Essentially facing a must-win situation, the Los Angeles Dodgers slugged their way to a historic 15-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Globe Life Field.
Looking to build off their late rally in Game 2 that fell just short, the Dodgers set postseason franchise records in runs (15) and home runs (five). “That was kind of our whole goal, was just carrying momentum over from last night,” Max Muncy said.
“I felt like we put together pretty good at-bats right out of the gate. We got the bat to the ball pretty good and good results happened for us.”
Trailing 7-0 after six and a half innings, the Dodgers slowly chipped away at the deficit by scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh of Game 2. After the Braves added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, L.A. responded by putting up a four-spot in the bottom half of the inning, stranding the tying run on third base.
“I think a lot of it,” Muncy said of the Dodgers’ early success in Game 3 coming from the previous night’s late rally. “We were struggling to get going and towards the end of the game we started finding our stride.
“The biggest thing for us was try to carry that over to the beginning of this game, and we were able to do that.”
Of the Dodgers’ 15 runs, 11 of them came in the first inning, which set a Major League record for most in a single inning of a playoff game. The club received home runs from Joc Pederson, Edwin Rios and Muncy — the latter of which was a grand slam.
“We obviously scored a lot of runs in the first inning, so that was fun to be a part of,” Pederson said. “I think some of the momentum from [Tuesday] night, then last inning, definitely carried over and got us feeling a little more comfortable at the plate. It was fun to be a part of.”
Corey Seager started the Dodgers’ offensive barrage with an RBI double that scored Mookie Betts from first base just two pitches into the game. Seager finished the night with three hits in four at-bats, later adding a home run of his own in the third inning.
“That was a big first inning for us,” Seager said. “We kind of built off [Tuesday] night, it was nice to see it translate into today’s game.
“But a lot of credit goes to Julio. He sat for 40-plus minutes that first inning and still came out and attacked guys, was in the zone, making pitches. He did it all. It was a really impressive outing all the way around the field.”
Seager believes late rally in Game 2 could set tone for rest of NLCS
While the Dodgers ultimately fell short in Game 2, Seager believes the late rally could ultimately pay dividends for the rest of the NLCS. “We felt a lot better [Tuesday] in general. All up and down the lineup we had good ABs all throughout the night,” he said.
“To finally break through and scratch a little bit at the end definitely helps. We rode that momentum through the first couple innings and then kept having good ABs throughout the game even when you’re up.”
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