ATLANTA — Enrique Hernandez and Freddie Freeman each homered in the fourth inning and Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivered seven strong innings to hand the Los Angeles Dodgers a 3-1 win and a 2-1 series lead over the Atlanta Braves in their National League Division Series Tuesday night.
Yamamoto (1-0), making his first postseason start since he was named the 2025 World Series MVP, allowed just one run on four hits, walking one while striking out a postseason-career-high 10 batters.
Tanner Scott followed with a scoreless eighth, and Edwin Diaz worked around a leadoff double from Ozzie Albies in the ninth to toss a scoreless ninth and secure the save.
The Dodgers, looking to become the first National League team to win three straight World Series, can advance to the NL Championship Series with a win Wednesday night in the best-of-five series.
“I was able to get into the game with a great feel,” Yamamoto said through an interpreter. “And then I was feeling confident and able to control all my pitches today.”
After the Dodgers wasted prime scoring chances in two of the first three innings, Hernandez followed Andy Pages’ leadoff single with a 406-foot homer to left off Chris Sale, the 17th of his postseason career, to make it 2-0.
“He’s a big-time player,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts about Hernandez, who was making his first start of the 2026 postseason. “I said earlier, we needed a little bit of that (Enrique) dust. And he’s always prepared. And he loves moments like this. He has a way to lock in.”
One out later, Freeman added a solo homer in his first postseason game back in Atlanta, where he played his first 12 seasons and ended his tenure with the 2021 World Series championship. The 18th home run of his postseason career moved Freeman into a tie for 10th in major league history.
Sale (0-1) grinded through five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.
The left-hander navigated early traffic, stranding two runners in the first and leaving the bases loaded in the third, when left fielder Mauricio Dubon also robbed a would-be two-run homer from Freeman, before Los Angeles jumped in front in the fourth.
“The Dodgers did a good job of really grinding at-bats and running up his pitch count,” said Braves manager Walt Weiss regarding Sales’ outing. “And they typically do that. They’re one of the lower swing rates in the league. They force you into the zone. And probably the command wasn’t perfect, but the stuff was really good still with Chris.”
The Braves had a chance to fight back in the fifth when they loaded the bases with one out and the top of the order up. However, Yamamoto limited Atlanta to one run on Drake Baldwin’s groundout to first, ending the inning by inducing Ronald Acuna Jr. to ground out to second.
Four Atlanta relievers tossed a scoreless inning apiece to keep the game in range for the offense, which managed just five hits and two walks. The Braves struck out 12 times and finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
–Curt Weiler, Field Level Media
