LOS ANGELES — Freddie Freeman was asked before Monday’s game what he thinks of the “Fred-die! Fred-die!” chants that have become a staple of games at Dodger Stadium already this season.
“I kinda like it,” he said. “But they’re chanting every time I come up to bat. Now I feel like I have to do something special every time.”
Uh – fine by them.
After an emotional pregame reunion with his former teammates, Freeman hit his first home run as a Dodger in his first at-bat against his old team. He didn’t see another strike in his next two at-bats, drew two walks and scored one of the Dodgers’ five runs in the fourth inning – the latest explosion from their ticking time-bomb offense and just enough to send them to a 7-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
“They did it again,” Freeman said after the game.
“It means a lot. … For a group of people and the fan base and my teammates, staff members, front office to rally around, to help me transition because I was with them for 15 years, 12 years in the big leagues. So I mean, we’re all humans, we all have emotions and all that and for 50,000 people every single night every time I walk into the box to make me feel good about myself and that they care about me, that means a lot.”
With the chants, Dodgers fans have shown him he’s “welcomed with open arms,” Freeman said. It’s an apt metaphor for someone known for having some of the highest hug frequency in the majors – they even recognized it with a “Freddie Hugs” bobblehead in Atlanta a few years ago.
“It’s been cool,” Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. “Maybe they kind of sense that it was a hard breakup sort of (for Freeman and the Braves) and they’re giving him the support he needs – which is pretty perceptive of the fans if that’s true. It’s been cool to see. I know Freddie appreciates it.
“Freddie’s just a good name to chant, you know.”
It has been a good time for chants. The win was the Dodgers’ seventh in a row after a 1-2 opening weekend in Colorado. They have outscored their opponents 47-13 during the win streak.
If opposing pitchers can hear a rumbling noise in the background as they work against Dodgers hitters, it’s understandable. The Dodgers’ offense has erupted for multiple runs in 11 innings over the first 10 games. Nine of those produced three or more runs. Five have produced five or more runs.
“I could get used to that. I’m not yet. But I do like that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Those are big numbers that we seem to put up when we do score in an inning. Just a collection of good at-bats, good baserunning. … It was just a really nice collective offensive effort.”
The latest came in the fourth inning against Braves starter Huascar Ynoa.
Ynoa hadn’t given up a hit since Freeman’s first-inning homer. But Justin Turner led off the fourth with a double off the left field wall. He held at third when Will Smith singled to center then scored on Cody Bellinger’s ground out to first.
After Edwin Rios singled, Gavin Lux drove a fly ball to straightaway center field that had the look of a three-run homer but was unable to fulfill its destiny, finishing as a 390-foot fly out to the warning track instead.
But Ynoa walked Mookie Betts and reliever Sean Newcomb did the same with Freeman, loading the bases with two outs for Trea Turner. Turner had his 27-game hit streak end on Sunday, but he started a new one by lacing a three-run double into left-center.
That provided a fat lead for Kershaw, who followed up his seven perfect innings in Minnesota with a bumpier ride this time out.
He gave up his first hit of the season in the first inning (a single by Austin Riley) and his first run of the season in the fifth (a solo home run by Guillermo Heredia).
Unlike the drama in Minnesota, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts might have left Kershaw in too long this time. Ozzie Albies led off the sixth by driving a full-count fastball deep into the left-field pavilion, 421 feet from home plate. Matt Olson singled and Riley bounced a double over the right-field fence to end Kershaw’s night.
“I thought I threw the ball okay,” Kershaw said. “Just the sixth inning, their top of the lineup, facing them for the third time, my stuff wasn’t as crisp. I don’t know if I ran out of gas or whatever but they made me pay that sixth inning, for sure.
“Eleven out of 12 innings (this season) I’ll take. It’s just that last one was a little frustrating.”
Brusdar Graterol was slow to stop the bleeding. The Braves put up a crooked number of their own when a second run scored on a ground out and Travis d’Arnaud singled in a third to make it 6-4.
Bellinger added some breathing room with a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth and the Dodgers closed it out without reliever Blake Treinen.
Treinen has not pitched since the home opener when his arm started “barking” afterward, according to Roberts. He likely won’t pitch again before Friday.
“For us, just how valuable he is to us, we just felt that (we’ll) give him three, four, five days off,” Roberts said. “He played catch today, felt good. But we’re in no rush to get him back.”
Freddie Freeman’s first at-bat against the Braves?
A homer ???? pic.twitter.com/qyjEyW8Ely
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 19, 2022
Trea drives in a tre!
Bases-clearing double from Trea Turner blows this game wide open ????⚪️ pic.twitter.com/o4lgcMlOM6
— Just Baseball (@JustBBMedia) April 19, 2022
Belli with a ROCKET. ???? pic.twitter.com/GRp1vYjFcP
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 19, 2022
“Clayton, he’s the greatest of our generation in my opinion left-handed. It’s special, I’ve watched it for a long time and now I get to play behind him.” Freddie Freeman on @ClaytonKersh22‘s 100th win at Dodger Stadium and his first home run as a Dodger. pic.twitter.com/g8fSL2GZmB
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 19, 2022
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