Eddie Rosario lined Kenley Jansen’s first pitch off the glove of shortstop Corey Seager and into center field for a walk-off single Sunday night, scoring Dansby Swanson as the host Atlanta Braves worked their ninth-inning magic for a second consecutive game in a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
Joc Pederson had a two-run home run and Austin Riley an RBI double as the Braves completed a two-game home sweep of the defending World Series champs by rallying twice from two-run deficits.
Travis d’Arnaud led off the ninth against Brusdar Graterol (0-1) with a bloop single. After he was forced out at second on a Swanson bunt attempt, the Braves advanced the potential winning run into scoring position on a Guillermo Heredia infield out before Jansen entered the game and Rosario ended it.
The best-of-seven series moves on to Los Angeles for the next three games. The Dodgers also trailed the Braves 2-0 in last year’s NLCS before winning four of the next five to advance to the World Series.
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The Dodgers put the ball in 20-game winner Julio Urias’ hands with a 4-2 lead entering the last of the eighth, but the Braves rallied into a tie. After Ozzie Albies’ RBI single got Atlanta within one, Game 1 hero Riley doubled off the fence in center field, scoring Albies with the tying run.
Los Angeles twice blew two-run leads in the first eight innings after grabbing an immediate lead when its second batter of the game, Seager, followed a Mookie Betts single with a two-run home run off Atlanta starter Ian Anderson.
Pederson, a former Dodger, got his new club even in the fourth with a two-run shot against Los Angeles starter Max Scherzer.
The Dodgers took their last lead on another two-run hit, this one a bases-loaded, two-out double by Chris Taylor in the seventh for a 4-2 lead.
Both starting pitchers exited early. Anderson lasted just three innings, charged with two runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Scherzer wasn’t around much longer, going 4 1/3 innings, during which he allowed two runs and four hits. He walked one and struck out seven.
Rosario’s game-winner capped a four-hit night for the in-season acquisition from the Cleveland Indians. His hit total equaled that of the Dodgers, who were limited to a homer, a double and two singles by eight pitchers, including Will Smith (2-0), who was credited with the win after pitching a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
The Dodgers failed to take advantage of nine walks, going 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
–Field Level Media