Dodgers beat Atlanta, 8-2

ATLANTA — Manny Machado hit his first home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers and teammate Rich Hill pitched seven dominant innings as they routed the Atlanta Braves 8-2 Thursday night.

Machado, acquired last week from the Baltimore Orioles to add even more punch to a team that leads the National League in homers, went deep in his seventh game with the Dodgers. He lined a fastball into the left-field seats leading off the sixth inning against Anibal Sanchez. It was Machado’s 25th homer of the season overall.

Hill (4-4) limited the Braves to three hits and a walk while striking out seven, and he even picked up his first RBI of the season.

Atlanta managed only one scoring threat against the 38-year-old lefthander, and it wasn’t Hill’s fault. With two outs in the sixth, Freddie Freeman reached when Machado’s wild throw from third base got knocked out of Cody Bellinger’s glove as the first baseman tried to swipe Freeman with a tag. Nick Markakis walked on four pitches — the lone time Atlanta got a runner as far as second base against Hill — but Kurt Suzuki hit an inning-ending flyout.

While Sanchez (5-3) turned in another solid outing for the Braves, defensive blunders and a lack of offense ruined his night.

Shortstop Charlie Culberson’s throwing error in the fifth led to an unearned run. An errant throw by second baseman Ozzie Albies in the seventh set up Hill’s run-scoring single, which finished off the Braves starter.

Sanchez went 6 1/3 innings and wound up being charged with four earned runs when the Dodgers blew open the game against Sam Freeman. Joc Pederson doubled into the rightfield corner, and Yasmani Grandal’s two-out, two-run single stretched the lead to 6-0.