ATLANTA — The Dodgers punched their ticket to the National League Championship Series with a 4-1 win in Game 4 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday at Truist Park.
It is the ninth time in the last 14 seasons the Dodgers have advanced to at least the NLCS and will be seeking their sixth World Series appearance in the last 10 seasons starting Sunday against either the Milwaukee Brewers or San Diego Padres.
Dodger right-hander Tyler Glasnow limited the Braves to just one hit and one run in 4.2 innings. But walks prevented him from pitching deeper into the game.
His five walks were tied for the second-most he’s thrown in a postseason game. The only time he’s topped that was in Game 1 of the 2020 World Series, when the then-Rays pitcher issued six walks to the Dodgers.
The lone run he allowed was made possible by Braves leadoff hitter Michael Harris II’s speed. He got on top of Glasnow’s first pitch of the game, a fastball up and out of the strike zone, to shoot a single through the right side of the field.
Harris then stole second and failed to capitalize on catcher Will Smith’s off-target throw, which got past second baseman Kiké Hernández and bounced into the outfield. But no matter. Harris advanced to third on Matt Olson’s groundout.
Then, in an 0-2 count to Ozzie Albies, Glasnow spiked a curveball in front of the plate. Smith managed to block the ball, despite the high bounce, but it rolled back toward the mound, giving Harris enough time to dash home.
Glasnow didn’t allow another runner past first base until the fifth when, when he issued his second walk of the inning with two outs. That spelled the end of his start.
The Dodgers offense followed up their two-homer performance against Braves ace Chris Sale the night before with an anticlimactic effort against Braves right-handed starter Tyler Mahle.
They hadn’t faced Mahle since April, when he was still with the Giants and racking up a 5.13 pre-trade-deadline ERA. But he’d been lights out since the Braves acquired him, authoring a 1.99 ERA. In his postseason debut, he limited the Phillies to one run in seven innings.
The Dodgers faced that new and improved version of him on Wednesday.
“He’s on a nice run here,” manager Dave Roberts said before the game. “We’re certainly not going to take him lightly. We’ve got our work cut out.”
The one run the Dodger scored against him was something of a fluke. In the second inning, Shohei Ohtani, who moved up to the cleanup spot on Wednesday after hitting fifth the day before, drew a five-pitch walk in his first at-bat without taking a swing.
He then stole second base, drawing an errant throw that allowed him to advance to third. So, he was in position to score the tying run when Braves shortstop Mauricio Dubón, who robbed Freddie Freeman of a home run as the left field the day before, dropped a popup in shallow left.
The Dodgers only recorded three hits against him in 6 ⅓ innings. So, the game would come down to the bullpens.
Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernández had a scary moment in the sixth inning. He crashed into the wall in an all-out effort to nab Ozzie Albies’ double off left-handed reliever Alex Vesia. Hernández was slow to get up and put his hand on his head as he talked to an athletic trainer but stayed the game.
Then in the top of the seventh inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases with a single from Teoscar Hernández, a pinch-hit walk from rookie Josue De Paula, and a five-pitch walk from Kyle Tucker.
The Braves called in right-handed reliever Robert Suarez to face Andy Pages.
Pages worked a full count and then sent a fastball through the middle of the infield to drive in two runs and give the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.
It was his fourth hit in two games, representing a sharp turnaround after going 0-for-7 in the first two games of the series.
In the ninth, Max Muncy added an insurance run for the Dodgers with his third home run of the series.
On the other side, four Dodgers relievers — Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez, Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz — held the Braves scoreless the rest of the way.
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