ATLANTA — The Dodgers wanted to prove they could win without living and dying by the long ball. For one inning on Tuesday, they lived by it, and it was more than enough. Two swings produced all three runs, Yoshinobu Yamamoto carved up Atlanta’s lineup for seven innings, and Los Angeles walked out of Truist Park with a 3-1 win and a 2-1 lead in the NLDS.
One more win and the Dodgers are headed to the NLCS. The Braves, fresh off evening the series in Los Angeles, spent Game 3 chasing a pitcher they never figured out.
Roberts Makes the Call, Kiké Answers
Dave Roberts made the move everyone noticed before first pitch. Tommy Edman, who hasn’t had much success against Chris Sale, got the afternoon off, and Kiké Hernández got the start at third base. Roberts said he felt Hernández was the perfect guy to get going against the veteran left-hander.
It didn’t look like a stroke of genius early. Kiké struck out in the second, and the Dodgers spent three innings tripping over their own opportunities.
A Ha-Seong Kim error put Teoscar Hernández on in the first. Kyle Tucker singled and stole second in the second. In the third, Will Smith singled, Shohei Ohtani reached on catcher’s interference, and the bases were loaded with two outs before Miguel Rojas lined out to right. Six Dodgers reached base in the first three innings. None of them scored.
Then came the fourth.
Andy Pages singled to start it, and after Tucker lined out, Hernández got hold of a Sale pitch and sent it into the left field seats. Just like that, it was 2-0.
Mookie Betts grounded out, and with two down, Freddie Freeman crushed one to right center to make it 3-0.
Roberts asked for production, and the guy he handed the start to delivered it first. Sale struck out seven and walked nobody, but two homers and seven hits were enough to send him to the loss.
Yamamoto Takes the Wheel
The lead was small, and Yamamoto treated it like a vault. He retired the side in order in the third, and the only hit he allowed through the first three innings was a soft bunt single by Michael Harris II in the second, the same Harris who had torched Los Angeles in Game 2. This time he went 1-for-4, and the bunt was his only hit.
Atlanta finally pushed back in the fifth. Mauricio Dubón and Lane Thomas strung together back-to-back singles, Austin Riley popped out, and a pinch-hit walk to Rowdy Tellez loaded the bases with one out. Drake Baldwin’s groundout brought home Atlanta’s only run. Then Ronald Acuña Jr. stepped in with runners on second and third and a chance to change the game, and he grounded out to Rojas to end the inning.
That was the last real breath Atlanta got. Yamamoto retired the next six hitters in order, striking out Matt Olson and Lane Thomas and Riley along the way, and walked off after the seventh having allowed four hits and one run with 10 strikeouts. Yamamoto improved to 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA this postseason.
Quiet Bats, Loud Result
The truth about this win is that the Dodgers’ offense mostly sat on its hands after the fourth. They struck out 12 times. Smith went down swinging three times, Teoscar Hernández went 0-for-4, and Ohtani, batting fifth, finished hitless in two at-bats, though he reached base twice, once on the interference call in the third and once on a walk in the eighth.
Atlanta’s bullpen made sure nothing came easy. Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee, Brent Suter and Raisel Iglesias combined for four scoreless innings, and the only hit they allowed was a Pages single in the sixth.
In the eighth, Rojas tweaked his back on a swing with Ohtani on first and had to leave the game. Edman, who had started the day on the bench, came in to finish the at-bat and stayed at second base. His status was not immediately known.
Closing It Out, With a Scare
Tanner Scott took over for Yamamoto in the eighth, walked Acuña, and then struck out Olson to get out of it. That brought up the ninth and Edwin Díaz, who didn’t make it easy. Ozzie Albies lined a double to center to lead off the inning, and when Harris grounded out, Albies moved to third with one out and a chance to make it interesting.
Díaz didn’t blink. Dubón flew out in foul territory to Tucker, and Mike Yastrzemski, pinch-hitting for Thomas, rolled a soft grounder to Betts, who fired to Freeman for the final out.
Up Next
The Dodgers can close out the series on Wednesday, with Tyler Glasnow facing Tyler Mahle at 3 p.m. PT in Atlanta. After a Game 2 loss that stung, Los Angeles now has the pitching, the lead and a chance to put this thing away.
