Riley HR ignites big Atlanta ninth in win

ARLINGTON, TEXAS » Austin Riley led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking homer that sparked a four- run outburst, and the Atlanta Braves opened their first National League Championship Series since 2001 with a 5- 1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.

Riley, the No. 9 batter in the Braves lineup, hit a 448- drive to left- center off Blake Treinen, who had just entered the game, drawing a loud reaction and some tomahawkchop chants from the first fans allowed to attend a major league game this season.

The Braves weren’t done after Riley’s homer made it 2- 1. Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a double and scored on a single by Marcell Ozuna that chased Treinen before Ozzie Albies’ two- run homer off Jake McGee.

In a matchup of teams that ranked 1- 2 in the majors during the regular season for both runs and homers, and in the first NLCS opener since 2007 with both teams undefeated in the postseason, the Braves had another impressive pitching performance even without a shutout.

Will Smith, the third Braves pitcher, worked a perfect eighth before Mark Melancon closed it out. Atlanta has allowed a total of six runs while winning all six of its playoff games.

Before the ninth, the only runs had been a pair of solo homers. Freddie Freeman went deep for Atlanta in the first and Kiké

Hernández led off the Dodgers fifth with a homer.

Game 2 is Tuesday night, with Braves rookie Ian Anderson set to face three- time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.

It was the first time since March 12, the day spring training was suspended because of the coronavirus, there were fans in the stands for an MLB game.

All 10,700 tickets available to the general public were sold, in addition to another 800 or so utilized by the league and teams. That was about 28% of the 40,518 capacity at the new Texas Rangers ballpark where the retractable roof was open for the first NLCS game played at a neutral site.

The Braves had the bases loaded in the eighth after reliever Dustin May hit pinch- hitter Pablo

Sandoval with a pitch. Victor Gonzalez came on and struck out pinch- hitter Charlie Culberson, punctuating the inning- ending out with an emphatic fist pump on the way back to the dugout.

Dodgers starter Walker Buehler pitched past the fourth inning for the first time in his three playoff series openers this fall, while apparently now dealing with blisters on both his middle and index fingers and with his seemingly tight pants trending on Twitter.

Buehler struck out seven in his five- plus innings, joining Hall of Famer pitcher Randy Johnson as the only ones with at least seven strikeouts in nine consecutive postseason starts — coming in the first nine for Buehler. He also walked five, a career high in a regularseason or playoff game.