Braves snap back from lopsided loss, take 3-1 series lead
Atlanta rookie outduels Kershaw
ARLINGTON, Texas — Marcell Ozuna homered twice, Freddie Freeman delivered the go-ahead hit off Clayton Kershaw and the Atlanta Braves moved to one win of ending a two-decade World Series drought by routing the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-2 on Thursday night.
The Braves took a 3-1 lead in the NL Championship Series, bouncing back from getting pounded 15-3 the previous night. Atlanta will try to reach its first World Series since 1999 when it plays Game 5 on Friday night.
“Feels good, feels really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Still have a lot of work to do, you know how quick things can turn. I was really proud of the guys, how they bounced back.”
Dustin May, who has thrown 4⅔ scoreless innings in three appearances this postseason, will start for the Dodgers with them facing potential elimination. Atlanta will likely go with a bullpen day.
Ozuna had four hits and drove in four runs. It was 1-all in the sixth when the Braves scored six times, with Freeman hitting a tie-breaking double and Ozuna following with an RBI double that chased Kershaw.
A night after LA had a record 11-run first, it managed one hit — a solo homer by Edwin Ríos — over six innings against 22-yearold rookie right-hander Bryse Wilson in his postseason debut.
“He was in complete control. … He had a really good look about him. He had good tempo, and the stuff was live,” Snitker said.
While the Braves’ outburst also lasted more than a half-hour but without as many runs as LA’s a day earlier, it was more than big enough after Ronald Acuña Jr. led off the decisive six-run sixth with an infield single on a play that ended with him, Kershaw and second baseman Kiké Hernández all on the ground. They all took tumbles because of their effort.
Kershaw fell down after coming off the mound while reaching up to try to field the high-chopper. Hernández went to the ground after grabbing the ball and making a sidearm throw that went wide while Acuña tumbled after passing the base and landed awkwardly on his left wrist that was irritated twice during the regular season. Acuña went to second base because of the errant throw after being tended to for several moments.
After trying glasses in the field and getting eyedrops early in the game, Freeman apparently had no problems seeing when he doubled home Acuña for a 2-1 lead before Ozuna followed with another double. Reliever Brusdar Graterol got the first out before giving up three consecutive hits, including Dansby Swanson’s tworun double and Austin Riley’s RBI single. Rookie center fielder Cristian Pache capped the inning with an RBI single that made it 7-1.
“They’re similar to us as far as they build on momentum really well,” Kershaw said. “It just seems like they have that domino effect when one thing gets going. They just continue to build on that. And they’ve got great hitters, too.”