Dodgers, Freddie Freeman finally get to Braves' Chris Sale

When Shohei Ohtani, walked into the batter's box Friday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers' two-way star anticipated what he would face from Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale.

Ohtani got it and the four-time NL MVP didn't swing at any of the four pitchers.

A first-pitch 96-mph four-seam fastball strike he didn't offer at. A 94-mph sinker that was called a ball, but likely would have been ruled a strike if he had elected to use the ABS Challenge System. Sale's third offering was a 97-mph fastball, a called strike at the lower, outside fringes of the zone. 

Sale finished off Ohtani with a 98-mph fastball, painting the plate. 

Few MLB insiders should have been surprised.

Sale entered Friday's start at Dodger Stadium with a 26.9 percent strikeout rate against the host's current roster. He finished with seven in seven innings Friday, but yielded three runs (two earned).

Dodgers make contact against Braves' Chris Sale 

In a matchup of two of the NL's top clubs, Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman connected on a long-awaited solo home run and Ohtani added the go-ahead run-scoring single, leading the Dodgers to a 3-1 win. 

Entering Saturday's game, the NL East-leading Braves (26-13) dropped three of four. The NL West-leading Dodgers (24-12) captured four of their past five.

The sale started Friday by getting the Dodgers in order in the first, but surrendered an RBI double by Kyle Tucker in the second inning. He escaped the frame by striking out Max Muncy.

The Dodgers' go-ahead run developed when Michael Harris II reached on shortstop James Jarvis' error, eventually scoring on Ohtani's single to right field. Freeman's solo homer in the sixth was his first in 25 games.  

Sale's four-start winning streak ended as the Dodgers collected more than one run against the left-handed starter. That was news. In Sale's eight starts, it marked the second outing in which he surrendered more than one earned run. 

Things will not get easier.

Sale (6-2), who possesses a 2.20 earned-run average with a 0.88 WHIP, 56 strikeouts and 12 walks, remains in line to make his next start against the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs (27-12).