NLCS Game 2 Recap
For the second straight night, the Braves and Dodgers gave us a close, tight affair. For the second straight night, the game ended in the bottom of the ninth with a walkoff hit as Eddie Rosario’s walkoff single gave the Braves a 5-4 win and a 2-0 lead in the 2021 NLCS. The scoring started right away. Mookie Betts lead off the game with a single and last year’s NLCS MVP Corey Seager followed with a two run home run off Braves starter Ian Anderson to give LA an early 2-0 lead.
Max Scherzer got the start for the Dodgers and through the first 3 innings he held the Braves scoreless. That ended in the bottom of the fourth. Last night’s hero Austin Riley drew a one out walk which set the stage for former Dodger Joc Pederson. Joc has already had some clutch home runs in this postseason and he did it again. A hanging curveball from Scherzer was launched 454 into the right field stands to tie the game at two.
The game stayed tied until the top of the 7th inning. With the bases loaded and 2 outs, it was a double from Wild Card hero Chris Taylor that gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. With a two run lead and 6 outs away from tying the series, Dave Roberts brought in projected Game 4 starter Julio Urias for the bottom of the 8th. Urias started the inning by giving up a single to Braves leadoff man Eddie Rosario. Rosario then took a big risk by tagging from first when Freddie Freeman subsequently flew out to left. Rosario made it to 2nd thanks to a throw off the bag, this proved crucial when the next batter Ozzie Albies hit a single to right field that drove in Rosario and made it a one run game. That set the stage for Austin Riley who hit a ball to the wall that brought Albies all the way home from first to tie the game.
After Braves closer Will Smith got a scoreless 9th, Dave Roberts went to his flamethrower Brusdar Graterol to start the 9th. The inning started with a single from Travis D’Arnaud. He was then lifted for a pinch runner who was then forced out at 2nd after Dansby Swanson’s bunt attempt failed. After Heredia’s groundout moved Swanson to 2nd, Roberts brought in his closer Kenley Jansen to get the final out and send the game to extra innings. On the first pitch he threw, Eddie Rosario hit a hard grounder that went off Corey Seager’s glove and into center field. Swanson scored from 2nd to end the game.
Some other news and notes
Ian Anderson only went 3 innings for the Braves. He did not look sharp tonight and it ended up resulting in a bullpen game for the Braves. This does open Anderson up though to return later on in the series.
Max Scherzer went 4 ⅓ and only gave up the two run home run to Pederson in terms of runs. He allowed four hits, walked one, and struck out 7.
Freddie Freeman is 0-8 to start this series. This including striking out in each of his first 7 plate appearances of the series.
In Postseason series, teams going up 2-0 in a best of seven are 73-14. The last team to win a series after being down 2-0 was...the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS against the Braves.
The teams will travel to Los Angeles tomorrow. Game 4 is Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 5:08 PM EST. Walker Buehler will start for the Dodgers while Charlie Morton will take the hill for Atlanta.