Yamamoto Strikes Out 10, Dodgers Beat Braves 3-1 to Take 2-1 NLDS Lead

Yamamoto Does It Again

After Atlanta evened this series at a game apiece in Game 2, the Dodgers and Braves played the pitching matchup of the postseason so far: reigning World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto against Braves ace Chris Sale. Yamamoto won.

According to the Associated Press report carried by both KIRO 7 and WPXI, Yamamoto struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk, as the Dodgers beat the Braves 3-1 at Truist Park on Tuesday, October 6, to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five NL Division Series. The 10 strikeouts were a postseason career high for Yamamoto, who improved to 8-1 with a 2.14 ERA in 11 career postseason outings, per the AP.

"I was confident and able to control all my pitches today," Yamamoto said through a translator, according to the wire report.

True Blue LA noted the 10 strikeouts marked the 20th double-digit strikeout game in Dodgers postseason history, and the first since Shohei Ohtani did it in Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS. Yamamoto needed just 98 pitches to get through seven innings. True Blue LA also pointed out that Yamamoto's last five postseason appearances have all come on the road, and he's won every one of them, allowing just four runs in 33 2/3 innings with 32 strikeouts against four walks across that span.

Sale Matched Him Pitch for Pitch, Until He Didn't

Sale wasn't bad. He struck out his first six batters and needed 62 pitches to get through three scoreless innings, according to True Blue LA. Braves manager Walt Weiss told the AP that Sale "was still touching 100 (mph)" and that "the stuff was fine," adding, "Like I said, maybe the command not perfect. It wasn't bad. But they did a nice job against him."

The Dodgers broke through in the fourth. Andy Pages singled, and Kiké Hernández, making his first start of the playoffs, pulled a changeup into the left-field seats for a two-run homer. Two batters later, Freddie Freeman added a solo shot to right field, his 18th career postseason home run, for a 3-0 lead, per the AP account.

The LA Times quoted Hernández explaining his approach against Sale: "My mentality was to grind out the at-bat, try to get a good pitch to hit. If not, just be patient so I could turn the lineup over to Mookie [Betts] at the top." The Times also noted Mauricio Dubón robbed Freeman of a two-run homer with a leaping catch over the left-field wall in the third, meaning Atlanta's defense nearly changed the entire arc of the game before Freeman connected an inning later.

Sale finished with three runs allowed on seven hits in five innings, per KIRO 7. Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz closed it out, with Díaz stranding a ninth-inning double by Ozzie Albies to earn the save.

A Statistical Pattern

Ground News flagged a statistical quirk that's defined this series: all 10 Dodgers runs through three games have scored on home runs, and the team remains 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Los Angeles is winning on power, not situational hitting, which is a thin margin against a Braves team that's shown it can claw back, as it did in Game 2's bullpen-game comeback.

MLB.com, previewing the matchup before first pitch, framed it as historic on its own terms: Yamamoto and Sale became just the third pair of starting pitchers in postseason history who had each previously thrown the final outs of a World Series-clinching game, following matchups in 1911 and 1938, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Unlike those earlier pairs, neither Yamamoto nor Sale threw complete games in their respective clinchers.

The LA Times's Bill Plaschke column took the sharpest editorial line among the sources, declaring the Dodgers "a better team" and writing that the series "feels over" after Atlanta fans engaged in a tomahawk chop during the game. That's a columnist's opinion, not a reported fact. Atlanta has already shown in Game 2 it can beat this Dodgers team when its bullpen performs, and a Game 3 loss doesn't clinch anything by itself.

Freeman, booed throughout by the Atlanta crowd of 42,420 in his return to the city where he spent 12 seasons, told the AP he didn't mind it. "I've got a gray uniform on," he said. "I expect boos. It's OK. ... It's all love. I still love everybody here."

What's Next

Los Angeles can close out the series and move one win from a third straight National League pennant in Game 4 on Wednesday night, October 7, at Truist Park. Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow is scheduled to start against Braves pitcher Tyler Mahle, per Ground News. If Atlanta wins, the series returns to a decisive Game 5.