Braves take a big lead, hold on to edge Dodgers
ARLINGTON, TEXAS >> Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies homered again, rookie Ian Anderson extended his postseason scoreless streak in an abbreviated start and the Atlanta Braves held on for an 8-7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series.
Freeman put the Braves ahead to stay with a two-run homer in the fourth off rookie Tony Gonsolin, who filled in after three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw was scratched because of back spasms. Freeman added an RBI single as part of a four-run outburst an inning later.
Albies homered in the ninth for the second night in a row, both into the Atlanta bullpen where closer Mark Melancon again caught the ball. And that solo shot proved huge since the Dodgers scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth.
Melancon came on with two outs after Corey Seager’s RBI double and Max Muncy’s two-run homer. Second baseman Albies then had a fielding error on Will Smith’s grounder before reigning NL MVP Cody Bellinger hit an RBI triple. AJ Pollock then grounded out to end the game.
Game 3 is today, with 24-yearold playoff veteran Julio Urias pitching for the Dodgers against Kyle Wright, another rookie righthander for the Braves. There have been 14 teams take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-7 NLCS, and all have gone on to win the pennant.
Freeman was hit on an elbow by Alex Wood in the eighth and was shaken up but stayed in the game.
Anderson allowed one hit and struck out five, but walked five while throwing 85 pitches in four innings. The 22-year- old righthander didn’t come out for the fifth after Braves batted around in the top of the frame, building a 6-0 lead while tying a LCS record with four walks in the inning.
The Dodgers, who had the best record in the pandemic- shortened season, trailed 7-0 until Seager’s three-run homer to greet A.J. Minter in the seventh.
Only seven weeks after his big league debut, Anderson has pitched 15 2/3 scoreless innings and is only the second pitcher in major league history to start his postseason career not allowing a run in three consecutive starts of at least four innings. The other was Hall of Fame right-hander Christy Mathewson, who threw three shutouts in the 1905 World Series for the New York Giants.
Tyler Matzek, the second of seven Atlanta pitchers, worked two scoreless innings for the win.
When Kershaw was scratched in favor of a likely start later in the series, it set up the second matchup of rookie starting pitchers in a LCS.
Gonsolin’s postseason debut came 17 days after his prior game. The right-hander struck out seven and allowed only three hits, but gave up five runs and walked three in 4 1/3 innings.
Freeman hit a ball more than 400 feet into the right-field seats, similar to his solo shot in Game 1, after Ronald Acuna Jr. walked leading off the fourth. Gonsolin was done when Acuna walked again in the fifth, right after an RBI double by rookie Cristian Pache, in the lineup after Adam Duvall was removed from Atlanta’s NLCS roster because of a left oblique injury sustained in the series opener.
Pedro Baez then walked two of his four batters, including Travis d’Arnaud with the bases loaded before Albies’ sacrifice fly.