Yamamoto delivers as Dodgers take Game 3 in Atlanta

ATLANTA — The Dodgers came to Truist Park needing a road win to wrestle back control of the National League Division Series. They got it the way championship teams often do: with a star pitcher taking command, a couple of timely swings and a bullpen that held the line.

Behind a brilliant performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers beat the Braves, 3-1, on Tuesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the NLDS.

Game 4 is Wednesday, and the Dodgers now have a chance to finish the series in Atlanta.

But Tuesday belonged to Yamamoto.

Yamamoto held the Braves to four hits and one run over seven innings while striking out a career postseason-high 10. He walked one, threw 98 pitches, 62 for strikes, and repeatedly found another gear whenever Atlanta threatened.

His final line:

7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.

That's the kind of performance that changes a postseason series. And Yamamoto saved his best for last.

With the Dodgers still leading 3-1 in the seventh, he got Austin Riley to chase a breaking ball and swing through strike three, ending the inning and setting the new postseason strikeout high for his career.

It was also the culmination of a remarkable stretch. After Atlanta loaded the bases against him in the fifth, Yamamoto retired eight consecutive batters.

The Braves had their opportunity. Yamamoto simply wouldn't let them have another.

He became the first pitcher since pitch tracking began in 1988 to record a road postseason start with at least seven innings, at least 10 strikeouts, no more than one walk and fewer than 100 pitches. His career postseason ERA now sits at 2.14.

Big games have a way of revealing what a player is made of. Yamamoto keeps revealing the same thing.

Kiké starts the damage

Shohei Ohtani, moved into the fifth spot in the lineup against the left-handed Sale, had a rough first at-bat, chasing two sliders badly and ending the inning with runners in scoring position.

But the Dodgers didn't need their biggest stars to carry them.

In the fourth, Hernández turned on a Sale pitch and launched a two-run homer, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead and once again reminding everyone why October seems to bring out something different in him.

Mr. October was alive again.

It was Hernández's 12th postseason home run as a Dodger, moving him into fourth place in franchise history behind Max Muncy, Corey Seager and Justin Turner.

And then Freeman followed. After being robbed of a potential home run in his previous at-bat, Freeman left no doubt in the fourth. He crushed a Sale offering 399 feet over the right-field wall, pushing the Dodgers' lead to 3-0.

Freeman now has 18 career postseason home runs, tied for 10th in MLB history. Hernández has 17, tied for 17th.

The Dodgers had turned a scoreless game into a three-run advantage in the span of two batters.

Yamamoto bends, but never breaks

Atlanta finally got to Yamamoto in the bottom of the fifth, scoring its only run of the night. They loaded the bases. Yamamoto answered by getting out of it.

From there, the Braves never again put together a sustained threat against him. That was the difference in the game.

Chris Sale was good. Yamamoto was better..

Tanner Scott handled the eighth inning on 19 pitches. The Dodgers signed Díaz knowing what his presence could mean in games exactly like this, games in which the starter delivers deep into the night and the margin for error disappears.

On Tuesday, Díaz earned his first postseason save as a Dodger. And suddenly the pressure has shifted entirely to Atlanta.

Ohtani doesn't have to be the hero

Ohtani finished 0-for-2 with a strikeout, a walk and reached on catcher interference in the third inning, when his at-bat helped load the bases.

It was not his night at the plate.

His first-inning strikeout was particularly costly, coming with runners in scoring position after he chased a slider down and away. It was precisely the kind of at-bat Dave Roberts had cautioned against before the game. But that's another encouraging sign for this Dodgers team.

They didn't need Ohtani to rescue them.

They didn't need a five-run inning.

They needed Yamamoto to pitch like an ace, Hernández to deliver his October swing, Freeman to answer with one of his own and the bullpen to close the door.

Roberts keeps climbing

And another postseason milestone quietly moved closer for Roberts.

With Tuesday's victory, he moved to 71 career postseason wins, tying Tony LaRussa for second-most in MLB history.

Only Joe Torre, with 84, is ahead of him.

For a manager whose postseason resume has sometimes been scrutinized as heavily as any in baseball, Roberts is steadily moving into rarified territory.

But on this night, the story wasn't the manager.

It wasn't Ohtani. It wasn't even Freeman. It was Yamamoto.

The Dodgers needed their ace to take the ball in a hostile ballpark against one of the game's best left-handers and give them a chance to seize the series.

He did much more than that. He dominated.

Now the Dodgers have a chance to finish the Braves on Wednesday.