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Braves Beat Up Dodgers 8-1, Alex Wood Wilts in Return to Atlanta

Alex Wood allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits in his return to Atlanta as the Braves beat up the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-1 on Tuesday night at Turner Field.

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."

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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.

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