The Los Angeles Dodgers have won their divisonal series against the Atlanta Braves. They will meet the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS.
Pure Dominance
Game one of the series saw pitchers Hyun-Jin Ryu and Mike Foltynewicz square off on the mound at Dodger Stadium. The Korean pitcher threw seven shut-out innings and retired the first 12 batters in order. The story for the Braves’ starter was much more different. He got into early trouble as Joc Pederson homered on the first inning. An inning later Max Muncy hit a three run home run, bringing Justin Turner and Pederson around to score. The Dodgers were up 4-0 early. Atlanta’s starter was off the game after pitching just two innings. Despite the efforts by the Braves’ bullpen to keep the score at 4-0, Atlanta could not generate any sort of offense. Enrique Hernandez homered on the sixth frame to put Los Angeles up by five. Lastly, David Freese hit for a sacrifice fly allowing Yasiel Puig to score for the sixth and final run of the ballgame. Dodgers were up by one game in the divisional series.
Kershaw Puts On A Show
Game two featured Anibal Sanchez facing off against Clayton Kershaw on the pitching mound. Contrary to game one, the ballgame was a low scoring affair as the Dodgers came out on top 3-0. Clayton Kershaw went deep into the ballgame, throwing eight spotless innings. Sanchez on the other hand pitched 5.2 innings. Trouble came in early for the Braves as Manny Machado hit a two run homer in the first inning. Sanchez then settled in the mound until Yasmani Grandal homered in the fifth. The Dodgers were up by three and Sanchez was out of the game. Offense was once again a struggle for Atlanta as the were yield to just three hits for the night. Final score: 3-0. Los Angeles was now a win away from the sweep.
Staying Alive
It was Win Or Go Home for the Braves in the third game of the series. Sean Newcomb took the mound for the Braves at SunTrust Park. Walker Buehler started the game for the Dodgers. Atlanta got early on the offense. Buehler loaded the bases in the bottom of the second and then walked his opposite number to put the tribe up by one. That was followed with a grand slam by Ronald Acuna to unload the bases. The Braves were up by five in the early goings. Newcomb’s outing was short as he was out of the ballgame after pitching just 2.2 innings and giving two bases on balls in the third frame. Kevin Gausman came in to the game on relief. He was welcomed to the ballgame with a 2 RBI single by Justin Turner. The score was 5-2.
Chris Taylor hit a two run home run off pitcher Max Freid, bringing Yasmani Grandal to score and shrinking the Braves’ lead to a single run. Max Muncy followed that with another homer to tie the ballgame at five a piece in the fifth inning. Freddie Freeman hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving Atlanta the lead back, 6-5. The tribe’s bullpen kept the lead until the top of the ninth. Arodys Vizcaino closed out the game with three straight strikeouts. The Braves were still alive.
Dodgers Are Moving On
The Braves still had a long way to go despite winning the third game to avoid the sweep. Foltynewicz agaib took the mound for Atlanta, hoping to survive to play another game. Manny Machado open end up the scoring with an RBI double in the first inning, giving Los Angeles the early one run lead. Catcher Kurt Suzuki hit a 2 RBI single allowing Tyler Flowers and Johan Camargo to score. Atlanta was up 2-1 and the hopes of survival were high at SunTrust Park.
It only took two innings for the Dodgers to end such hopes. David Freese hit a 2 RBI single off Brad Brach. Cody Bellinger and Yasiel Puig came around to score. The Dodgers had the lead 3-2 and they looked to finish the series on the road. Machado hit a three run homer widening the Dodger lead by four as the score was 6-2. Atlanta’s offense could not come through as they left the bases loaded in the eighth inning. Atlanta ran out of time and chances, Dodgers won and are now moving on to the NLCS.
The Dodgers will go face to face with Milwaukee Brewers this Friday in the start of the National Leauge Championship Series on FOX and FS1.
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