Braves top Dodgers 5-1 in NLCS

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 5-1win over the LosAngeles Dodgers onMonday night.

Riley greeted reliever Blake Treinen with a 448-foot drive to left-center, drawing a loudreaction and some tomahawk chops from the first fans allowed to attend a major league game this season.

“I didn’t feel my legs when I was running around the bases, so it was a good feeling,” the 23-yearold Riley said.

The Braves weren’t done after Riley’s homer gave them a 2-1 lead and made him the youngest player with a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of a postseason game or later since Atlanta star Chipper Jones in 1995.

“That’s a pretty good 9-hole hitter we’ve got,” teammate Freddie Freeman said. “We believe in every single guy and Austin was the guy tonight.”

Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a double and scored on a single by Marcell Ozuna that chased T re in en before Ozzie Al bi es’ two-run homer off JakeMcGee.

“It’s what these guys do. I’ve said we’re like an NBA game, you don’t want to leave because a lotof things don’t happen until the last third,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They’ve been like that for a fewyears now. ... These guys never quit, they keep grinding atbats and doing their thing, and it’s a prettyneat trait for a ballclub to have.”

In a matchup of teams that ranked 1-2 in the majors during the regular season forbothruns andhomers, 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 beforeMark 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. Freeman went deep for Atlanta in the first and Kiké Hernández led off theDodgers fifth with a homer.

Game 2 in the best-ofseven series is Tuesday night, with Braves rookie Ian Anderson set to face three-time Cy YoungAward winner Clayton Kershaw.

Itwas thefirst time since March 12, the day spring training was suspended because of the coronavirus, there were fans in the stands for anMLB 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 wasabout28% of the40,518 capacity at the new Texas Rangers ballparkwhere the retractable roof was open for the first NLCS game played at a neutral site.

The Braveshad 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.