Dodgers Beat Braves 3-1 in Game 3 Behind Yamamoto to Take 2-1 NLDS Lead
Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out 10 over seven innings of one-run ball, and Kiké Hernández and Freddie Freeman homered off Chris Sale in the fourth inning as Los Angeles beat Atlanta 3-1 on Tuesday night to move within one win of the NLCS.
ATLANTA — The Los Angeles Dodgers moved within one win of another trip to the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night, beating the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in Game 3 of the Division Series behind a dominant start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Making his first appearance of this postseason, Yamamoto allowed one run on four hits over seven innings, with one walk and 10 strikeouts in a 98-pitch outing, according to the New York Post. He went 14-9 with a 2.53 ERA during the regular season.
Two fourth-inning homers off Sale decide it
Atlanta starter Chris Sale, who posted a career-best 2.16 ERA this season, kept the game scoreless through three innings even though Los Angeles put runners in scoring position in each of the first three frames. In the third, Braves outfielder Mauricio Dubón made a leaping catch at the short left-field wall to take away a likely two-run home run from Freddie Freeman, the Post reported.
An inning later, the Dodgers broke through. Kiké Hernández drove a two-run homer to left, the 17th postseason home run of his career, and Freeman followed two batters later with a solo shot to right-center measured at 399 feet, building a 3-0 lead. Sale left after the fifth inning, and Atlanta’s only run came in the bottom of the fifth, when the Braves loaded the bases with one out but managed a single run against Yamamoto.
Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz finished the game out of the Los Angeles bullpen. The Dodgers, who also put Tyler Glasnow in line to start Game 4 according to the Post, lead the best-of-five series 2-1 and are pursuing a third straight World Series appearance.
Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post.
