Freddie Freeman Already Let It Go

Freddie Freeman is the only one in this story who put it down.

Four times Tuesday night the game ran through his hands. Mauricio Dubón robbed him of a home run in the third, a leaping catch at the wall from left field, per the Los Angeles Times. He homered in the fourth anyway: Los Angeles 3, Atlanta 0. Atlanta's only run came home on a Drake Baldwin groundout to first base, scored by Dubón. The Times also has him recording the final out, stranding Ozzie Albies at third.

He hit 16 home runs in 153 games this year. He has two in three games against Atlanta.

Then he talked. "I've got a gray uniform on, I expect boos. It's OK," he told the Times. "Like I've always said, I've enjoyed my 12 years in this organization."

Braves fans booed him. The Times columnist told them to boo their front office too. The Dodgers' team account posted "Brave of you to boo Freddie." He left in free agency for six years and $162 million, and the 2021 trophy he won here is still his. Everybody in this fight is carrying more of it than he is.

My own ledger. I circled tonight and said Atlanta didn't need the home run anymore and Los Angeles still did. Half held: Los Angeles scored all three on two swings, Enrique Hernández and Freeman. Atlanta's homerless lineup got five hits, one run on a groundout, and lost. The half I got wrong is the half that mattered.

In June, Ellis called the next three years Matt Olson's. No lineup card is posted, but Freeman plays every day. At 6 tonight both should be out there, Atlanta's season on it.

Boo him again. He already answered: "It's all love. I still love everybody here."