Dodgers Fall 3-2 to Braves, NLDS Series Tied 1-1
Two solo home runs weren't enough to cover for a pitching staff that couldn't throw strikes, and now the Dodgers have to win on the road to get this series back in their favor.
Final score: Braves 3, Dodgers 2. Series tied at a game apiece, and now it's on to Atlanta for Game 3. That's the headline here. The Dodgers didn't get run over — they got out-executed in the moments that decide October baseball.
Film room
This one turned in the first inning before a lot of fans had settled into their seats. Mauricio Dubón beat out an infield single to short, and Ronald Acuña Jr. scored — on the replay, he came home from third. 1-0, Atlanta. You can't give a playoff team a run for free that early and expect to just out-hit your way back.
Freddie Freeman tied it in the fourth with a solo shot to right, 1-1. Good response. Then in the fifth, a wild pitch let Michael Harris II walk home. 2-1, Atlanta. That's the play that decided this game — you don't hand a playoff lineup a free run on a bounced ball. Harris II wasn't finished. He doubled to right in the seventh and drove in Matt Olson to make it 3-1.
Max Muncy's two-out solo homer to right-center in the ninth made it 3-2, but that's as close as it got. Josue De Paula popped out in foul territory to third to end it.
Three things that decided it
- Free passes. Dodgers pitching walked eight Braves hitters. Blake Snell alone issued five in 3.2 innings. You can't pitch around contact all night in the postseason and expect to get away with it.
- The wild pitch. One mistake, one free run. In a one-run game, that's the ballgame.
- Two-out hitting. Harris II did his damage with two outs — the wild pitch run and the RBI double. That's the stuff that beats you.
Stat line standouts
Freeman went 2-for-4 with the homer and a run batted in. Muncy came off the bench and went deep. Snell struck out five but walked five in his short outing. For Atlanta, Harris II was the best player on the field — 3-for-5 with a run, three hits and an RBI.
Both sides left runners everywhere — 18 left on base apiece, six hits each. This one went to the team that made fewer mistakes.
Grades
- Pitching: C-. Ten strikeouts is nice. Eight walks is not.
- Hitting: C. Two solo home runs and not much else — nobody drove in a run with a man already on base.
- Discipline: D. The walks, the wild pitch. Self-inflicted.
Series tied, 1-1. Dodgers head to Atlanta for Game 3, Tuesday, Oct 6, 6:00 PM ET. Time to tighten it up.
