Braves bounce back to win Game 4, need one more win to make World Series

This series has unfolded in the same fashion as the 2020 NLCS: The Braves won the first two, suffered a brutal loss in Game 3 but rebounded to win Game 4. The Braves will try to end the similarities there and prevent a repeat of last year, when the Dodgers won three consecutive to advance.

“We’re a different team,” manager Brian Snitker said. “We were really good last year. I think the difference is our starting pitching is more solidified this year. Our bullpen guys, all they do is answer the phone and get ready. And I ride them. I told them all they got saddle cinches on their sides because I have tightened that thing so hard riding them. They have done a great job.

“So the core group and the makeup of all this club is right on par from what we’ve had. It’s cool. I think the core group of our guys make it easy for guys to come in and be a part of this. It’s a great group of guys. I respect each and every one of them so much.”

As Snitker alluded with his relievers comment, the Braves pitched a bullpen game to perfection Wednesday. Their offense did more than enough to supplement their arms, led by the Braves’ own version of Mr. October in outfielder Eddie Rosario.

Rosario was the least heralded of the Braves’ trade-deadline acquisitions. He was sidelined by an abdominal injury, and the team acquired him for a declining Pablo Sandoval. Now, with the NL pennant on the line, Rosario has been the Braves’ best player.

He went 4-for-5, falling a double shy of his second cycle this season. In the NLCS, Rosario is 10-for-17 with a triple, two homers, two walks, six RBIs and five runs scored. In a series featuring two teams who’ve met in back-to-back league championship series, including the defending champs with MLB’s highest payroll, Rosario has been far and away the biggest standout.

“I’m still dreaming for bigger things,” Rosario said. “I want more at this point and just dreaming for the next thing and hopefully we can get there.”

Rosario became the first player in postseason history with two homers, a triple and a single in one game. For context about how rare that performance is, only one player has achieved those totals in two games: Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio.

The Braves’ bullpen game was a resounding success. Jesse Chavez, who opened the game after Huascar Ynoa was removed from the roster because of shoulder inflammation, pitched a perfect first. Lefty Drew Smyly followed by retiring the first seven Dodgers en route to three scoreless frames to begin his showing.

It was the best moment of the season for Smyly, the team’s $11 million free-agent signing who was jettisoned from the rotation in September following his struggles. Smyly’s last start, coincidently, was at Dodger Stadium when he surrendered four homers.

“I admire him so much and the professionalism and how he stays ready,” Snitker said. “He’s always ready to go. He’s been through a lot. He’s been a big part. I mean, he’s won a lot of games for us, we won a lot of games that he started, and then we shied away from him and he just keeps working. It’s like he’ll do anything. He’s a true professional to handle the situation like he has and to perform like he has. I got a lot of admiration for that man.”

Smyly’s outing ended one out into the fifth after he allowed consecutive singles from Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger. Veteran Chris Martin retired Chris Taylor before giving up a two-RBI single to pinch-hitter AJ Pollock, trimming the Braves’ advantage to 5-2.

Lefty A.J. Minter pitched a perfect sixth against the heart of the Dodgers’ lineup. He stayed for the seventh, surrendering a single to Albert Pujols. But Minter coaxed Turner into a double play – Turner suffered a leg injury running to first and left the game – then got Bellinger to fly out to center to end the inning.

“The biggest part too was Minter,” Snitker said. “The two innings he got for us was huge.”

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

Tyler Matzek and Will Smith pitched the final two innings, respectively, to close it for the Braves. The bullpen game resulted in just a four-hit showing for the Dodgers. The top four hitters in the Dodgers lineup were a combined 0-for-15.

The Braves took their lead in the second inning when Rosario, who was moved down to fifth in the lineup, hammered an 0-2 pitch from Julio Urias over the left-field wall. Center fielder Adam Duvall followed with his own blast, quickly making the score 2-0.

It was the first time the Braves have hit back-to-back home runs in the postseason since Oct. 3, 2002, in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Giants, when Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla launched consecutive homers also in the second inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Duvall made a leaping grab at the center-field wall to rob Gavin Lux of an extra-base hit. It was that kind of night for the Braves, who disappointed the 53,025 on hand.

First baseman Freddie Freeman’s 0-for-8 start to the series is long forgotten. After collecting three hits Tuesday, he blasted a towering solo homer off Urias in the third inning. Rosario’s two-out triple allowed outfielder Joc Pederson to single home the Braves’ fourth run.

Pederson’s hit dropped in front of Lux in center. A natural infielder, Lux played the ball on a hop in front of him, frustrating Urias, who seemed to think Lux could’ve made the catch. It was Pederson’s fourth RBI in the series and the third consecutive game in which he’s produced a run. He has a hit in every game against his former club.

The Braves added their fifth run in the fifth after Rosario – who else? – singled and later scored on Duvall’s sacrifice fly to Lux, who delivered a weak throw to the cutoff man. Freeman produced their sixth with an RBI double in the eighth. Rosario, who needed a double for the cycle, instead capped the night with a three-run blast off Tony Gonsolin.

“Three RBI is better than hitting a double,” Rosario said.

Only 14 of the 89 teams to fall into a 3-1 hole in a best-of-seven series have rallied to advance. Just four times has that team overcome holes of 2-0 and 3-1 in the same series. Unfortunately for the Braves, the 2020 Dodgers achieved the feat, overcoming a 3-1 deficit in last year’s NLCS.

“This is a whole different team, a whole different thing,” Freeman said. “So if anybody’s thinking about 2020, I think everybody wants to be in a 3-1 lead, so we’ll take it and hopefully we -- we got Max (Fried) going (in Game 5) so we’re feeling pretty good.”

These Braves can avenge that group with one more win – and they have Fried, Ian Anderson and Charlie Morton lined up if the series goes the distance. The Braves will try to prevent that, of course. They could finish the series Thursday with a victory in Los Angeles. If the Dodgers win Game 5, the Braves would host Game 6 and a potential Game 7 at Truist Park this weekend.

The Braves are one Cody Bellinger swing Tuesday away from sweeping the Dodgers. They’ve largely dominated the series, outhitting, outpitching and outmanaging MLB’s premier franchise over recent years.

“They just outplayed us in all facets,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Fried isn’t going to feel sorry for us. He’s going to go for the jugular. He’s got great stuff and we got to compete. And to the question earlier, our backs are against the wall and no one’s going to feel sorry. We got to find a way to stress him, get guys on base, and push them across, that’s just the bottom line.”

Fried, a Santa Monica native who grew up consuming baseball at Dodger Stadium, will try to live out his childhood dreams and help his team secure a World Series spot at Chavez Ravine. The Dodgers haven’t announced their starter but they’ll use a bullpen game.

“The last three years, Max has pretty much come into an ace starter,” Freeman said. “So what he’s done in the second half and pretty much over the whole course of the season after the first couple weeks every time you see No. 54 on that mound you got a real good feeling.”