
How to watch the Dodgers at Braves series as Freddie Freeman returns to Atlanta on national TV
Freddie Freeman, the Brave (Major League Baseball, not 'Lord of the Rings'), earned his spot as a franchise icon. He won an MVP and a championship ring down in Atlanta, with Silver Sluggers and a Gold Glove dotting his dozen years of service. Freddie Freeman, the Dodger, is on his way to similar recognition — the California native authored an all-time-cool World Series moment that can still be heard from Elysian Park, and as of this writing, he's a career .315 hitter in LA.
Advertisement
The 35-year-old Freeman returns to face the franchise that drafted him in 2007. It's a special matchup between two of the sport's recent champions. Accordingly, all three weekend games between the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers will receive national broadcasts, with the finale closing out the series on 'Sunday Night Baseball.'
By wins above replacement, Freeman is the sixth-best position player in Braves history, which dates back to 1876. He's having a great 2025, too, entering the series with a .319/.407.638 slash line. In most lineups, Freeman would be the bat for opposing arms to pitch around and for managers to account for. In this loaded Dodgers lineup, he's just another occupational hazard.
Teoscar Hernández is tied for the second-most home runs in the National League so far (9), and he's tied for the lead in all of baseball in runs batted in (32). Shohei Ohtani is the sport's top run-scorer (32), and he's coming into Friday with a steal in three consecutive games (of course). Elsewhere, Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman have cleanup-worthy barrels, while Will Smith is looking like a Silver Slugger catcher. Just for fun, Andy Pages might be coming around in his age-24 season. Sheesh.
The Braves have big bats of their own, of course. Atlanta has gone 14-9 since its disastrous 0-7 start, and took just three total Ls in its last four series (home for Twins and Cardinals, on the road at Diamondbacks and Rockies). The hosts can match Will Smith with Sean Murphy, the catcher with a team-best seven homers in only 60 at-bats. Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies command respect in the middle of the order. Austin Riley's washout 2024 looks exorcised. Marcel Ozuna finds his way to first (.437 OBP, with the most walks drawn in MLB).
Advertisement
All six probable starters are right-handers. Atlanta gives Grant Holmes the opening MLB Network game, going against LA's dominant Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2, league-best 1.06 ERA). His stuff is ridiculous and precise. As The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya says, 'there are 325 million reasons to treat Yoshinobu Yamamoto's weekly main event as must-see viewing.'
The second matchup, broadcast on Fox, has particularly cool probables. RHPs Roki Sasaki (age 23) and Spencer Schwellenbach (24) are two young talents with drastically different journeys to Saturday's mound. ESPN's Sunday game under the lights re-ups that theme music we're all still nostalgic about. It's fair to expect fireworks in that finale, as both big-name lineups get early strugglers in Dustin May and Bryce Elder.
Most wins in both jerseys: Greg Maddux (194 ATL, 8 LAD)
Betting/odds, ticketing and streaming links in this article are provided by partners of The Athletic. Restrictions may apply. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo of Freddie Freeman: Ron Jenkins / Getty Images)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency After DFA Move
Craig Kimbrel Elects Free Agency After DFA Move originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Craig Kimbrel doesn't think he's done quite yet. The Atlanta Braves relief pitcher is now the former Atlanta Braves relief pitcher after he elected to become a free agent on Monday. The Braves had designated him for assignment over the weekend after just one game in the big leagues this season. Advertisement Kimbrel, a potential future Hall of Famer, began his career in Atlanta in 2010. From 2011, when he won National League Rookie of the Year, to 2014, Kimbrel made four All-Star Games, finished top-10 in Cy Young Award voting all four times, including two times in the top five, and garnered a top-10 Most Valuable Player finish. The 37-year-old right-hander struggled last year with the Baltimore Orioles, as he finished with a 5.33 ERA with 23 saves. The Orioles released him in September before he latched back on the with the Braves. Robert Edwards-Imagn Images At Triple-A Gwinnett and Double-A Columbus, Kimbrel pitched to a 1-1 record with a 2.00 ERA over 18 games. The Braves called him up to the majors last week. He subsequently worked one scoreless inning in his only appearance before Atlanta DFA'd him. Advertisement Kimbrel is the franchise's all-time leader in saves with 186 and his 440 rank fifth all time. Besides the Braves and Orioles, Kimbrel spent time with San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. Related: Phillies' Brandon Marsh Provides Rare Heroics Against Cubs Related: Zack Wheeler Makes Phillies Franchise History With Latest Accomplishment This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.


Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Seattle fills out forward group, while Vancouver emphasizes defense following PWHL expansion draft
PWHL Seattle GM Meghan Turner can already envision having her top two lines in place with a group of forwards led by Hilary Knight. In Vancouver, general manager Cara Gardner Morey's emphasis was defense first. The league's two newest teams took distinct approaches in continuing to build their respective identities during the league's seven-round expansion draft on Monday night. The draft followed the PWHL's five-day exclusive signing period in which both teams signed their allowed maximum of five players. Though Vancouver used five of its seven selections on forwards, Gardner Morey opened the draft by choosing Ottawa defenseman Ashton Bell with the No. 1 pick. Bell and Boston's Sydney Bard, selected 13th on Monday, join a talented blueline that already includes the former Minnesota tandem of Claire Thompson and Sophie Jaques, who signed with Vancouver last week. 'I was a defender and I really think it's such a valuable position, and finding the right D and having a great core, one through eight even, is what makes championship teams,' said Gardner Morey, who is also set in net with the signing of Ottawa goalie Emerance Maschmeyer. In Seattle, Turner used the No. 2 pick on selecting Ottawa defenseman Aneta Tejralová. She then chose forwards with Seattle's next three selections in picking Boston's Hannah Bilka, New York's Jessie Eldridge and Toronto's Julia Gosling. The trio join a forward group that already features Knight, Alex Carpenter and Danielle Serdachny, who were signed last week. Seattle's initial 12-player roster features a mix of leadership in veterans Knight and Carpenter and emerging youth with four of six players selected in the first round of last year's draft in Serdachny (selected second), Bilka (fourth), defenseman Cayla Barnes (fifth) and Gosling (sixth). 'I'm really excited for these younger players to be able to learn from truly some of the best in the game in terms of Alex Carpenter and Hilary Knight,' Turner said of the two long-time U.S. national team stars. 'I don't know if I was specifically forward-minded, but it's hard to pass up the three that I did sign.' Both expansion franchises are working under the same salary-cap restrictions as the league's other six teams, though the PWHL does not reveal player salaries. And both enjoy an advantageous head start with the league limiting existing teams to initially protecting only three players, before allowed to add a fourth player to the list after a team loses two from its roster. Each of the existing teams lost four players apiece, with the rules favoring the expansion teams by allowing them to be competitive from the start of the PWHL's third season, expected to open in November. Seattle's lineup features plenty of offense. Knight, a four-time Olympian, is an PWHL MVP finalist this year after finishing tied for the league lead with 29 points. Carpenter was an MVP finalist in 2024, when she finished tied for second with 23 points. And Eldridge, this season, finished tied for fifth in the league with 24 points (nine goals, 15 assists). Vancouver earned the first pick after winning a ball drawing. Both teams then alternated in having two picks each before Seattle closed the draft by selecting Boston defenseman Emily Brown 14th. Turner split her picks in selecting three forwards and four defensemen, rounded out by Montreal's Anna Wilgren and Toronto's Megan Carter. Vancouver chose two defenseman and five forwards, including Toronto's Izzy Daniel, who closed her senior season at Cornell in being selected the 2024 Patty Kazmaier award winner as women's hockey MVP. Daniel joins former Toronto teammate Sarah Nurse, who signed with Vancouver last week. Joining Thompson and Jaques in Vancouver are two more members of the two-time defending champion Minnesota Frost in forwards Brooke McQuigge and Denisa Krizova. Vancouver also drafted Montreal forward Abby Boreen and New York forward Gabby Rosenthal. Next up for the expansion teams is joining the rest of the league in the free-agent signing period that opens on Monday followed by the six-round PWHL draft on June 24 in Ottawa. ___ AP women's hockey:


Hamilton Spectator
3 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Andy Pages delivers in 10th, Dodgers edge Padres 8-7 in rivals' first meeting of the season
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Andy Pages led off the 10th inning with an RBI double before scoring on Tommy Edman's single, and the Los Angeles Dodgers hung on to open their season series against the San Diego Padres with an 8-7 victory Monday night. Will Smith homered and drove in three runs in the first of seven meetings in 11 days between the Southern California rivals. It's also a rematch of their NL Division Series last October, when the Dodgers rallied from a 2-1 deficit to eliminate San Diego with back-to-back shutouts in what proved to be their toughest playoff test on the way to a World Series championship. After Pages delivered yet another clutch hit off Wandy Peralta (3-1), Edman brought him home with a fortunate bouncer that ricocheted off second base. Jackson Merrill slugged a one-out RBI double in the 10th for San Diego, but Tanner Scott finished for his 12th save. Kirby Yates (4-2) struck out two in a hitless ninth. Tyler Wade had a three-run triple for the Padres, who have lost four of six. Nick Pivetta yielded five runs and eight hits over just four innings in his second straight rough start for the Padres, while Dustin May gave up six hits and four walks over five innings for LA. Shohei Ohtani led off with a 111-mph double and scored on a double by Freddie Freeman, who had three hits. Manny Machado had an RBI double for San Diego in the first. Smith put the Dodgers up 5-3 in the third with a two-run homer, his sixth. Wade cleared the bases for the Padres later in the third with a two-out drive that Teoscar Hernández couldn't catch while sliding in right field. Key moment Hyeseong Kim had a tying double in the fifth for the Dodgers, and neither team scored again until Pages drove in Max Muncy. Key stat In front of Petco Park's usual lively bipartisan crowd for this rivalry, both starting pitchers were battered by these powerhouse lineups for 11 combined runs in the first three innings. Up next Dylan Cease (1-5, 4.72 ERA) pitches Tuesday for San Diego. The Dodgers hadn't announced the next patch on their injury-riddled rotation. ___ AP MLB: