The Los Angeles Dodgers kept their season alive on Saturday afternoon, earning a 3-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves to force a winner-take-all Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers got the bats going early in this one, scoring all three of their runs in the first inning off Max Fried. As usual, Corey Seager got things started with a solo shot to right field on a hanging breaking ball.
Seager now has five home runs in the NLCS, which is a franchise record most in any playoff series. He also has six total home runs in the playoffs, which is tied for the most by a shortstop in a single postseason run in MLB history.
The offense didn’t stop with Seager in that first inning, as Justin Turner followed with a home run of his own, giving him his first of the postseason.
Max Muncy then walked and was able to advance into scoring position on a single by Will Smith. That set the stage for an RBI single to right by Cody Bellinger to account for L.A.’s third and final run.
Buehler, bullpen take care of rest on mound
Walker Buehler got the start on the mound and gave up some hard contact but was able to keep Atlanta off the scoreboard, tossing six shutout innings while allowing seven hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Buehler ran into some trouble in the second inning when he allowed three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. He beared down from there and got two strikeouts and a groundout to escape the jam.
The other time that Buehler came close to giving up a run was in the fifth inning. Freddie Freeman singled to give the Braves a two-out baserunner, and then Marcell Ozuna got a hold of one and drove it to deep right-center.
Luckily, Mookie Betts was able to track it down and make an incredible leaping catch at the wall to end the inning.
After Buehler was removed, the bullpen took care of the rest as Blake Treinen gave up the only run in the seventh and then Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen each tossed perfect innings in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to force a Game 7.
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