Facing a must-win Game 3 and on the brink of another postseason disaster, the Dodgers exploded early in the 1st inning against the Braves and never looked back in a 15-3 blowout victory to get them back into the series.
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Braves starter Ian Wright didn’t make it out of the 1st inning, getting two outs, but allowing seven runs on five hits and two walks, including two homers.
Nothing I can say about it quite wraps it up more than having to use two parts for the highlight reel as it was so long.
It was a lot.
Cody Bellinger kept the same energy int he 2nd, crushing another homer to make it 12-0.
Corey Seager then homered in the 3rd to make it 13-0, which was followed by a Justin Turner single and Max Muncy double. Will Smith then grounded out to plate a run and Bellinger then singled to make it 15-0.
The Dodgers didn’t score again in the game, but they did force the Braves to use four relievers, including getting Grant Dayton to throw 62 pitches, Huascar Ynoa to throw 92, Jacob Webb to throw 27, and even got Shane Greene into the game to throw six pitches. That’s not as many key relievers as ideal, but it’s certainly puts the pressure on the Braves to get length from somebody else in the next two games (or come back with Max Fried and Ian Anderson on short rest).
On the other side of things, Julio Urias started for the Dodgers and he got through a shaky 1st frame that has been his problem frame all year. He gave the Dodgers five quality innings on 101 pitches, giving up just one run on three hits and two walks, striking out five.
He was followed by the front-end of the pen in basically mop-up duty/simulated game territory, with Kenley Jansen getting a 1-2-3 frame in the 6th, Pedro Baez striking out two in a perfect 7th, and then Alex Wood got the 8th also striking out two but giving up a hit. To close things out was Adam Kolarek, who gave up two runs on two doubles and a single. He has struggled in the playoffs thus far.
I suppose that’s an indication of where Dave Roberts sees the pen hierarchy.
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Game 4 is tomorrow at 2:08 PM HST/5:08 PM PST/8:08 PM EST, hopefully with Clayton Kershaw facing Bryse Wilson.