Dodgers fall to Braves in Blake Snell’s shaky season debut

LOS ANGELES — It is a healthy Blake Snell that the Dodgers are most pleased about.

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Everything else is a work in progress, for now.

Snell made his season debut and lasted just three innings while allowing five runs in a 7-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

“Yeah, learned a lot. Obviously frustrated,” the left-hander said. “The goal is to give up no runs, so giving up five is pretty frustrating. But yeah, I learned a lot. The zone’s smaller than it was last year. That’s what I learned today. Just missing a little bit. But I feel really good. The stuff is really good.”

The Dodgers scored their only runs on a two-run home run from Andy Pages with one out in the ninth inning.

With Snell set to go as many as five innings in what was expected to be his final minor league rehab start, the Dodgers elected to have the two-time Cy Young Award winner do the work on the Dodger Stadium mound instead and the rust was evident.

Snell loaded the bases three batters into the game and gave up a run in the first inning. He loaded the bases with two outs in the second inning and gave up four more runs. What looked to be a perfect third inning was derailed by a throwing error from shortstop Hyeseong Kim.

“I thought the stuff was good; I really did,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “There was a lot of swing-and-miss in there. It’s baseball in the sense of you’re going to get unlucky with some infield hits and that’s part of it. Some soft contact. You gotta give credit to those guys. They put together good at-bats, they put the ball in play, and with that, you get breaks.”

Roberts did bemoan a walk in each of the first two innings that proved costly.

Of Snell’s five runs allowed, four were earned. He gave up six hits with two walks and five strikeouts with a fastball that averaged 95.9 mph. His fastball averaged 95.1 mph last season when he was also working through shoulder soreness.

“As we talked recently, he was never completely right last year,” Roberts said. “So that’s obviously reflective of the stuff and the velocity. But yeah, I mean, it’s coming out pretty easy right now. So he says he hasn’t felt this good in quite some time.”

Snell threw 77 pitches, a number he presumably will be allowed to build on when he makes his next start, likely on the road against the Angels next weekend.

“I feel really good. I did a lot, changed a lot, worked really hard,” Snell said. “I like the way my body feels. Even three (innings) and 77 pitches, I feel really good. I feel like I’m going to recover well, so I’m excited about that. But yeah, I got a lot of work to do to get ready for the next start. Put the bullpen in a position not to cover six innings.”

Part of the Dodgers’ inspiration for bringing back Snell one start early is that right-hander Tyler Glasnow went on the injured list on Friday. Glasnow’s rotation spot won’t come up again until Thursday, but by keeping Snell on the day he would have pitched anyway, it allowed Roki Sasaki’s next start to be moved to Monday against the San Francisco Giants.

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“I said yes (to the start) before they even asked,” Snell said. “I wanted this start. Facing a team like Atlanta, really good, it’s gonna let you know where you’re at pretty quickly. And yeah, that’s what I wanted.”

Had Snell been better Saturday, it’s doubtful it would have made much of a difference. The Dodgers’ on-again, off-again offense had just one hit off Atlanta right-hander Spencer Strider, who could serve as a guide of sorts for Snell.

Strider didn’t make his season debut until last weekend because of an oblique injury, and when he did finally take the mound, he gave up three runs on four hits with five walks in 3⅓ innings against the Colorado Rockies. One outing later, he fired a gem.

“(Strider) was making pitches,” said Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, who finished 1 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. “He was throwing the ball where he was supposed to throw it, where he wanted to throw it. I think I had some good at-bats against him. But it was his day today. We got to put that one away and just focus on the one tomorrow.”

The Braves went on the prowl early when Mauricio Dubon led off the game against Snell with a single. Drake Baldwin followed with a walk and Atlanta loaded the bases three batters into the game when Ozzie Albies singled.

Snell showed his competitive spirit when he struck out Matt Olson, Austin Riley grounded out for a run and Michael Harris II struck out to prevent further damage.

Snell had two aboard with two outs in the second inning when he walked Baldwin to load the bases again. Albies and Olson followed with consecutive two-run singles.

Snell worked around Kim’s throwing error in the third to pitch a scoreless third and his day was done after 77 pitches.

On offense, the Dodgers managed just a first-inning single from Will Smith against Strider, who finished with two walks and eight strikeouts over his six innings of work. They didn’t have another hit until Pages singled with one out in the seventh inning.

Pages’ ninth home run of the season came against Braves right-hander Reynaldo Lopez.

“In totality over the last month, we haven’t been great offensively, but Andy’s been a constant,” Roberts said. “He’s hungry and every at-bat is important, which it should be for everyone. Andy is still swinging a hot bat and absolutely it carries over (to the next game).”

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