Braves vs. Dodgers commentary, scores, stats and updates: Championship Series
Braves vs Dodgers Game 4
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What a turnaround in this series. The first games leaned heavily on the pitching game. They were relatively low scoring and close run contests. An offensive display like Atlanta have shown here was the last thing anyone thought of, particularly considering the late comeback last night and the home field advantage enjoyed by LA in a known pitcher's ballpark. And yet, here we are. Atlanta are up 3 games to 1 and the Dodgers are just one loss away from going home.
Smith lines this to the deep center warning track. He misses a home run by a foot or so but it is caught by Duvall and that is the ball game.
Will Smith (the pitcher) faces Will Smith (the catcher).
Trea Turner comes to the plate and grounds one to short. Swanson's throw gets him by half a step. The Dodgers are down to their last out.
Seager lines a shot to first for the first out. The Dodgers have two left.
The Braves bring in closer Will Smith to face Seager.
Joc Pederson comes up swinging, and goes down the same way. We go to the bottom of the ninth with the Braves up 9-2.
Duvall goes down swinging for the second out.
He misses the cycle but hits a second homerun! A three-run shot to right field. The Braves have blown this wide open.
Rosario steps into the box, looking for a double to complete the cycle tonight.
He takes a called strike two and watches the third strike go past for the first out.
Riley comes up swinging for the fences. He misses the first one.
All the traffic-beaters missed out on yesterday's comeback. Will they miss one today as well?
The LA crowd are quiet. Many people are streaming to the exits.
It one-hops over the wall for a ground rule double. Now that stolen base really means something, because Swanson scores on the play.
Freeman takes the next pitch down the right field line hooking... FAIR!
Swanson takes second base and the throw is just late, but Seager keeps the tag on him as he slides past the bag. He was called safe on the field but it will be reviewed. After looking at it the call on the field is upheld. To be honest it could have gone either way. He definitely lost contact with the bag, but the tag also lost contact with him at one point.
He won't do it like that! He gives up a leadoff single to Swanson.
Gonsolin needs to shut the Braves down in the ninth.
Mookie Betts gets ito a hole, 0-2. He manages to check his swing for ball one. He takes a 98mph heater that misses by about an inch. 2-2 count and he fouls one off. He lays off a high fastball to take the count to full. The payoff pitch is... a swing and a miss. Three out and we move to the ninth inning.
AJ Pollock shows more discipline, waiting for his pitch. He chops it to third base and is thrown out at first. Two down.
Tyler Matzek comes on to close out eight for Atlanta. He faces Taylor who comes out first ball swinging and pops it into foul territory behind first base for the first out.
Ehire Adrianza pinch hits and takes the first ball to left field for the final out, so the error ended up not costing LA in the end. We go to the bottom of eight Atlanta 5 Los Angeles 2.
Travis d'Arnaud hits a fly ball to center and it comes off the glove of Mookie Betts. He will reach first on an error charged to Betts.
Joc Pederson gets into a hole almost immediately. No balls, two strikes and then starts fouling pitches off.
Gonsolin gives him something to hit and he dribbles it to second base. Two away.
Tony Gonsolin will take the mound for the eighth inning and the Dodgers make a few fielding shifts. He faces Duvall, who taps one to first base for the first out.
Cody Bellinger slaps the first pitch to the warning track in straightaway center, but it is hauled in by Duvall to end the inning.
Turner hits into a double play. He pulled up as he ran with obvious hamstring trouble. I think this may be the last we see of Justin Turner tonight, perhaps this year.
Walker Buehler will pinch run for Pujols and Justin Turner comes to the plate.
Albert Pujols will lead off the seventh and ropes one into left field for a leadoff single.
Bruihl throws four sliders and gets him to strike out swinging to end the inning.
Rosario is only a double away from hitting for the cycle tonight.
Justin Bruihl will be called upon to close this inning out.
Dave Roberts decides to make the pitching change now, with the hot bat of Eddie Rosario coming up.
Riley takes a healthy cut and doesn't quite get all of it. It winds up in left field, about six feet short of the wall for out number two.
Next up is Austin Riley who is 0 for 3 on the night.
Bickford deals the first pitch to Albies and gets him swinging at a 95 mph fastball. He takes the next pitch to deep center field for a long out.
Will Smith comes up with two outs and hits a slow roller to third. Austin Riley makes the throw on the run and gets Smith by half a step. We go to seven, the Dodgers trailing the Braves 5-2.
Trea Turner comes to the plate and chases a low change up for strike three. It hits the dirt so Travis d'Arnaud has to get the out the hard way with a throw down to first.
He hits a high pop fly to shallow center. Duvall and Swanson collide but the shortstop is able to hang on to the ball. The crowd is so loud that he didn't hear the center fielder calling him off.
Atlanta hands the ball to Minter to go to work on the Dodgers and he faces Seager to start the inning.
Freddie Freeman steps in to face an aggressive Bickford. He comes out of the box with the heat and Freeman slaps it to second, where it is tossed to the bag for the final out.
Swanson comes up and tries to push that baserunner aroung the track. He gets behind in the count and battles several pitches off foul. Bickford throws low sliders and finally gets one past him for the second out.
Pinch hitter Orlando Arcia hits a fly ball to right for out number one.
Phil Bickford takes over on the mound for LA as Travis d'Arnaud leads off the sixth for Atlanta and knocks one through second for a single to right.
Mookie Betts chops one to short and is thrown out at first for the final out of the inning, but the Dodgers claw two back and we go into six 5-2 Atlanta.
It is a plan that backfires on them, as Pollock pokes it through the gap into right, two men score and suddenly we have a ballgame once again.
AJ Pollock comes up and on the first pitch, Bellinger steals second base. The Braves ignore him completely and make no effort to throw him out. Their man is at the plate and they want to concentrate on that out.
Chris Martin will take over the pitching duties for Atlanta. He faces Chris Taylor who taps the first pitch to shallow right field. Joc Pederson reels it in for the second out.
That will be the end of Smyly's evening. He comes out having pitched four and a third scoreless innings.
Bellinger comes to the dish with one out and a man on first. The Braves infield shifts and Bellinger knocks a single into left center, agianst the shift. Turner takes third and the Dodgers have men on the corners with one out.
Justin Turner slaps the first pitch into right field for a single.
Lux leads off the order for the Dodgers and stays tough, fouling off the 3-2 delivery three times before chasing a low knuckle curve for strike three.
An absolute stinker of a breaking ball gets him chasing for the final out. We go to the bottom of the inning, the Braves up by 5.
Joc Pederson takes the bat and shows bunt into the shift. He pulls it back for a taken ball. Great idea. They are giving him the third base side of the field.
Adam Duvall is 1 for 1 on the night. He is true dangerman for Urías, with 38 homeruns on the season. He lifts one to center field. Albies tags at third and the throw was cut off in the infield grass, holding Rosario to first. Albies scores the fifth run for Atlanta.
Eddie Rosario lines one to right that drops in for a single. Albies never slows down and we have men on the corners with one out for Duvall.
Riley pops up to shallow right field for the first out.
Albies slaps the first pitch of the fifth inning into center for a single.
Will Smith steps in to face Smyly with two out and a man on first. He lays off the low stuff and takes the count to 3-2 then gets rung up looking on a low breaking ball.
Trea Turner now up with one on and one out. He loops one to left for the second out.
Corey Seager comes up 0 for 1. He takes an aggressive swing at low cheese but holds off the fastball to draw the walk. That is the first one for Drew Smyly.
Mookie Betts will lead off the bottom of the fourth for Los Angeles. He hits a rope to left, but right at Eddie Rosario, for the first out.
Freeman will be the next to face Urías and he quickly gets into a hole before whiffing at high heat. The Braves go down in order in the fourth.
Swanson steps in 0 for 2 tonight. Urías throws a breaking ball that doesn't miss by much.
The count goes to full and as Urías deals a slider, low and outside. Swanson chases it and we have two outs.
Smyly pitched to Urías for the last out in the third and we start the fourth Urías pitching to Smyly. Same setup, same result. One down in the fourth.
Smyly takes the mound and retires the side on eight pitches. We move to four in L.A.
D'Arnaud flies to deep right to end the inning and the Dodgers will take their bat trailing 4-0
With two outs in the third here, the Braves are threatening to take this game out of reach. Pederson drops a single into center and the run scores from third.
Duvall gets the intentional walk to get to Joc Pederson. The Dodgers like the matchup of lefty on lefty.
Urías hung that curveball up and in.
He cranks a two-hopper to the right field wall for a triple!
Dodgers go into a heavy shift for Rosario and Urías jumps ahead of him 0-2
Riley comes in and faces three fastballs before Urias deals a breaking pitch. He shows considerable restraint to not chase it and levels the count up. The payoff pitch is grounded to JT and he makes the long throw for the second out.
After fighting off a few fouls, he lines one directly to short for the first out of the inning.
Albies steps in and gets himself quickly behind in the count.
FREDDIE FREEMAN! Another home run!
Dodger's Urias to Freddie Freeman, top of the third.
Turner with some big swings, but they're all flying behind. Five foul balls now.
Eighth pitch is grounded out to Albies. And that's the end of the second. Braves lead by two to nought.
Smyly to Turner. Foul ball is SO close to being caught by Riley, but he can't get a glove on it.
Four curve balls from Smyly to Lux. 2-2. Next curve ball is fouled away. And then a low one sees him move to 3-2.
Boom! Lux smacks one to left-centre, he thinks it's going over the fence, but Duvall jumps and grabs it just before it hits the top of the wall! Out! Two gone in the innings.
Can Gavin Lux see the light here? He's up next.
Smith grounds to Smyly, who takes his time over the spin and then fires it super fast to 1st for the out.
First out for the Dodgers.
Bottom of the second. Smyly takes over pitching duties for the Braves. Will Smith, looking fresh, up first in the second innings for the Dodgers.
Swanson - pops up left and Taylor underneath it. End of the innings. Middle of the second. Braves put 2 home runs on the board there. 2-0.
Camargo grounds out to third, but that allows d'Arnaud to slip along to second.
Swanson at-bat.
In-field hit for Braves catcher d'Arnaud and he makes it safe to first. Camargo up next. One out.
Bellinger guarding the line and he snares a foul ball from Pederson! One out for the Braves.
Another homer! Duvall, who was on 3-2, boshes this one centre, and that's about 30 feet longer than Rosario's!
Braves into a 2-0 lead in the second.
Home run for the Braves! Rosario goes left from a four-seam fastball, 377 feet and it JUST clears the wall.
There'll be over 51,000 in Dodger Stadium tonight, once everyone has taken their seats.
Trea Turner on strike. He gets to 3-1 but goes for a cutter and it pops up to shortstop and that's the innings! No runs in the first innings from either side.
Seager down the middle, and he grounds out to second!
Number 60 Chavez peering at Mookie from behind those wrap-around shades of his.
And Mookie's out, with the ball popping up to the shortstop.
Dodgers up next and Jesse Chaves will be opening the pitching, which was a surprise to him, as he was brought in with Ynoa out. First one, strike!
Austin Riley ground ball left, and that's an easy out at second. Innings over! Nothing there for the Braves.
Urias started really tight, but he's lost his focus here a little as we're onto the third batter with second batter Freeman having walked.
But this one flies right and Bellinger catches it over his shoulder - neat technique to make the second out. Mookie was coming in but wasn't going to get there.
Albies at bat!
Freddie Freeman up next for the Braves. Opens up with a couple of strikes, the second a foul ball. Urias misses down and away next ball, and again to take us to 2-2.
Up and in and we're 3-2. That only just missed Freeman, who ducked rather nimbly out the way. Fourth ball and Freeman trots off to first base.
Swanson - flies out right and Mookie Betts is under it and first out.
First up for the Braves at-bat: Dansby Swanson. And first ball is a strike!
Julio Urias going through his final preparations to open up the pitching for the Dodgers.
Dodgers hit the field!
Not long to go! 65 degrees, 53% humidity, blue skies with a few white clouds over Dodger Stadium. Perfect night for baseball!
Huascar Ynoa was set to be the Braves opener tonight, but a right shoulder niggle sees him out, to be replaced by left-hander Dylan Lee. If the Braves go through, Ynoa will not be able to play in the World Series, MLB.com report.
Right-hander Jesse Chavez will open things up for the Braves in Game 4 against the Dodgers.
Dodgers come in on the up
Los Angeles go into tonight aiming to build on the momentum they picked up overturning a 5-2 deficit in the eighth inning to somehow record a 6-5 win last night, but they need to continue the hitting touch they discovered, as a loss would put them on the brink of going out.
At Dodger Stadium though you'd think the talent they have would ensure they have a good chance of scoring enough to sink the Braves. Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger pulled it out of the fire last night and Dodgers fans will be counting on that carrying on.
For the record, the Dodgers are 61-24 at Dodger Stadium this year.
Astros vs. Red Sox live online, scores, stats and updates: Championship Series
On the other channel: Red Sox on the ropes
It was all looking great for the Red Sox after Game 3 as they battered the Astros to move to 2-1. Things are looking distinctly less rosy right now, with Houston leading 6-0 at the top of the 7th at Fenway Park. Check out what's happening over there, while you wait for the Braves - Dodgers to start.
100 up for Dodger Stadium
Big thing tonight: Dodger Stadium hots its 100th post-season game tonight. That's the second-most of any team. Yankee Stadium is number one, with 161.
Dodgers themselves were involved in 96 of them, with Houston vs Oakland being played there last season.
Dodgers Batting Order
The Dodgers line up as follows:
Mookie Betts (R) RF
Corey Seager (L) SS
Trea Turner (R) 2B
Will Smith (R) C
Justin Turner (R) 3B
Gavin Lux (L) CF
Cody Bellinger (L) 1B
Chris Taylor (R) CF
Julio Urías (R) P
Braves batting order
Braves shake things up a bit, here's their batting order:
Dansby Swanson (R) SS
Freddie Freeman (L) 1B
Ozzie Albies (S) 2B
Austin Riley (R) 3B
Eddie Rosario (L) LF
Adam Duvall (R) CF
Joc Pederson (L) RF
Travis d'Arnaud (R) C
Jesse Chavez (R) P
Braves 5-6 Dodgers summary: score, stats, highlights | NLCS
Dodgers back in it at 2-1
Having slumped to 0-2 in the opening games, the Dodgers prevailed in a real pitcher’s battle yesterday, winning 5-6 to blow the whole series wide open, given that the Dodgers are at home for tonight’s Game 4 and tomorrow’s Game 5, before we head back to Atlanta for Games 6 and 7 if required.
How last night’s action unfolded.
Welcome to commentary of Game 4 of the National League Championship Series between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers, live from Dodger Stadium, with the first pitch at 8.08 p.m.