Rosenbaum Crawford heading out on rehab assignment-Jon Cooper Mayo: Top 10 prospect duos in the Minor Leagues-Jonathan Mayo LA TIMES: Dodgers won't say how many innings Ross Stripling will pitch this season-Andy McCullough Dodgers' Alex Wood keeps finding Braves bats or missing strike zone in 8-1 homecoming loss at Atlanta-Andy McCullough Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford to start rehabilitation assignment-Andy McCullough DODGER INSIDER: Farm Fresh: That’s some powerful Garlick-Cary Osborne Jet-lagged or left jagged, Dodgers fall in Atlanta-Jon Weisman Alex Wood seeks more than just a homecoming-Jon Weisman TRUEBLUELA.COM: Dodgers finding the importance of the first pitch-Eric Stephen Jharel Cotton strikes out 6 in 5 scoreless innings for Oklahoma City-Eric Stephen Alex Wood, Dodgers dig themselves too deep a hole-Eric Stephen Howie Kendrick back in left field for Dodgers' opener with Braves-Eric Stephen Alex Wood returns to Atlanta in Dodgers' opener with Braves-Eric Stephen ESPN LA: Los Angeles Dodgers' Alex Wood ambushed in return to Atlanta-Doug Padilla Dodgers are no match for last-place Braves-Doug Padilla Bats of Flowers, Smith lead Braves to 4th straight win-AP Never too soon for Dodgers to start tracking Ross Stripling's innings-Doug Padilla Kenley Jansen meets childhood idol Shaq; scratches item off bucket list-Doug Padilla NBC LA: Braves Beat Up Dodgers 8-1, Alex Wood Wilts in Return to Atlanta-Michael Duarte CBS LOCAL: Dodgers’ Brandon McCarthy On Overcoming Adversity And The Impact Of Sabermetrics-DJ Sixmith WASHINGTON POST: After dominant debut, Kenta Maeda’s second act will matter more for Dodgers-Barry Svrluga

LOS ANGELES DODGERS DAILY CLIPS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 2016

OC REGISTER

Dodgers' sloppy play, Alex Wood's control problems spoil lefty's return to Atlanta By JP Hoornstra ATLANTA – The circumstances were suspiciously rife for a letdown Tuesday, and Dave Roberts knew it. The possibility bothered the Dodgers’ manager enough that he warned his players. “When you’re playing coming off a series against the Giants – a big series at home, 50,000 people – you have an off-day and travel east, there’s a little potential for a letdown,” Roberts said. The Atlanta Braves then beat the Dodgers, 8-1, before a paltry crowd of actor Kevin Costner and 14,159 others at Turner Field. By margin of defeat, it was the Dodgers’ worst loss in 14 games this season, and that’s without regard to the quality of their opponent. When the day began, no team in baseball had won fewer games than Atlanta (three). Only two teams had won more than the Dodgers (eight). And no team had committed fewer errors than the Dodgers’ four. Between starting pitcher Alex Wood and a slippery-handed defense – three errors, one wild pitch and one passed ball – the Dodgers looked more like the rebuilding team than the Braves. “It is a different atmosphere,” rookie shortstop Corey Seager said, “but that’s not something that you can say is what happened. It’s still a game. You’ve got to be ready. You’ve got to come out and play.” Seager committed his first error of the season when he muffed a ground ball in the fourth inning. Third baseman Justin Turner committed the Dodgers’ other two errors. The Dodgers got their only run when Joc Pederson singled, advanced to third base on a single by Chase Utley, and scored on a groundout by Seager in the fifth inning. “Nights like this are going to happen,” Roberts said. “We hit the ball hard at times, but we didn’t string anything together.” And then there was Wood. The 25-year-old left-hander had never started a game as a visiting pitcher at Turner Field. From 2012-15, he was part of the Braves’ future, until a deadline-day trade last year made him a Dodger. In his third start of the season, Wood (1-2) allowed six runs (three earned_ in four innings. He walked three batters, including one with the bases loaded, and struck out one.

“It’s not really the way I pictured coming back here for the first time,” he said. “Fastball command just wasn’t very good tonight. I think that was the most frustrating thing. I don’t know if I’ve ever walked in a run in my professional career before. The walks were pretty frustrating, because of the fastball command. It’s a tough one to swallow, but I’ve got another one in five days.” Of the seven hits Wood allowed, there were enough slow rollers and in-between hops that he could attribute his poor stat line to bad luck and the Dodgers’ defense. He refrained. “If I was able to command both sides of the plate with the fastball,” Wood said, “that plays a large role in it.” Atlanta catcher Tyler Flowers, a career .223 hitter, tied his career high with four hits. Jeff Francoeur, a .083 hitter when the day began, raised his average to .200 with a pair of hits. A two-run double by rookie Mallex Smith (career batting average: .130) compounded J.P. Howell’s season-long misery and drove in the game’s final runs. Wood starred at the University of Georgia before he was taken by the Braves in the second round of the 2012 amateur draft. The North Carolina native has fans scattered across the southeast, as evidenced by the “probably 13 or 14” tickets he set aside for Tuesday’s game. “I wish it was not very many,” Wood said. “Usually, when I get amped up I throw pretty well. It just wasn’t there tonight and they made me pay for it.” Right-handed pitcher Williams Perez was a last-minute replacement for the Braves’ scheduled starter, Julio Teheran, who fell ill. Teheran will start Wednesday’s game instead. Pitching on three days’ rest, Perez (career ERA: 4.94) took a no-hitter into the fourth inning. He allowed two hits before he ran out of pitches, and wasn’t charged with a run in 31/3 innings. The Dodgers didn’t fare much better against an Atlanta bullpen that allowed three hits and one run in 52/3 innings. So they will try again Wednesday, today for print behind a starting pitcher (Ross Stripling) who has no connection to the hometown team, and an atmosphere that will probably feel a lot like the desolate field of dreams they inhabited Tuesday. Final trip to Atlanta's Turner Field a bigger deal for Dodgers' Charlie Culberson than Chase Utley By JP Hoornstra ATLANTA – Only two players in baseball history have played more games at Turner Field as an opponent than Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley. The circumstances line up well: Turner Field entered the league in 1997; Utley entered in 2003 and spent the next 13 1/2 seasons playing in the National League East. Even Alex Wood, the Dodgers’

starting pitcher Tuesday who began his career in the Braves’ organization, hasn’t played as many games here as Utley’s 90. And yet, none of the 90 stood out in Utley’s mind Tuesday. No clinchers, no real stinkers, mostly a lot of in-between. He’ll have two more chances to make a memory this week in the Dodgers’ final regular-season series at Turner. The Braves are set to move into SunTrust Park in April 2017. To some, Turner Field will be remembered as the home venue of the 1996 Olympic Games that was reconfigured for Major League Baseball, then survived another 20 years with little distinction. It isn’t among the many brick-laden baseball-only venues of its era that inspire fondness and nostalgia. To Charlie Culberson, that’s OK. “I grew up coming here having a lot of fun,” said the Dodgers’ utility man from nearby Rome, Ga. Culberson once got Chipper Jones’ autograph here. As a freshman in high school, he met a rookie outfielder named Jeff Francoeur, who happened to be in the Braves’ lineup again Tuesday. When he was 7, Culberson attended a pair of Olympic baseball games at Centennial Olympic Stadium (before Ted Turner loaned his name to the park) with his family. Culberson can’t remember which nations were playing. He’s 27 now and sounded a little more excited about the fact that SunTrust Park will be a couple miles from his house. But his memories of Turner Field are fond and distinct. “It’s neat to see it from this side, to be able to play here,” he said. “I was here the first year, now I’m here the last year.” STRIPLING TO BULLPEN? MAYBE LATER Ross Stripling, who starts for the Dodgers on Wednesday, still hasn’t lost a game in the major leagues. His 2.03 ERA is lower than that of Zack Greinke, among others. He also might finish the season in the bullpen. Stripling is on an innings limit this year, his first full season back from Tommy John surgery. He once guessed his limit falls in the 100- to 150-inning range and the folks in the Dodgers’ front office who helped set Stripling’s limit have declined to clarify. Manager Dave Roberts said there haven’t been any internal discussions yet about moving Stripling to the bullpen before he runs out of innings. The Dodgers have time to decide; Stripling has only started two games. When the time comes, Roberts won’t dismiss the idea. “He’s shown he can get big-league hitters out,” Roberts said. “It’s a way to temper the innings and keep him around long. That’s worthy of discussion.”

Stripling only made the rotation after injuries to five other pitchers: Brett Anderson, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy, Mike Bolsinger and Brandon Beachy. When one of the five returns, it could catalyze the decision to move Stripling to the bullpen. “You’ve got that fine balance between, he’s giving you a quality start when he goes out there, you want to keep him on that rhythm, and also when the innings start to run out,” Roberts said. “And you’ve also got to look at your roster, who’s coming back, for sure.” ALSO Outfielder Carl Crawford, who will begin a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday, traveled with the team to Atlanta. ... Roberts said he had the same lineup penciled in before and after the Braves announced that Williams Perez would start in place of Julio Teheran, who was sick. Teheran started Tuesday, so the Dodgers could use an identical lineup in back-to-back games. ... First baseman Adrian Gonzalez is the only Dodger who’s appeared in every game this season. Roberts said he envisions Gonzalez playing all six games on the current trip, then getting a day off when the Dodgers return home to play the Miami Marlins. Could years-long Dodgers TV blackout create a lost generation of young fans? By David Montero Bryon Bettencourt can name all of the Dodgers from his youth: Orel Hershiser. Hideo Nomo. Mike Piazza. He was 13, and they were immortal. They became part of his life and he figured when he had kids, a new generation of true-blue Dodgers fans would sit with him and watch games on TV. His son Bryson was born a year ago, and Thursday was his first Dodgers game. It was his first time seeing the Dodgers in any capacity. That’s because the Bettencourt household is like millions of households in Southern California – it is without Time Warner Cable. And without Time Warner Cable, the Dodgers aren’t on television. It’s going on three seasons now like this for DirecTV, DISH Network or antenna-only customers. “It’s kind of sad,” Bettencourt said. “We’ll get to four or five games a year, but that’s about it.” With the Angels on television constantly, Bettencourt could see his young son being a fan of the team based in Anaheim with Mike Trout still in his prime. “When you’re young, they’re your heroes,’ he said. “And of course, you’re going to want to see your heroes as much as possible.” ‘BRIDGE TO OUR HISTORY’

The Dodgers dedicated Vin Scully Avenue this past week with a ceremony at the stadium. Scully, who announced this would be his last season as the team’s iconic announcer, was lauded by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the man who helped fans “understand the game better.” Los Angeles City Councilman Gil Cedillo said at the ceremony that watching and listening to the games builds a connection between the fans and the team. “Vin Scully is that bridge to our history,” Cedillo said. “All of us have this personal relationship with the Dodgers and with Vin Scully. It is our relationship.” That includes seeing the team play on a daily basis – the special osmosis that happens with kids when rosters are cemented in their minds over days and days of hearing names of hitters and pitchers. Dan Durbin, director for the USC Annenberg Institute of Sports, Media & Society, said the Dodgers should be worried about losing young fans as they grow older and don’t have memories of seeing big games or moments on TV. “They are making so much money in the rights and fees, it doesn’t matter in the short term,” he said. “But they don’t see the long-term damage they’re doing. New fans don’t show up if they don’t broadcast in the homes. They’re making money on people who are already committed fans and they’re not opened up as easily to new fans.” LONG-TERM WORRIES For years, the Dodgers were on free television. Then they inked a deal with Fox Sports West 2, which was carried by all the main TV providers. In 2014, Time Warner Cable presented the Guggenheim ownership an offer of $8.3 billion for 25 years and the formation of an exclusive Dodgers network. The Dodgers agreed. But when it came to getting DirecTV and DISH Network to pony up the fees to carry the station, SportsNet LA, they balked. Recent attempts by Time Warner to drop the fee have been rejected. The result is what Dodgers co-owner Stan Kasten calls “a DirecTV blackout.” Kasten said he’s thought about the impact, and it troubles him. “There is no question over the long term, it would not be a good thing,” Kasten said. “I understand the process and we reach out in many other ways. But getting the game on all the TVs would be a huge plus.” Time Warner Cable spokesman Andrew Fegyveresi’s answer was simply to change providers. “As we have said since Day 1, we want all Dodgers fans to have access to Vin Scully and the Dodgers on SportsNet LA,” he said. “Especially given that it’s Vin’s final season, and with the network available to approximately 90 percent of homes in the Los Angeles television (market), we encourage fans to switch.” DirecTV officials said they would not comment on the matter.

MISSED MEMORIES Ricardo Garcia brought his two sons, 8 and 10, to Dodger Stadium and said without being able to see the games on TV regularly, his kids have to resort to games like MLB Live for PlayStation 4 to learn the players’ names. Ricky Garcia, his 10-year-old son, likes Clayton Kershaw. But they got tickets for a game when he wasn’t pitching. Still, the young boy in a Dodgers T-shirt stood by the rail behind home plate before the game started and had his picture taken with several players taking batting practice in the background. His father said he hoped that memories like that would make up for the Dodgers drought on TV. But he wasn’t sure. He said he learned about the game watching the Dodgers on TV with his brother and dad and had memories of Piazza, Eric Karros and Shawn Green. He remembered the moments when the electricity of a home run seen live had them cheering together in the living room. It’s much different now. “We watch the highlights,” he said. “That’s how we get them on TV.” Staff writer Tom Hoffarth contributed to this report.

DODGERS.COM

Wood handed loss by former mates in Atlanta By Mark Bowman and Jon Cooper ATLANTA -- Alex Wood's bid for a memorable homecoming was undone by his inconsistent command and a suddenly vibrant offense that helped the rejuvenated Braves claim an 8-1 win over the Dodgers on Tuesday night at Turner Field. Tyler Flowers matched a career high with four hits and Jeff Francoeur notched his own multi-hit game for the Braves, who have won four straight since opening the season with nine consecutive losses. Flowers notched an RBI single in each of his three at-bats against Wood and Francoeur fueled a two-run first inning with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly. "It's not the way we wanted to start, lose nine and then win four," Francoeur said. "But at the same time, [heck], you might as well keep going."

Wood, who spent most of the previous three seasons with the Braves, was burdened by two costly errors and the command issues he displayed while allowing six runs -- three earned -- over four innings. Because he was pitching on short rest in place of the ill Julio Teheran, Braves starting pitcher Williams Perez lasted just 3 1/3 innings. Ryan Weber stranded the two runners he inherited in the fourth inning and earned his first career win after limiting the Dodgers to one run over 3 2/3 innings. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Fourth-inning insurance: After Perez exited with a 4-0 lead in the top half of the fourth, Wood retired the first two batters he faced in the bottom half before the Braves started a rally with a Freddie Freeman walk and an error by Corey Seager. Francoeur followed with his second RBI of the night to set the stage for Flowers, whose third RBI single gave the Braves a 6-0 lead. Unhappy homecoming: Wood's much-anticipated return to Turner Field did not unfold like he had envisioned. The former Brave and University of Georgia product struggled all night with his control, striking out only one while walking three and hitting two -- his first two of the season and the same number of batters he hit in his first 14 starts with the Dodgers, covering 82 1/3 innings. "A lot of them came out swinging early, especially in the first inning. It surprised me a little bit on some of them," said Wood. "[Nick] Markakis, Freddie [Freeman], those guys have started swinging a lot earlier in the count. I had to adjust. But with my fastball command what it was, it was kind of tough to battle between the aggressive hacks and not being able to throw it where I wanted to." Immediate need: After being forced to use Matt Wisler, who was originally slated to start Tuesday's game, in the 10th inning of Sunday's win, the Braves promoted Weber from Triple-A Gwinnett to serve as a long reliever. Perez kept the Dodgers hitless before surrendering consecutive one-out hits in the fourth. But the right-hander was wavering, so Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez signaled for Weber, who limited the Dodgers to the fifth-inning run that was tallied courtesy of two well-placed singles that eluded second baseman Daniel Castro. "Perez was struggling," Gonzalez said. "He had walked three up to that point and the swings were starting to get better. He did his job. He came back a day short because of Julio. I'm a believer in putting guys in position where they're going to be successful. We had a four-run lead at the time and I didn't want to mess around. So, we brought Webby in. That was my thought and it worked out perfect." Whoops, there it is: Los Angeles was uncharacteristically shaky fielding behind Wood. The Dodgers, who entered the game with the best fielding percentage in the Majors, were charged with a season-high three errors, leading to three unearned runs. Prior to Tuesday night, Los Angeles had committed only four errors and had allowed just one unearned run. Third baseman Justin Turner committed two of the miscues. He had been perfect in 27 opportunities coming into the game. Seager also hadn't committed an error before his fourth-inning miscue. "That extends innings and gets guys up to the plate, kind of gets them rolling," said Seager. "They move around, they move up bases on you. It kind of changes the whole atmosphere of the game." QUOTABLE

"He was only hitting [.130], but this kid is going to keep developing and we're glad he is developing in the big leagues." Gonzalez, on Mallex Smith, who highlighted Tuesday's career-high three-RBI game with a two-run double in the seventh. SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Flowers' four-hit game was the third of his career and his second within his past eight games dating back to Sept. 30, when he notched four hits for the White Sox. Francoeur's multi-hit game was his first for the Braves since July 9, 2009 -- the day before he was traded to the Mets. WHAT'S NEXT Dodgers: The Dodgers play the middle game of this three-game set, with first pitch set for Wednesday at 4:10 p.m. PT. Rookie righty Ross Stripling will make his third career start and look to continue the roll he's been on. The 26-year-old has allowed three earned runs in 13 1/3 innings. Opponents are hitting .116 against him. Braves: Teheran will take the mound when Atlanta resumes its three-game set against the Dodgers on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET. Teheran was scratched from Tuesday's start because he carried a fever while battling a cold on Monday. The right-hander has struggled in his past two starts. Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV. Wood wished for better in Turner Field return By Jon Cooper ATLANTA -- Alex Wood was amped up for his return to Turner Field. It's a night he probably started dreaming about last July 30, when he was traded to the Dodgers. Knowing it was coming for about a week got him even more amped, which the 25-year-old lefty, who starred at the University of Georgia, said is usually a good thing. Unfortunately for him and the Dodgers, it wasn't on Tuesday night. Wood was unable to control his fastball and lasted a season-low four innings as the Dodgers fell to the Braves, 8-1. "It's tough and not really the way I pictured coming back here for the first time," said Wood, who hit two batters, the same number he'd hit in his first 82 1/3 innings as a Dodger. "Fastball command just wasn't very good tonight. That was the most frustrating thing. I don't know if I've ever walked in a run in my professional career before." The lack of command hurt early, as Wood was admittedly caught off-guard by an aggressive Braves team that came out swinging: Atlanta's first three hitters each put the first pitch of the at-bat in play. The Braves scored two runs in the first, third and fourth innings, peppering Wood with seven hits. Adding to the frustration was that none were hit particularly hard.

"They just found a way to put the bat on the baseball and find holes," said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "Those balls easily could have been hit at someone. Unfortunately it just didn't work out that way." Then again, the way things worked out on Tuesday night, even balls hit at someone didn't guarantee outs. The Dodgers, who entered Tuesday with the best fielding percentage in the Majors, committed three errors -- two by third baseman Justin Turner, another by shortstop Corey Seager. Neither had an error coming into Tuesday's game. "There's really no rhyme or reason for it," said Roberts. "162 games there are going to be games like this, but this was definitely more of an outlier." Maybe it's just something about Turner Field, where the Dodgers are 29-41, with two games left on this final visit. Maybe it's something about coming back to Turner Field. Even Greg Maddux (five earned runs, eight hits in six innings when returning with the Cubs on July 5, 2005) and Tom Glavine (six earned runs, eight hits in 3 1/3 innings with the Mets on May 24, 2003) had difficulties coming back to Turner Field after leaving the Braves, and those two guys are in the Hall of Fame. For Wood, there's the positive, as Roberts pointed out, that he competed. Also he's young and showed an ability to keep his sense of humor and perspective. When asked how many tickets he'd left for friends and family, he chuckled and said, "I wish it was not very many, but I had a good amount." He concluded his assessment of the frustrating night by saying, "The walks [three vs. one strikeout] were pretty frustrating because of the fastball command. It's a tough one to swallow, but we've got another one in five days." Rodgers, Blair among top prospect performers Tuesday By Mike Rosenbaum Rockies No. 1 prospect Brendan Rodgers continued what has been a solid start to his first full season by slugging a pair of two-run home runs on Tuesday in Class A Asheville's 11-9 loss to Lexington. The multi-homer performance was the first of Rodgers' young career and extended his hitting streak to seven games. Through 12 games, the No. 10 overall prospect is hitting .298/.377/.574 with nine runs scored and nine RBIs. Rodgers battled foot, hamstring and hip injuries last summer after the Rockies selected him third overall in the Draft, but he still managed to post a solid .273/.340/.420 batting line during his time in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. Fully healthy for 2016, the 19-year-old shortstop is already showing the power potential that made him such a highly touted amateur prospect and, ultimately, a Top 3 overall Draft pick.

With four home runs to his name this season, Rodgers has already surpassed his total from 2015, when he hit three long balls in 37 games for Rookie-level Grand Junction. The rest of the best performances from top prospects Tuesday • No. 26 overall prospect Gleyber Torres (Cubs' No. 1) connected on his first home run of the season as Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach fell to Winston-Salem, 6-5. • No. 29 overall prospect Aaron Judge (Yankees' No. 2) hit his second homer of the year, a three-run shot in the third inning, and drove in four runs as Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre blanked Buffalo, 7-0. The 23-year-old outfielder has collected hits in five straight games for the RailRiders, and he's hit safely in 10 of his first 11 games to begin the season. • No. 54 overall prospect Aaron Blair (Braves' No. 4 prospect) struck out 10 hitters (all swinging strikeouts) in seven no-hit innings as Triple-A Gwinnett rolled past Durham, 7-2. The 23-year-old righty has been outstanding in his first three turns for the Braves, going 3-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 22/5 K/BB ratio in 19 innings. • After opening the season in a 4-for-37 rut, No. 82 overall prospect Cornelius Randolph (Phillies' No. 5) went 4-for-5 with his first home run of the season and three RBIs in Class A Lakewood's loss to Hagerstown. • Twins No. 6 prospect Stephen Gonsalves tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a no-decision as Class A Advanced Fort Myers' edged Jupiter, 2-1. The 6-foot-5 left-hander allowed two hits and one walk and struck out eight in the outing, throwing 65 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He's pitched to a 1.89 ERA in 19 innings this season, during which he's posted an 18/4 K/BB ratio and held opposing hitters to a .156 average. • Red Sox No. 7 prospect Sam Travis enjoyed his third straight game with multiple hits, going 4-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored as Triple-A Pawtucket defeated Rochester, 9-4. The 2014 second-rounder is swinging a hot bat to begin the season, with a .327 average, 10 runs scored and 10 RBIs through 13 games. • Dodgers No. 8 prospect Jharel Cotton struck out six hitters over five scoreless frames for Triple-A Oklahoma City in a rain-shortened shutout, his third as a professional. The 24-year-old righty allowed two hits and a walk in the outing, throwing 51 of his 72 pitches for strikes. "What worked was my fastball command was better today," Cotton told MiLB.com. "I threw a lot of fastballs tonight, and my changeup worked off my fastball. I threw an awful lot of changeups last time and I think they got used to seeing it. I didn't throw it as much this time, and when I did, it was a lot more effective." • Red Sox' No. 10 prospect Michael Chavis went 2-for-4 and homered for the third straight game as Class A Greenville trounced Hickory, 16-4, and he's now hitting .388 on the season. Luis Alexander Basabe (Red Sox' No. 8) also had a big game, going 4-for-6 with his first home run of the season and two stolen bases, while catcher Austin Rea (No. 25) entered the home run column and drove in five runs as part of a 2-for-5 performance.

• Phillies No. 15 prospect Tom Eshelman was dominant for a second straight start, allowing one run on two hits and striking out nine over seven innings in Class A Advanced Clearwater's win over Daytona. Acquired from Houston during the offseason in the Ken Giles trade, Eshelman, 21, owns a 0.95 ERA, 0.53 WHIP and 17/3 K/BB ratio through his first 19 frames in 2016. • Yankees Nos. 28 and 30 prospects Thairo Estrada and Trey Amburgey went a combined 6-for-10 with five extra-base hits in Class A Charleston's shutout of Columbia. Estrada went 3-for-5 with a pair of solo home runs, his first two long balls of the season, while Amburgey tallied two triples and a double in the contest. He's collected three hits in three in his last four games and owns a .349/.431/.651 batting line with nine extra-base hits and six steals through 11 games. Crawford heading out on rehab assignment By Jon Cooper ATLANTA -- Carl Crawford will take the next step to getting back to patrolling the outfield for the Dodgers on Wednesday night. Crawford, who has been hindered by a lower back strain, is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City against the Memphis Redbirds. "Carl is going to be heading out [Wednesday] morning," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday. Crawford was hitting .273 (3-for-11) with a double and two RBIs in five games before back soreness landed him on the disabled list on April 9. It's the second straight season the 34-year-old outfielder has gone on the DL in the season's first month, as he strained his right oblique last April 28, which kept him out through most of July. Crawford played 69 games last year Crawford did some pregame running and hitting in the batting cage at Turner Field on Tuesday and is eligible to come off the disabled list on Sunday, when the Dodgers conclude their six-game road trip in Colorado. But Roberts said activating him would depend on the state of the bullpen after Saturday's game at Coors Field. Howie Kendrick, the fifth player to start in left field for the Dodgers this season, got the start in left for the second straight game in the series opener on Tuesday. It was his 30th career game in left (23rd start). "I think it just kind of goes to I trust [Kendrick]," said Roberts. "It's risen and I think, for him, it's just risen more for him to be out there and get through a night playing a position he's really never played. But for me, I don't really think twice about having him out there." Mayo: Top 10 prospect duos in the Minor Leagues By Jonathan Mayo Forget about Batman and Robin. It's time to talk about some real dynamic duos.

Not long ago, Jim Callis took a look at the best Minor League teams, with the most stacked rosters, in baseball. But which teams have the best pairs of prospects in the Minors? Let's take a closer look. The following is a top 10 list of prospect duos playing for the same Minor League team currently. The rankings are determined by taking the two prospects' Top 100 rankings and averaging them out (shown in parentheses). Keep in mind that the promotions of guys like Nomar Mazara of the Rangers and the Twins' Max Kepler change things a bit. 1. Red Sox: Yoan Moncada and Rafael Devers, Salem (10) Moncada (No. 5) and Devers (No. 15) could be half the Red Sox infield in a couple of years. Moncada is off to a fast start and may not be in the Carolina League for long, while the teenaged Devers has been slow out of the gate. And don't forget the third musketeer in Salem, Andrew Benintendi (No. 23), another potential fast-tracker. He and either Moncada or Devers would still rank No. 2 on this list. 2. Dodgers: Julio Urias and Jose De Leon, Oklahoma City (12) Urias has had one very good and one not so good start in the Pacific Coast League at the start of the year, but it would shock no one to see the left-hander pitch his way to Los Angeles before his 20th birthday in August. De Leon will be back soon from his ankle injury, giving Oklahoma City the best 1-2 rotation punch in the Minors. 3. Braves: Sean Newcomb and Ozzie Albies, Mississippi (23) Newcomb, the key part of the return in the Andrelton Simmons deal, has been very tough to hit in his first two Double-A starts in a Braves uniform, but he'll have to cut the walk rate (6 BB in 10 IP) down. Albies made the double-jump to Mississippi and hasn't missed a beat. 4. Indians: Bradley Zimmer and Clint Frazier, Akron (24.5) This could be two-thirds of the Indians outfield in a year or so. Back-to-back first-round picks, Zimmer and Frazier certainly don't look similar, but they both bring a power-speed dimension to any lineup they're in. 5. Pirates: Tyler Glasnow and Josh Bell, Indianapolis (27.5) Glasnow has continued to miss bats over his first two starts and, more importantly, walked none in start No. 2. Bell picked up his first homer of the season on Friday and has been getting on base at a solid clip. Jameson Taillon's strong return gives Indy an intriguing trio. T6. Astros: Alex Bregman and Francis Martes, Corpus Christi (29.5) The Astros knew Bregman was an advanced hitter when they took him No. 2 overall out of LSU. But no one could've predicted he'd start the season with a 10-game hitting streak, including five homers in six games. Martes, just 20, has allowed just five hits over his first 10 IP, spanning two starts. T6. Brewers: Orlando Arcia and Jorge Lopez, Colorado Springs (29.5) It's hard to imagine this pair not spending significant time in Milwaukee this year. The Brewers' rotation has struggled out of the gate and most see Jonathan Villar as holding the position until it's decided the Arcia era should begin. 8. Yankees: Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez , Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (43)

Judge is off to a solid start in the Triple-A International League, though he has to watch his plate discipline. Sanchez, after competing for the backup job in New York, has scuffled out of the gate as he continues to play every day behind the plate. 9. Rockies: David Dahl and Ryan McMahon, Hartford (45) Dahl has missed considerable time over the past couple of years with some freakish injuries, but he homered five times over his first eight games with the Yard Goats. While Dahl hits third, McMahon and his smooth left-handed swing have hit out of the five spot in the lineup. T10. Reds: Jesse Winker and Cody Reed, Louisville (48.5) It's Winker's first taste of Triple-A and he's doing what he typically does: hitting. It's also Reed's Triple-A debut and the lefty who came over in the Johnny Cueto trade last summer should be filled with confidence after nearly winning a spot in the big league rotation. T10. Phillies: J.P. Crawford and Jorge Alfaro, Reading (48.5) Crawford is now not only the top shortstop, but the top overall position player on the Top 100. He's begun the year hitting like one in his return to Reading, where he finished last year. Alfaro's on the bottom of the Top 100, but one of the pieces from the Cole Hamels deal has been red hot out of the chute.

LA TIMES

Dodgers won't say how many innings Ross Stripling will pitch this season By Andy McCullough Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts would not reveal the exact number, because he insisted the exact number does not exist. How many innings will the Dodgers allow Ross Stripling to throw in 2016? "I know it's not 200," Roberts said Tuesday with a smile before an 8-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. As Stripling prepared for the third start of his big league career on Wednesday, Roberts fielded questions about his future. He said he had yet to discuss with the front office how the team would handle Stripling as the season continued. But Roberts did appear open to the idea of Stripling shifting to the bullpen when the team deemed his innings restriction to be approaching. "That is a thought," Stripling said. "That's a good thought, actually." Stripling threw 7 1/3 no-hit innings in his major league debut in San Francisco and followed that up with six innings of two-run ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Stripling had never pitched above double A before this season. But he did log 127 2/3 innings during the 2013 season. He underwent Tommy John surgery the next year.

"I think it's start by start for now," Roberts said. "I think even internally, we're not really talking about that. But it is something that, going forward, we're mindful of." Dodgers' Alex Wood keeps finding Braves bats or missing strike zone in 8-1 homecoming loss at Atlanta By Andy McCullough Five innings remained in the game when he left the mound, so Dodgers starter Alex Wood had time to watch his outing "from start to finish," he said. Inside the visitors' clubhouse at Turner Field, he parked himself in front of a screen and relived the bitter homecoming of an 8-1 defeat to the Braves. The video review only reinforced the misfortune he experienced on the mound. He operated with unreliable fastball command and sporadic control of his other pitches. The Atlanta hitters hounded him from the first at-bat of the game until his last, peppering him for six runs and seven hits and chasing him after only four innings. "Not really the way I pictured coming back here for the first time," Wood said after his first outing here since the Dodgers traded for him last July. With Wood living a nightmare, the Dodgers (8-6) started this six-game trip on a sour note. The team ended the weekend in good spirits, alone at the top of the National League West after taking home series from the Diamondbacks and the Giants. Then the group traveled east and face-planted. The players looked leaden and laggard after a cross-country flight Monday. The offense did not record a hit against Williams Perez, rushed into duty due to the illness of scheduled starter Julio Teheran, until the fourth inning. The defense committed errors that led to runs in the third and the fourth. A passed ball opened the door for another run in the fourth. Louis Coleman and J.P. Howell teamed to allow two more runs in the seventh. "Nights like this," Manager Dave Roberts said with a shrug, "they're going to happen." Wood, a 25-year-old left-hander, had circled this series on his calendar earlier in the season. He grew up in Charlotte, N.C. The Braves drafted him out of the University of Georgia in 2012. He debuted in the majors a year later. Even after the trade, Wood still trained this winter at nearby Georgia Tech. On the flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta, he revealed his excitement to Roberts. The chance to pitch against his old team, in front of his family and friends, thrilled him. Wood left more than a dozen tickets at will call, a decision he regretted. "I wish it was not very many," he said after the game.

At the start of Wood's career in Atlanta, the Braves still contended for playoff spots. Now the organization is in the midst of a tear-down, the roster filled with veteran castoffs, a few promising prospects and relatively anonymous journeymen. One of the unknowns, 31-year-old third baseman Adonis Garcia, loaded the bases by coaxing a walk out of Wood in the first. By then, Wood was wobbling due to his command and a strategic surprise from the Braves. Both outfielder Nick Markakis and first baseman Freddie Freeman had already pounced on first-pitch fastballs for singles. After a sacrifice fly by outfielder Jeff Francoeur, catcher Tyler Flowers threaded a two-out single through the right side of the infield. "A lot of them came out swinging early, especially in the first inning," said Wood, who walked three and struck out one. "It surprised me a little bit." His fastball refused to travel where Wood intended. He drilled Garcia with a one on the leg in the third inning, the second Brave he hit in the game. The Braves executed a hit-and-run play, with Garcia dashing to third on Francoeur's single. Flowers followed with another run-scoring single through a vacated space near second base. With Wood teetering, his defense did him few favors. Justin Turner bungled a grounder that might have resulted in a double play. Instead, the bases were loaded when Wood walked outfielder Mallex Smith to force in another run. An inning later, a pair of defensive gaffes cost the Dodgers. With a runner at first, Corey Seager fumbled a ground ball. "That extends innings, that gets guys up to the plate," Seager said. "It gets them rolling a little bit." Francouer drove a hanging curveball up the middle for an RBI single. When catcher Yasmani Grandal failed to catch a 1-1 curve, a runner moved to third base. Flowers followed with an RBI infield single for Atlanta's sixth run. Wood exited after the fourth, with the outcome essentially beyond doubt. Three of the six runs charged to him were unearned. In the aftermath, Roberts rued the slew of well-placed singles from the Braves. "Woody didn't throw his best, didn't have his best stuff," Roberts said. "But if we make a couple plays for him, it's a different ball game." Wood refused to take solace in the lament of bad luck. He felt the weight of his struggle on the mound. Watching the outing again only reinforced the disappointment. "It's a tough one to swallow," Wood said. "But I've got another one in five days."

Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford to start rehabilitation assignment By Andy McCullough Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford (lower back irritation) will fly to Oklahoma City to start a rehabilitation assignment with the team’s triple-A affiliate on Wednesday morning. He is expected to play for Oklahoma City in Wednesday night’s game. Crawford is eligible to come off the disabled list on Sunday. With Crawford out, the Dodgers have improvised in left field. Howie Kendrick started there again on Tuesday. Trayce Thompson has also received time in left. Manager Dave Roberts was unsure if the team would activate Crawford immediately. “We’ve got to look closely at the pitching and where our pen is after the second day in Colorado and see where we stand,” Roberts said. The Dodgers have carried an eight-man bullpen since the middle of last week, when rookie catcher Austin Barnes was optioned to the minors and left-handed reliever Adam Liberatore remained with the big-league club. When Crawford returns, the logical maneuver to free a roster spot would be to send a reliever to the minors.

DODGER INSIDER

Farm Fresh: That’s some powerful Garlick By Cary Osborne The biggest display of power in this young season by a player in the Dodger organization belongs to Dodgers 2015 28th-rounder and High-A Rancho Cucamonga outfielder Kyle Garlick. And it shouldn’t be viewed as a one-game sensation. “The power for sure is real,” he said Tuesday. “I just have to make sure it stays consistent.” With Garlick’s three home runs in Lancaster on Monday, including an inside-the-parker, the 24-year-old has hit nine home runs in his first 24 games with the Quakes, including five in 14 games last season. So going into Tuesday night’s game, Garlick hit a home run once every 11.8 plate appearances with the Quakes. Garlick said his numbers have been aided by some California League air, but his confidence has risen this year because of what he’s been able to do with offspeed pitches. When he got his feet wet in Rancho last year after starting the season in the Rookie Arizona League, he saw mostly fastballs. Two of his home runs on Monday were off sliders.

Garlick, 24, began his collegiate career at the University of Oregon. In 2013, he redshirted after a nagging wrist injury refused to heal. He played one more season in Oregon in 2014 and earned his bachelor’s degree, but didn’t get drafted. He had another year of eligibility and decided to come home to Southern California to play baseball for Cal Poly Pomona and be closer to his mother, Cary, who was battling breast cancer. In 103 games at Oregon, he hit eight total home runs. That number rose to 17 with Pomona, and in June the Dodgers took him in the draft. Quietly, Garlick had the highest slugging percentage of any Dodger minor leaguer last season with a minimum of 250 at bats — .591. Garlick said he got stronger this offseason after working on some baseball-specific weight-training at Thousand Oaks-based Sportswest Performance, which lists Ryan Braun, Trevor Plouffe and Barry Zito as some of its clientele. It’s paid off early. In the top of the ninth inning on Monday, Garlick was ready physically and mentally for Lancaster pitcher Kevin Comer. “It was a pretty unbelievable day. It was crazy,” Garlick said. “Drew Saylor, our manager, came up to me (before the last at-bat), and he said, this guy has eight strikeouts in four innings (this season) with four walks. So I thought it would be one of those at-bats where I had to see some pitches and battle with him because he’s a strikeout guy. He threw me like five, six sliders in a row. If he threw another, I knew I was going to connect with it.” Garlick did for his fourth homer of the year. He said his mother, who has been cancer -ree for a year, was likely asleep when it happened. But he got a call from her and his father this morning. “She said, ‘Great game. It was unbelievable,’” Garlick said. Garlick doubled in his first at-bat tonight. Updates from around the farm … Oklahoma City Oklahoma City relievers Luis Avilan and Matt West have combined to allow zero runs in 11 1/3 innings. Eight baserunners have reached base off them and they have struck out nine batters each. Zach Lee has picked up where he left off last season. In three starts (17 1/3 innings), he has allowed three earned runs and one walk. Julio Urias has struck out 12 and walked one in 10 innings. He has allowed four earned runs. Tulsa Catcher Kyle Farmer is batting .371/.405/.829 with three home runs in 37 plate appearances. Converted reliever Jordan Schafer hasn’t allowed a run in six innings, having struck out five, walked one and given up four hits. Rancho Cucamonga

Right-hander Brock Stewart was named California League Player of the Week for April 7-17. In two starts (11 innings), he allowed one earned run while striking out 12. He was promoted to Tulsa April 15. Jet-lagged or left jagged, Dodgers fall in Atlanta By Jon Weisman The offense scored a season-low one run. The defense made three errors in one game after making four in their previous 13. And Alex Wood’s search for consistency continued, as he followed a quality start with the alternative for the fifth time since September. It all amounted to a get-it-out-of-your-system, 8-1 loss at Atlanta for the Dodgers in their first East Coast game of 2016. Three Dodger errors led to four unearned runs, an amount the Dodgers reached in a game exactly once in each of the past three seasons. Adam Liberatore and Yimi Garcia extended the bullpen’s scoreless streak to 16 innings before Louis Coleman, who was the last Dodger reliever to allow a run seven days ago, was charged with two (one earned) in the seventh inning tonight. Wood ended up throwing 88 pitches in four innings, allowing six runs (three earned) and 12 baserunners while striking out one. Alex Wood seeks more than just a homecoming By Jon Weisman When Thomas Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again” was published in 1940, it flew in the face of Major League Baseball’s reserve clause, which forced players into homecomings year after year. Then again, Wolfe had died two years earlier, so by that point, he really couldn’t go home again. Anyway, the return of University of Georgia alum and former Braves lefty Alex Wood to Atlanta tonight is front of mind for the 24-year-old pitcher, as these stories Mike DiGiovanna of the Times and Ken Gurnick of MLB.com indicate. “I’ve had it circled on my calendar for a while,” Wood said, according to Gurnick. “I’m excited about it, have a lot of family coming in for it, my friends. That’s where I lived. It’ll be fun, for sure.” Dustin Nosler of Dodgers Digest takes the opportunity to reconcile the apparent contradiction between Wood’s increased velocity and decreased strikeout rate in 2016. “Wood is making up for the lack of strikeouts by getting a lot of ground balls,” Nosler wrote. “He’s seventh in the majors with a 63.2 percent ground ball rate. He’s also getting some of the softest contact of any starter (35 percent).”

Pitching seven innings of one-run ball in his most recent start, April 13 against Arizona, Wood set down the last 11 batters he faced before giving up a leadoff single in the eighth inning and coming out of the game. Amid increasing concern about how he (and other pitchers in general) will fare the third time through the order, it’s the hope of Wood and the Dodgers that he is ready to make a statement. “It was nice to see him get over that hump,” Dave Roberts said, according to DiGiovanna. “The key was working ahead and spinning the baseball. He trusts his fastball, but that third time through, he kept them off balance with the breaking ball and changeup, then set them up with the fastball. It’s a little cat-and-mouse, but he was outstanding.” It’s all part of Wood’s vision for 2016, which he talked about with Dodger Insider during the past offseason — to return to a level of reliability he enjoyed during his best days with Atlanta. In his 14 starts with the Dodgers, Wood has allowed two runs or less in exactly half. “I still had a pretty decent year, but for me, it wasn’t up to the standards that I’ve kind of set for myself,” Wood said in November. “It was a good year, but it was the worst year I’ve had so far. … I was really, really good some outings, and then I had some bad outings. For me, I’ve always founds my success in the consistency of my performances.” That’s the kind of homecoming Wood is really aiming for tonight.

TRUEBLUELA.COM

Dodgers finding the importance of the first pitch By Eric Stephen After a night that saw the Dodgers make a bad first impression in Atlanta, let's look at the team on the first pitch on both sides of the ball heading into their middle game against the Braves on Wednesday night at Turner Field. The Braves beat their former teammate Alex Wood on Tuesday, and along the way were 3-for-3 against him on the first pitch, with a sacrifice bunt. Years ago at a Dodger Thoughts event at Dodger Stadium organized by Jon Weisman, then-assistant-GM Kim Ng spoke to us as a group, and her answer that stuck with me over time was when she was asked her favorite pitch. Rather than give a pitch type, like a fastball, slider or curve, she said, "Strike one." It makes sense, because the advantage swings heavily one way or the other depending on whether that first pitch is a ball or strike. After a 1-0 count, National League batters in 2016 are hitting .256/.378/.433, but after falling behind 0-1, batters are down to just .213/.265/.328.

Dodgers pitchers after getting ahead 0-1 have held batters to just .172/.212/.217. Dodgers batters after falling down 0-1 are hitting .236/.287/.305. LA batters after taking a first-pitch ball are hitting .246/.347/.440, while Dodgers pitchers after falling behind 1-0 have seen opposing batters hit .223/.341/.433. DODGERS PLATE APPEARANCES, 2016 First pitch LA batters LA pitchers In play 76 (14.3%) 54 (10.8%) Ball 202 (37.9%) 185 (37.1%) Strike 255 (47.8%) 259 (52.0%) Source: Baseball-Reference There is also putting the ball in play or hitting a home run on the first pitch, something Wood fell victim to on Tuesday, mentioning among other things on the postgame SportsNet LA broadcast that he lacked fastball command in his start, which lasted just four innings. On offense the Dodgers have been on the aggressive side in 2016, fifth in the National League by swinging at the first pitch 169 times. The frequency of 31.7 percent of their total plate appearances is above the NL average of 29.8 percent. In 76 of those instances, the Dodgers have either put the ball in play or (twice) hit a home run, hitting a robust .365/.365/.527. That includes 1-for-4 with a double play on Tuesday night. The National League as a whole is hitting .369/.367/.613 in these situations. Opposing batters against the Dodgers have swung at the first pitch 30.7 percent of the time, and in the 54 times they put the ball in play or over the wall are hitting .340/.340/.509. Overall, the Dodgers have struck on the first pitch more often than their opponent, a generally advantageous position, to the tune of 22 more times in 14 games. Of the remaining plate appearances, Dodgers pitchers are generally ahead 0-1 more often than their batters are behind 0-1, so that's a positive. Wednesday starters Opposing batters are 0-for-2 when putting the first pitch into play against Ross Stripling in his two major league starts. Against Braves starter Julio Teheran in 2016, batters are 3-for-4 with a home run and a sacrifice fly on the first pitch. Teheran has been ahead of batters after the first pitch in 43 of 72 instances (59.7 percent), compared to 25 of 46 (54.3 percent) for Stripling. But after getting ahead 0-1, Stripling has held batters to just 2-for-24 (.083) so far, with a double, one walk and eight strikeouts. Stripling is trying to become the first Dodgers pitcher with a quality start in each of his first three major league games since ... well, since Kenta Maeda on Sunday. But the feat is still rare, with only eight Dodgers since 1913 turning the trick, including Maeda. Fun fact

In 2015, the Dodgers were 0-7 in the first game of a series on the road following travel of at least two time zones east. Atlanta was the first of seven such trips for them in 2016. For what it's worth, the club was 4-3 in the second game of the series last year. Game info Time: 4:10 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA Jharel Cotton strikes out 6 in 5 scoreless innings for Oklahoma City By Eric Stephen When it rains, it pours. For the Dodgers minor league affiliates on Tuesday, that meant from the clouds in the Pacific Coast League and from the bats in the California League. Player of the day Just about the only thing that could stop Jharel Cotton on Tuesday was rain, which cut short Oklahoma City's home win over Memphis. Cotton struck out six and walked one, while allowing only two hits in his five scoreless innings. Cotton struck out four consecutive batters at one point, including striking out the side in the fourth. Cotton faced just two batters over the minimum on Tuesday, and in three starts so far this season has a 27.9-percent strikeout rate. Triple-A Oklahoma City Oklahoma City behind Cotton beat the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) 4-0 in a game shortened to just five innings by rain. Rob Segedin and Corey Brown helped pace the offense, each with two hits including a double, and Austin Barnes was 1-for-3 with a triple in the win. Left fielder James Ramsey was 1-or-4 with a triple and a run batted in. The outfielder, acquired from Cleveland with utility man Zach Walters for cash, improved to 3-for-26 (.115) since joining Oklahoma City, with a home run, triple and double. Walters, who has started at shortstop, third base and second base for but didn't play on Tuesday, is just 2-for-20 (.100) so far with OKC. Double-A Tulsa The Drillers lost 8-3 at home to the San Antonio Missions (Padres) thanks to six runs in the sixth and seventh innings, but that didn't put a damper on what could soon become quite the feel-good story this summer. Jordan Schafer pitched a scoreless frame in the eighth inning, and the 29-year-old converted outfielder thus far has seven scoreless innings in four games for Tulsa, allowing only four hits and a walk while striking out six.

Chris Anderson struck out six in five innings and left with a lead, allowing two runs on three hits. He did walk three, but after 11 walks in his first eight innings this counts as a massive improvement. Jacob Scavuzzo was 2-for-4, hit fourth multi-hit game in his last six starts. Class-A Rancho Cucamonga Kyle Garlick picked up where he left off on Monday, but he wasn't alone on Tuesday. The Quakes hit three home runs in a 10-6 win at the Lancaster JetHawks (Astros). Garlick didn't homer, but he did go 1-for-4 with a double and a walk in the win. Yusniel Diaz got the power show started with a three-run shot in the second, then later in the inning catcher Julian Leon and shortstop Erick Mejia each added solo shots of their own. It was the second home run in as many games for Diaz, the 19-year-old Cuban outfielder signed to a reported $15.5 million bonus in the offseason. In his last five games, Diaz has two triples to go with those two home runs. For Mejia, it was his second home run in 146 games as a pro. Leon was 3-for-5 and fell a triple short of the cycle. Staked to a 10-0 lead, Grant Holmes wasn't his sharpest, though he cruised into the fifth before giving up any runs. He walked five in five innings but struck out six and allowed three runs for the win, and escaped his own jam by striking out the final three batters he faced. Class-A Great Lakes The Loons fell at home to the Dayton Dragons (Reds), 9-4, with starter Michael Boyle taking the loss allowing four runs (two earned) in 3⅔ innings, with four walks though he did strike out six. Ariel Sandoval tripled, doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice in the loss. Omar Estevez was 2-for-4, his fourth multi-hit game in eight professional contests. Third baseman Nick Dean was 0-for-4 and is off to a 1-for-19 start this season. Transactions None on Tuesday, though that will change on Wednesday with Carl Crawford expected to start for Oklahoma City on a rehab assignment. Notable Back on Monday, Brock Stewart made his Double-A Tulsa debut but also was named California League Pitcher of the Week for the first 11 days of the season, going 2-0 while allowing one run in 11 innings, with 10 strikeouts and two walks with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. The 2014 sixth-round pick out of Illinois State has allowed one run in three starts this season, with 18 strikeouts in 16 innings. Tuesday scores

Oklahoma City 4, Memphis 0 (5) San Antonio 8, Tulsa 3 Rancho Cucamonga 10, Lancaster 6 Dayton 9, Great Lakes 4 Wednesday schedule 3:05 p.m. - Dayton (Franderlyn Romero) at Great Lakes (Nolan Long) 5:05 p.m. - Nashville (Jeremy Hefner) at Oklahoma City (Sam LeCure) 6:35 p.m. - Rancho Cucamonga (Tommy Bergjans) at Lancaster (Evan Grills) Tulsa is off Wednesday. Alex Wood, Dodgers dig themselves too deep a hole By Eric Stephen Alex Wood's return to Atlanta didn't go nearly how he wanted, and the Dodgers were unable to dig out of an early hole in their 8-1 loss to the Braves on Tuesday night at Turner Field. The Braves got to Wood with two runs in three different innings — the first, third and fourth frames — with Tyler Flowers contributing three separate RBI singles in the onslaught. Wood was not helped by his teammates in the field, with errors by Justin Turner and Corey Seager plus a passed ball by Yasmani Grandal, which meant three of the six runs allowed by Wood were unearned, but that didn't make the cost easier for the Dodgers to bear. The offense certainly didn't help, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and not scoring until a run-scoring ground out in the fifth inning when the Dodgers were already trailing by six runs. That Wood allowed 12 runners to reach base — seven hits, three walks, and two hit batsmen — without the errors while recording only 12 outs meant he deserved the brunt of the blame. Wood's start meant the Dodgers had little margin for error, and it was in the margins where the Braves cleaned up. After Turner's error on a play that would have ended the third inning, Wood responded by walking Mallex Smith with the bases loaded. 4-0 Braves.

After Seager's error on a play that would have ended the fourth, Wood allowed run-scoring singles to Jeff Francoeur and Flowers. What a relief After a long weekend series that saw the Braves bullpen log 13 innings in three games, Atlanta not only added an eighth reliever to the staff for this series but also shuffled the rotation since starter Matt Wisler — originally slated to start on Tuesday — pitched one of those 13 innings, on Sunday. That meant Williams Perez got the start for the Braves on Tuesday, on three days rest. After totaling just nine innings in his first two starts, Perez was limited against the Dodgers but he didn't show it, taking a no-hitter into the fourth inning, though he did walk three. He hit the wall in the fourth inning, allowing two hits, and was pulled after 56 pitches and 3⅓ innings, but the Dodgers couldn't cash in any of the runners. Ryan Weber, the eighth reliever called up from Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday, gave the Braves exacty what they needed, with 3⅔ innings of solid relief, allowing only a run on three hits while striking out four and walking none. Because Perez didn't go the requisite five innings, Weber got the win in relief, his first major league victory. Notes Francoeur entered Tuesday 1-for-12 (.083) with a walk, but his two singles made him 7-for-15 (.467) in his career against Wood. Flowers tied his career high with four hits, set two other times. Turner made another error in the seventh inning, giving the Dodgers three on the night, after entering Tuesday with a National League-low four errors in the first 13 games of the season. Grandal walked in the second inning, his seventh consecutive plate appearance reaching base, a streak snapped in his next at-bat. Atlanta added two runs in the seventh inning, off Louis Coleman and J.P. Howell, snapping the Dodgers' streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings against the bullpen. Old friend Chris Withrow retired Yasiel Puig to end the eighth inning, his first appearance against his old team. Since returning from Tommy John surgery, Withrow has allowed one run in six appearances over 4⅓ innings. Up next The Dodgers will turn to Ross Stripling on Wednesday night in the middle game of the series, while the Braves will have Julio Teheran start on the mound. Tuesday particulars Home runs: none

WP - Ryan Weber (1-0): 3⅔ IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 4 strikeouts LP - Alex Wood (1-2): 4 IP, 7 hits, 6 runs (3 earned runs), 3 walks, 1 strikeout Howie Kendrick back in left field for Dodgers' opener with Braves By Eric Stephen The Dodgers begin a three-game series against the Braves on Tuesday night at Turner Field, and Howie Kendrick gets the call in left field in the opener. This is the third start of the season for Kendrick in left field. He is 4-for-19 (.211) with a walk in the early going. Prior to the last week, Kendrick hadn't started in left field since 2011. The Dodgers face right-handed starting pitchers all week, including Williams Perez on Tuesday, so there is no real opportunity for a platoon advantage with the three main candidates for left field — Kike Hernandez, Kendrick and Trayce Thompson — all right-handed. Starting Lineups Dodgers Braves 2B Utley (L) RF Markakis (L) SS Seager (L) 2B Castro 3B Turner 1B Freeman (L) 1B Gonzalez (L) 3B Garcia RF Puig LF Francoeur C Grandal (S) C Flowers LF Kendrick SS Aybar (S) CF Pederson (L) CF Smith (L) P Wood P Perez Location: Turner Field Time: 4:10 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA Radio: KLAC Kendrick is 1-for-3 in his career against Perez. Atlanta originally listed Julio Teheran as its Tuesday starter, but he was filling in for Matt Wisler, who got a save in relief on Sunday. The new Braves rotation order for the series is Perez, then Teheran on Wednesday, followed by Wisler on getaway morning on Thursday. Adrian Gonzalez, who has started every game so far this season, is 2-for-3 against Perez in his career. Joc Pederson is also 2-for-3, with a double against him.

Yasmani Grandal is behind the plate, the first Dodgers catcher to start three straight games this season. Grandal has reached base in his last six plate appearances. Since Alex Wood has never faced the Braves, it is understandable that so few currently on the team have faced him. But three Braves have a history with Wood, albeit brief. Jeff Francoeur is 5-for-13 (.385) with two walks against Wood, and starts in left field. The other two are in reserve — Drew Stubbs is 1-for-2 with two walks, and A.J. Pierzynski is 1-for-1. Alex Wood returns to Atlanta in Dodgers' opener with Braves By Eric Stephen The Dodgers make their final trip to Turner Field, opening a three-game series in Atlanta against the Braves on Tuesday night. This is the 20th season the Braves have played in the stadium built for the 1996 Olympics, and the Dodgers are 29-40 all-time in games there, 30-41 if you count the postseason, too. Alex Wood is pitching in Atlanta for the first time since July 21, 2015, nine days before he was traded to the Dodgers. He fared well at home at Turner Field as a Brave, going 12-11 with a 3.23 ERA in 40 games, including 15 quality starts in 25 starts. He also struck out more than a batter an inning in Atlanta, putting up a 26.3-percent strikeout rate. Since joining the Dodgers, Wood has a 16-percent strikeout rate, including six in 51 batters (11.8 percent) in the early going this season. But if he keeps up the 63.2-percent ground ball rate from his first three starts in 2016, Wood will likely make out just fine. The Braves opened the season with nine straight losses, but got on the board with a weekend sweep in Miami against the Marlins. Despite averaging 89 losses the last two seasons, the Braves put up winning records at Turner Field in both years, going 42-39 at home in each of 2014 and 2015. But so far this year, Atlanta is 0-5 at home, their worst start at home dating back to at least 1913. Julio Teheran gets the call in the opener for Atlanta, struggling a bit of late with 11 runs allowed in 11 innings in his last two starts. He has experienced success at Turner Field as well, going 22-11 with a 2.91 ERA in 54 career games there, including 52 starts, with 316 strikeouts in 337⅔ innings and a 23.2-percent strikeout rate, compared to 18.1 percent on the road. Atlanta roster move Before the series, the Braves placed infielder Gordon Beckham on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain, and recalled pitcher Ryan Weber from Triple-A Gwinnett. The move gives Atlanta 13 pitchers, including eight relievers, on their active roster, just like the Dodgers.

Game info Time: 4:10 p.m. PT TV: SportsNet LA

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Los Angeles Dodgers' Alex Wood ambushed in return to Atlanta By Doug Padilla ATLANTA -- If the Atlanta Braves had a plan to take advantage of Alex Wood's emotions in his first start against them, they were not about to reveal it. Wood, who was sent by the Braves to the Los Angeles Dodgers at last year's non-waiver trade deadline, struggled with fastball command and barely lasted four innings in the Dodgers' 8-1 loss to the last-place Braves. Atlanta pounced early in counts, collecting two runs in the first inning, two more in the third and another two in the fourth. What the Braves really benefited from were three errors from a typically sure-handed Dodgers team. Alex Wood had another off-night as he lasted just four innings and gave up six runs (three earned) to the Braves. AP Photo/David Goldman The Braves' Tyler Flowers, who had four hits to match a career high, wouldn't claim to something as sinister as taking advantage of a pitcher in an emotional start. "I didn't hear that strategy thrown around, although I do a pitchers meeting instead of a hitters meeting, so maybe it was said in there," Flowers said with a grin. "When guys have a good approach -- especially against a lefty that likes to throw hard in a lot, with the purpose of getting you out soft away -- when you can stay within yourself and let him have that inside corner, that keeps all the pitches in play for you rather than ambush one fastball in." The angle of the former player returning home was lost on Flowers anyway. He is in his first year in Atlanta after playing with the Chicago White Sox. For Wood, the concept was front and center. Manager Dave Roberts even admitted that the occasion was discussed openly on the team's flight from Los Angeles on Monday. "There might be something to it," Roberts said. "I know he was excited about coming home, facing his former teammates. The [Adonis] Garcia hit-by-pitch, that was a fastball in, and he really yanked it. If he was trying to get in there or overthrow it or what, there might be something to it. But he's been around long enough that he can control his emotions. Those were just misexecuted pitches."

Flowers' mention of Wood's pitch-in, pitch-away strategy, and Wood's admission that he had fastball command issues, would help to explain how he hit two batters and walked three. That was in addition to the seven hits and six runs (three earned) that he gave up. "That was not really the way I pictured coming back here for the first time," said Wood, who was 21-20, with a 3.10 ERA in three seasons with the Braves. "Fastball command was the most frustrating thing. I don't even know if I've walked in a run before in my professional career. The walks were pretty frustrating. It was a tough one to swallow, but I have another one in five days." The season is early, but so far it has revealed an on-again, off-again pattern for Wood, which means his next scheduled start, at the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, should be better. Wood wasted little time in making sure his issues from Tuesday won't crop up again. "I watched a lot [of the game film] already," Wood said after the game. "It's one of those things where I didn't feel like I was driving the ball in like I normally do. I'll take a fresh look at it tomorrow and kind of go from there." Wood, who is from nearby North Carolina, said he had about 13 or 14 friends and family members in attendance Tuesday. On the bright side for Sunday, he has no known ties to Denver. "It's hard to speculate on anything like that," Wood said when asked if the return affected him. "I was pretty amped up to come in here and hopefully have a good start. I had family in here and all that stuff, but that's not the way it went. But sometimes that's the way it goes." While Wood's outing was in no way expected, perhaps more surprising was the play on defense. Third baseman Justin Turner had two fielding miscues, and shortstop Corey Seager had one. "It was very uncharacteristic for our defense," Roberts said. "We made three errors. Woody didn't have his best stuff, but if we make a couple of plays for him it's a different ballgame. Nights like this will happen, and you have to give those guys credit. They pitched well." Now the Dodgers have two delicate days ahead, especially when it comes to the use of their bullpen. It was far from ideal to rely on four innings from the relievers, with rookie Ross Stripling scheduled to pitch Wednesday. At least Clayton Kershaw is scheduled for Thursday. Then comes the test of bullpen attrition that will be three days in Colorado starting on Friday. "[Wood] was out there competing and gave us what he could," Roberts said. "Unfortunately, after four innings we had to go to the pen." Dodgers are no match for last-place Braves By Doug Padilla

ATLANTA -- So much for getting a jump-start on the road trip, as the Dodgers fell flat on their collective face Tuesday against the team with the worst record in the National League. Tied for first place in the NL West at the start of the day, the Dodgers managed just one run on five hits against a pitcher who didn’t even know he would be on the mound until a few hours before game time. Braves right-hander Williams Perez swapped pitching days with Julio Teheran when Teheran was too ill to take the ball. The only ones left sick when it was finished were the Dodgers, who added three errors to go along with their disappointing offense in the 8-1 defeat to the Braves. Alex Wood struggled against the Braves, giving up six runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks in four innings of Los Angeles' 8-1 loss on Tuesday night. AP Photo/David Goldman Alex Wood, a University of Georgia product who pitched for the Braves last season, was disappointing in his return. The left-hander gave up six runs in his four innings of work, but because of the defensive miscues, only three of the runs were earned. He still gave up seven hits and walked three. The defeat means the Dodgers have lost four of their past five road games, with five more games remaining on this trip. The Dodgers head to Colorado to face the Rockies on Friday. Wood (1-2) had particular trouble with the Braves’ Tyler Flowers, giving up three RBI singles to the right-handed hitter over the first four innings. Flowers, who was non-tendered by the White Sox at the end of last season, matched a career high with four hits. Bats of Flowers, Smith lead Braves to 4th straight win By AP ATLANTA -- Tyler Flowers doesn't think the rebuilding Atlanta Braves will get too far ahead of themselves with a modest four-game winning streak. After all, it was just last week that they were in the midst of losing nine straight games to begin the season. But at least they looked sharp against one of the NL's better teams. "That's a pretty good lineup over there," Flowers said. "So to hold them to one run was real nice." Flowers went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs, Mallex Smith had three RBI and the Atlanta Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 on Tuesday night. Sloppy defense and a poor start by Alex Wood (1-2) doomed Los Angeles, which had three fielding errors, two hit batters, a wild pitch and a passed ball.

Williams Perez, starting on three days' rest, held the Dodgers hitless before Adrian Gonzalez singled with one out in the fourth, but Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez pulled him after the next batter, Yasiel Puig, singled hard to left. Ryan Weber took Perez's place and struck out Howie Kendrick to end a threat with runners on third and first. Weber (1-0) gave up three hits, one run and struck out four in 3 2/3 innings. He was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday. "I knew my role coming into tonight was the long relief role," Weber said. "I came in and did my job, threw strikes and got people out." Perez allowed two hits, three walks and struck out one in 3 1/3 innings. He started because Julio Teheran was sidelined with flu symptoms. Wood, facing his former team for the first time since last summer's trade, gave up seven hits, three walks and six runs -- three earned -- in four innings. "It's not really the way I pictured coming back here for the first time," Wood said. "Fastball command just wasn't very good tonight. I think that was the most frustrating thing." The Braves went up 2-0 in the first on Jeff Francoeur's sacrifice fly and Flowers' single. Atlanta took a 4-0 lead in the third. Adonis Garcia was hit by a pitch and scored on Flowers' single. Third baseman Justin Turner booted a grounder to load the bases, and Wood walked Smith for the second run. The Braves made it 6-0 in the fourth. Shortstop Corey Seager misplayed Garcia's grounder, allowing Freddie Freeman to advance to third and score on Francoeur's single. After Yasmani Grandal's passed ball moved Garcia to third, he scored on Flowers' single. Los Angeles cut the lead to 6-1 in the fifth on Seager's RBI groundout. Smith's two-run double made it 8-1 in the seventh. STILL ON THE BOOKS Braves LF Hector Olivera had his paid administrative leave extended to May 3 in an agreement by Major League Baseball and the players' association. Olivera was arrested April 13 in Washington, D.C., and charged with assault and battery against a woman. The Braves acquired Olivera last July 30 in a three-team deal that sent Wood to Los Angeles. TRAINER'S ROOM Dodgers: LF Carl Crawford (lower back soreness) will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday with Triple-A Oklahoma City and is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list Sunday. ... Crawford is one of 10 Dodgers on the DL.

Braves: Teheran came to the ballpark and told manager Gonzalez that he felt weak after running a fever Monday night. Gonzalez decided to start Perez instead. Teheran will start Wednesday. ... CF Ender Inciarte (hamstring) can come off the disabled list Saturday, but Gonzalez said he might need another two weeks to recover. UP NEXT Dodgers: RHP Ross Stripling (0-0) will make his third career start and first against Atlanta. Stripling has a 2.03 ERA and has allowed five hits and five walks in 13 1/3 innings. Braves: Teheran (0-2) hopes to shake off flu symptoms after missing his turn in the rotation. He is 0-4 with a 6.08 in four career starts against the Dodgers. Never too soon for Dodgers to start tracking Ross Stripling's innings By Doug Padilla ATLANTA -- Ross Stripling will make another start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, and if you listen closely you can just about hear the clock starting to tick down on his season. It’s faint now, almost indistinct, but the tick has started, ever so slightly. Two years removed from Tommy John surgery, Stripling isn’t yet ready for 200 innings in a season, so even if he dominates every time he pitches this season, the Dodgers are going to run into an interesting decision. Dave Roberts admitted that Ross Stripling may not even reach 150 innings this season and that the rookie could move to the bullpen later in the year. Stephen Dunn/Getty Images Stripling is only at 13 1/3 innings so the concern level is low, but a 2.03 ERA to start his major league career, makes the question of his usage relevant. “Right now, we’re not there yet,” manager Dave Roberts said. “It’s start-by-start for now. Even internally we’re not talking about that, but it’s something, going forward, that we’re kind of mindful of. But we really haven’t started those discussions yet.” In fact, not only are the Dodgers not going anywhere near 200 innings for Stripling this season, Roberts admitted that “it’s probably not 150,” either. At six innings per outing, the Dodgers could still get 25 starts out of Stripling before running into the 150 mark, but even that number isn’t going to happen. Assuming Stripling continues to pitch well, the Dodgers are destined to change the right-hander’s role and move him to the bullpen. “That’s a thought,” Roberts said. “We haven’t talked internally, but that’s a thought. That’s a good thought actually. He’s shown he could get big league hitters out and as a way to temper innings and keep him around for longer, that’s for sure worthy of a discussion.”

For now, the Dodgers will just enjoy his starts. He followed his 7 1/3 no-hit outings in his debut at San Francisco, with three runs on six innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks last week. When he takes the mound Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves, he will be looking for his first career victory. Those starts figure to keep coming, until guys like Hyun-Jin Ryu, Mike Bolsinger and Brandon McCarthy start coming off the disabled list. “There is that fine line of he’s giving you a quality start when he goes out there, and you want to continue to keep him on that rhythm,” Roberts said. “And then when innings start to run out, you also have to look at who on your roster is coming back. Those ideas definitely play into it.” It won’t be easy to hold Stripling back on Wednesday, though. Alex Wood only lasted four innings Tuesday, meaning the bullpen sustained some heavy usage. The saving grace is that Monday was a day off. So while most pitchers have their innings monitored closer by their teams as the season turns to the second half, the Dodgers will keep an earlier watch on their rookie right-hander. Kenley Jansen meets childhood idol Shaq; scratches item off bucket list By Doug Padilla ATLANTA -- While much of Kenley Jansen's work is done late in games, often deep into the night as the Los Angeles Dodgers' closer, he was not always allowed to be such a night owl. Jansen grew up in Curacao idolizing, not a baseball player, but NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal. It was a curious affinity, indeed, and one that was placed on a time limit. "I would watch the first quarter [of games], then I had to go to sleep," Jansen said. Some habits are hard to break, and Jansen never lost his love for O'Neal. He got a chance to meet his idol Monday night at the TNT studios in Atlanta. The visit was arranged by Dodgers radio reporter David Vassegh. "He was my favorite player growing up as a kid and that was my dream to meet Shaq so I got that chance," Jansen said. "I will always remember it." Jansen said he also enjoyed the chance to meet Charles Barkley, and get reacquainted with Kenny Smith, who he met for the first time last year in Los Angeles. The evening supplied something of a respite from his day (evening?) job, not to mention a little inspiration. And it served as something of a reminder of how far Jensen has come since O'Neal knew his visitor well from Jensen's work as Dodgers closer. Jansen already is closing in on Dodgers history. Thanks to his current streak of 17 consecutive converted save opportunities, he is just 14 saves off Eric Gagne's franchise record of 161 total saves.

This season he is already 5-for-5 in save opportunities, allowing just two base runners in his 5 2/3 innings of work. Both of those base runners came from singles. His save total is tied for the major league lead. "Whenever I can help the team get a chance to win it's always going to feel great," Jansen said. The bullpen is back on track now after a rough start, but even when it was struggling in the early going, Jansen always supplied a reliable presence. "Everybody is going to go through that bump, you know?" Jansen said. "The Kansas City Royals are going to go through that bump, I promise you that. I think we're OK; we're good. Those guys, the ones we have, are legit and they're going to do the job. They're going to come through with their opportunities." The better the rest of the bullpen is, the more save chances Jensen will get. And he is not just satisfied in doing his job well, he wants to make a statement. It's a little something he learned while watching O'Neal in his youth. "Wherever Shaq went that was my team," Jansen said. "Growing up, watching the Orlando Magic with Shaq, I fell in love with Shaq breaking the rims." It's not exactly rims that Jansen has in sight now, but breaking the franchise save record at some point before the All-Star break would be a solid way to get his own attention.

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Braves Beat Up Dodgers 8-1, Alex Wood Wilts in Return to Atlanta By Michael Duarte LOS ANGELES – It was not sort of homecoming he was hoping for. Los Angeles starter Alex Wood (1-2) wilted in his return to Atlanta and the Braves beat up Dodgers 8-1 on Tuesday night at Turner Field. The former Braves second round draft pick in 2012, got whacked in front of family and friends as the left-hander allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits with one strikeout in just four innings. "This is not the way I pictured coming back here for the first time," a deflated Wood told reporters. "My fastball command wasn't very good. It's a tough one to swallow, but I have another one in five days." Wood didn't get a lot of help from his defense as the Dodgers committed three errors on the night in his shortest start of the season (12 outs).

Wood struggled against the team he played for from 2013 to 2015 before he was traded to Los Angeles on July 30th of last year. Ironically, Wood's Achilles heel was hitters whose last name starts with the letter "F." Freddie Freeman, Jeff Fancoeur and Tyler Flowers combined to score five runs and knocked in five RBIs as Atlanta has won four in a row after losing their first nine games to start the season. "A lot of those guys came out swinging early and that surprised me a little bit," Woods said. "He [Flowers] was going with what I was throwing and stayed the other way. That's where it hurt me tonight, my fastball command." Braves pitcher Julio Teheran was expected to start on Tuesday, but experienced flu-like symptoms before the game and was scratched hours before his start. Williams Perez got the call on three days rest, and had a no-hitter through 3.1 innings before he was taken out after back-to-back hits to Adrian Gonzalez and Yasiel Puig in the fourth inning. Ryan Weber (1-0) earned the first win of his young career, taking over for Perez and throwing 3.2 innings of relief for the Braves. The Dodgers only run of the game came across the plate in the fifth inning after rookie Corey Seager hit into what was believed to be an inning-ending double play, but first baseman Freeman bobbled the ball and Joc Pederson scored from third. Former Dodgers reliever, Chris Withrow – who was acquired in the trade for Wood – made a brief appearance against the team that drafted him in the eighth inning. Players of the Game: Freddie Freeman: 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Jeff Francoeur: 2-for-3, two RBI and two runs scored. Tyler Flowers: 4-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Three Takeaways: 1. Rotten Wood: Dodgers' starter Alex Wood had many friends and family in the house on Tuesday night as he faced his old team for the first time since being traded to Atlanta at the trade deadline last year. Wood struggled in his homecoming, allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits, recording just 12 outs. 2. Out of the West: Tonight was the first non-divisional game the Dodgers have played all season as the team's first 13 games were against NL West opponents. The Dodgers went 19-13 against the NL East last season and have had the second most success against the NL East since 2012. 3. Take Care, Turner Field: Tuesday marked the beginning of the Dodgers final series at Turner Field before the stadium will be torn down and the Braves move into a new stadium, SunTrust Field, next season. Up Next: Dodgers (8-6): Rookie Ross Stripling goes for his first win of the season on Wednesday against Atlanta at 4:10PM PST.

Braves (4-9): Tuesday's scheduled starter, Julio Teheran, will finally head to the mound on Wednesday as Atlanta tries to make it five-in-a-row.

CBS LOCAL

Dodgers’ Brandon McCarthy On Overcoming Adversity And The Impact Of Sabermetrics By DJ Sixmith Brandon McCarthy’s baseball journey has taken many different twists and turns. From winning a World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 to getting brain surgery in 2012, McCarthy has endured many challenges during his 10-year career. McCarthy is currently in his second season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old hasn’t pitched this year as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery. McCarthy sat down to talk about the keys to overcoming adversity in baseball, the impact of sabermetrics on his career, transforming his pitching mechanics and playing with stars like Paul Goldschmidt, Josh Donaldson and Clayton Kershaw. Who was the baseball player that inspired you the most while you were growing up? Brandon McCarthy: I became a Dodgers fan when I was a little kid. I was 5 years old during the 1988 team’s run. Orel Hershiser was my guy and I would go out in the yard and pretend to be him. I shifted into a White Sox fan as I grew older because of Frank Thomas. The Chicago White Sox drafted you in the 17th round back in 2002. What was the most difficult part of the transition from junior college to professional baseball? BM: It was time to be an adult. There was no more school cafeteria or schedule. I was living in an apartment and at 18 years old there was nothing but just baseball. You’re not really making any money and you just have to figure things out for yourself. It’s a big jump and a big difference, but baseball wise things were pretty similar. Your major league debut was against the Chicago Cubs. You pitched against Mark Prior. What do you remember most about that day? BM: At that time, I had spent three or four years being a really big Mark Prior fan. He looked like a version of something I wanted to become. He became a hero of mine during that time because we had a lot of similar mechanical features. I had the chance to reach out to him a few years prior and pick his mind about a few things. The whole day was a blur. It was like a good car accident. You come away fine, but you really can’t describe what happened. What was it like hitting against Prior that day?

BM: I hadn’t batted in about four or five years. I do remember that I battled in both at bats really well that day. I worked a full count in both at bats. One of those at bats should’ve been a walk instead of a strikeout. I will never forget hearing Prior’s fastball. That was when I realized this was going to be tough. Injuries have had a major impact on your journey through baseball. How have you managed to persevere through such tough times? BM: My mental state has been the key. I’m very fortunate to have the disposition that I have. I seem very cynical and negative, but most of that is just to get laughs. Inside I remain positive. The highs aren’t too high and the lows aren’t too low. Every time I’ve been hurt, I’ve allowed myself a few hours of shock and then rationally begin to think to myself about how I can get back on the field. I’ve been able to swim through the low parts of my career because I just don’t see them from being any different than the high parts. In the past, you contemplated retirement. How close were you to actually walking away from the game of baseball? BM: In hindsight, I was not very close. But, I was close to a point where the game was going to force me out. In 2010 during spring training with the Texas Rangers, I got sent down to Triple A. During that season, the majors felt so far away because of the injuries I was experiencing. I began to think about other options, but that was also the time when I began making changes to my mechanics and approach to the game. I applied to a few online universities, but I was never really serious about walking away. Let’s step away from your baseball career. What are some other things you enjoy outside of the ballpark? BM: It’s all over the place. I recently liked playing golf and got pretty good for a while. Reading and writing interest me, the English language interests me and there are certain things in business that I like. There’s never been one thing to reach out and grab me like baseball has. Another one of your interests is sabermetrics. How did advanced statistics help you transform as a pitcher and get your career on the right path? BM: I needed to change out of necessity. I was home run prone and I didn’t induce a lot of ground balls. Through my sabermetrics research, I learned that guys who had a higher strikeout rate and higher ground ball rate had a better chance of controlling the game. The poster child for this was Roy Halladay. He was somebody I looked up to because he was a tall right-handed pitcher from Colorado like I was. I tried to model my game after his. Most people remember you as the pitcher that got hit in the head by a line drive on Opening Day in 2012. Take me behind the scenes of the hours, weeks and months after that moment. What was life like for you after undergoing brain surgery? BM: The first few days I thought I was aware of everything that had happened, but my wife and family helped me realize that I wasn’t all that aware. There were good moments and bad moments during those days and looking back a lot of it is hazy. Around the third or fourth day, I started to realize that my brain was working the same way. I sent a few sarcastic tweets from the hospital and knew that my brain was working like it used to.

One of the best stops of your career was in New York with the Yankees. What was it like pitching for the Pinstripes and playing with Derek Jeter during his final season? BM: It was a lot of fun. My time in Arizona was not very good. I just think organizationally and personally we weren’t a good fit. I needed a change of scenery and I was very fortunate that I was traded to a team that had a plan for me. I got very comfortable quickly because New York City was a place that made a lot of sense for my wife and me. Did you grab any Jeter memorabilia from that season? BM: I took a few balls from the last game. That was a game that you realized something special was happening. I don’t know if it’s a game I’ll be telling my kids about 30 years from now, but it was one of the only games in my career that I’ve taken any sort of memorabilia. The Yankees are a whole different deal, so I made sure to take a few balls. Going back to your time in Arizona, you played alongside one of the best hitters in baseball in Paul Goldschmidt. What makes him such a special player? BM: He’s extremely physically talented and he can do things that other guys can’t do. He’s very driven, very quiet, very humble, but I think inside he knows how good he is. He’s got the whole package and he’s also a great person, which makes it easy to root for him. Our lockers were next to each other the whole time I was in Arizona. He’s the real deal. He isn’t a flash in the pan. Another one of your teammates who’s ascended to superstar status is Josh Donaldson. He batted just .241 when you were in Oakland with him. How do you think he took take his game to the next level? BM: He just needed to make a few changes. He would go down to Triple-A and put up absolute clown numbers. He had unbelievable power, unbelievable bat speed and a good arm, but he just needed to put it all together. The last half of 2012 he turned things around, started to hit the other way and hasn’t looked back since. You’re in your second season with the Los Angeles Dodgers. How has your experience with the Dodgers differed from your time with other teams in the league? BM: It’s different because I’ve contributed with only four starts. It’s not a success or a failure; it’s at the point where I’m a guy who is just trying to get back on the field. I love the guys, I like the organization and I really don’t have a bad thing to say about my LA experience. I’m very lucky to be here and to have signed with the Dodgers. My goal is to make this experience end well. It is my responsibility to give the organization two and a half strong years to make up for the time I’ve missed. The most well-known Dodger these days is Clayton Kershaw. What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned from him? BM: He’s exactly what I pictured in my mind. On game day, he’s a completely different pitcher than he is the other days he’s not pitching. He’s obsessive about his routine and that’s the hallmark for people who are consistently good. The level of intensity he hits during a game is incredible. I’ve never seen a guy like that.

Tommy John surgery has become quite common across the league. You had the procedure done last April. You’ve had many friends who’ve decided to get the surgery. How does the reality of the rehab compare to the expectations you had going in? BM: I think it’s pretty close to what I expected. I viewed the whole process in steps. I focused on the day of my surgery, what I was going to do the day after my surgery and when I could get the cast off my arm. Since that point I’ve treated everything on a day-to-day basis. There haven’t been many surprises. I’m now working through a bullpen progression every three or four days. I’m throwing at about 80-85%. I want to come back and be better in some way. Finally, what’s the biggest difference from the Brandon McCarthy we saw start his career in Chicago compared to the pitcher who is now with the Dodgers? BM: I don’t recognize myself before 2011. I can’t believe the old guy got outs before I made the changes to my mechanics. It feels that foreign to me. Watching old videos of me pitching is painful. I look at it almost as two separate careers. The pitcher I became after 2011 is the pitcher I’d like to be going forward with a few changes here and there.

WASHINGTON POST

After dominant debut, Kenta Maeda’s second act will matter more for Dodgers By Barry Svrluga When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Kenta Maeda in the offseason, they did so as a combination of insurance policy and experiment. To date, for a big-money franchise that somehow needed its rotation stitched together, the experiment is less insurance and more absolute asset. Through three starts, Maeda’s performance has been superb. What it means? Impossibly hard to say. “I want to see him the second time through,” one scout who has worked heavily internationally said this week. Maeda is something of the it guy in the first two-plus weeks of the season, a potential game-changer for a marquee franchise. But his results – one run allowed in 19 innings for a 0.47 ERA, less than a walk and hit per inning pitched – also invite a healthy amount of skepticism, because baseball has seen imported products dominate early and fizzle late. Right now, the 28-year-old Maeda is more than replacing Zack Greinke, who departed via free agency for Arizona, behind Clayton Kershaw in the Dodgers’ rotation. But in beating the Padres, Diamondbacks and Giants – the last on Sunday night in front of a national television audience – he has established himself as that character who appears every April in one form or another, the Early-Season Curiosity. “Guys who come from over there, they’re coming from the second-best league in the world,” the scout said, speaking of Nippon Professional Baseball, where Maeda posted a 2.39 ERA and an incredible .147

batting average allowed in eight seasons. “But this league is a lot better in regards to hitting. The lineups are a lot deeper. He’s doing a good job of mixing his pitches and throwing strikes, but it will take time to see whether he can do that over the course of an entire season.” Pitchers from Japan have long invited such analysis because they often come with large price tags – including a “posting fee” paid to their Japanese team that can reach $20 million — and when they arrive, fans of their new team haven’t charted their progress through the minor leagues, anticipating their arrival. When the Dodgers plucked Hideo Nomo from Japan in 1995, and he posted a 1.91 ERA and allowed a .155 batting average through his first 19 starts, fans swooned over their new star. But Nomo’s final nine starts of that rookie season resulted in a 4.09 ERA, and both his ERA and WHIP climbed each of his first four seasons, to a decidedly mediocre 4.92 and 1.424, respectively, in 1998. So there is caution to go along with the curiosity. In 2007, Daisuke Matsuzaka began his career with the Red Sox with three solid starts, then had a 4.58 ERA the rest of the season, and followed by never making it through six innings in four postseason starts as Boston won the World Series. He excelled in 2008 (18-3, 2.90 ERA), but battled injuries and poor performance thereafter, averaging fewer than 14 starts over the next four seasons before his time in Boston was over. There are, too, adjustments to the majors that are both physical and mental. “In Japan, there’s a totally different mindset to pitching,” said Bill Singer, who has scouted internationally for nearly two decades and most recently worked for the Washington Nationals. “There, pitchers pitch to avoid contact. Here in this country, they more challenge the hitters, and have a kind of the go-at-them type of mentality. When they start spring training in Japan, the pitchers go over a new player by finding out what he can hit, and during the season they pitch to what he can’t hit. So the mindset is different.” Maeda, though, has walked just three men unintentionally while striking out 15, numbers that indicate he’s being aggressive. “He was a strike-thrower over there,” said the other international scout, “and generally if they’re strike-throwers over there, they’ll throw strikes over here.” In 2012, Mike Maddux, now the Nationals pitching coach, held the same position with Texas when the Rangers brought in Japanese star Yu Darvish. Maddux said he had to work to learn what he considered to be Darvish’s unconventional mechanics. “The delivery that these kids grow up with is a little different than ours,” Maddux said. “… As kids, we’re taught to get on top of the ball and kind of throw it downhill. They do the opposite. … You try to help somebody, but first you gotta learn what they’re doing” Which is how the Dodgers approached Maeda heading into the season, using spring training “to get to know him,” said Andrew Friedman, the team’s president of baseball operations, back in February. The commitment to Maeda began with a $25 million contract that is unusual in baseball because of how many incentives it includes. He’ll be paid $3 million annually from this year through 2023, but receives a staggering number of incremental bonuses for starts and innings pitched — $250,000 leaps for every 10 innings he tosses between his 90th and 200th, a cool $1 million for 15 games started in a season, then 20, then 25 and 30 and 32. More than any player in the game, will be paid commensurate with his performance.

If he makes those 30 starts annually, not only will he be paid, but he will go down as one of the best Japanese pitchers ever to play in the U.S. Only two, Nomo and Hiroki Kuroda, have ever started more than 200 games. Maeda has three, and they have been splendid. He has established himself as the Early-Season Curiosity. What comes next will be equally fascinating.