The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves behind a strong outing from starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto, moving within one victory of advancing to the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers beat the Braves 3-1 in Game 3 of the best-of-five National League Division Series (NLDS) at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday.
Leading the series 2-1, the Dodgers need just one more victory in the remaining two games to advance to the NLCS.
The Dodgers secured the victory behind Yamamoto's dominant pitching and two home runs.
Yamamoto, last year's World Series MVP, allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out 10 over seven innings.
The Dodgers were held scoreless through three innings by Atlanta starter Chris Sale before scoring three runs on two home runs in the top of the fourth.
Andy Pages led off with a single to left field, and with one out and a runner on first, Enrique Hernandez connected on Sale's 143-kph changeup for a two-run homer to left field that traveled 124 meters.
Two outs into the inning, Freddie Freeman followed with a solo homer to right-center field off a 154-kph sinker, extending the lead to 3-0.
Yamamoto, who had been pitching a shutout, surrendered one run in the bottom of the fifth.
He allowed consecutive singles to Mauricio Dubon and Lane Thomas before issuing a four-pitch walk to Rowdy Tellez with one out and runners on first and second.
With the bases loaded and one out, Drake Baldwin drove in a run on a groundout to first base.
Neither team managed to score again over the following innings.
Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz faced a threat in the bottom of the ninth when leadoff hitter Ozzie Albies doubled off the center-field wall.
However, Diaz retired the next three batters to seal the 3-1 victory.
Atlanta's South Korean infielder Kim Ha-seong started at shortstop and batted ninth, going hitless in one at-bat.
With one out and a runner on first in the top of the first inning, Kim committed a fielding error on a ground ball hit by Teoscar Hernandez. However, the Dodgers failed to capitalize on the mistake.
Kim then flied out to left field in his first at-bat in the bottom of the third before being replaced by pinch hitter Tellez with one out and runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth.
(This article was produced with the assistance of AI. — Ed.)
