Dodgers hold off Braves behind Yamamoto's 6-inning, 1-hit gem

ATLANTA (AP) — Yoshinobu Yamamoto allowed only one hit through six scoreless innings, Mookie Betts hit a home run and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Friday night for their sixth consecutive win.

Austin Riley doubled with two outs in the sixth inning for Atlanta's first hit off Yamamoto (4-2). The right-hander lowered his ERA to 0.90, the best mark in the major leagues. He left the game with a 2-0 lead.

Matt Olson led off the seventh with a homer off Dodgers right-hander Kirby Yates. Right-hander Evan Phillips walked Olson with two outs in the ninth before ending the game on Sean Murphy's grounder to the mound for his first save.

There was a rain delay of 1 hour, 13 minutes in the ninth.

Yamamoto walked Marcell Ozuna on 11 pitches in the first inning and walked Ozuna again in the fourth for Atlanta's only baserunners before Riley's double.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead against right-hander Grant Holmes (2-2) on Will Smith’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth inning. The fly ball drove in Betts, who reached on an infield hit off the back of Holmes upper left leg.

Holmes set a career high with nine strikeouts while allowing two runs on four hits in six-plus innings.

Betts’ fifth homer in the sixth extended the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0.

Key moment

Yamamoto snagged a 106 mph line drive hit by Sean Murphy to open the second inning that was Atlanta’s biggest threat for a hit before Riley’s double to center field.

Key stat

Through seven starts, Yamamoto has allowed four earned runs on 24 hits and 13 walks in 40 innings. He has given up five or fewer hits in each game.

Up next

The series continues with Saturday night's matchup of young right-handers, Atlanta's Spencer Schwellenbach (1-2, 2.87 ERA) and Roki Sasaki (0-1, 3.55) of Los Angeles.

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