After showing life in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the Dodgers could feel their offense, virtually absent in Game 1, beginning to stir.
As far as a comeback strategy in the series, manager Dave Roberts, down 2-0 at that point, had reiterated the old “one game at a time” cliché. But the Dodgers needed only one inning in Game 3 to make a complete and total offensive turnaround, transforming back into the juggernaut they’ve been all season.
They caught fire with 11 runs in the first inning, the most scored by a team in a single postseason inning, on their way to a 15-3 win Wednesday night in Arlington, Texas. They hit five home runs total (another record), including a grand slam by Max Muncy. Corey Seager was a triple short of hitting for the cycle by the third inning and drove in at least one run in each of his first three plate appearances. They also set postseason records for the largest run differential (12) and tied for most hits in a game (16).
In retrospect, that four-run ninth inning in Game 2 helped light a spark for the Dodgers, Roberts believes.
“Just good at-bats,” Roberts said of that first-inning explosion. “We hit some homers, took some walks, just a really obviously well-played inning. I do think that last night’s ninth bled over into tonight. So it was just obviously a fun offensive night for us. Played good defense. And even when the game was out of hand, we still, in my opinion, took really good at-bats.”
That ninth-inning success gave the Dodgers something to build on, Muncy said, which didn’t take them long to do at all.
“We were struggling to get going there and toward the end of that last night we sort of found our stride,” Muncy said. “The biggest thing for us is to try to carry that over to the beginning of this game, and we were able to do that.”
The Dodgers’ 5.82 runs per game led the majors, were the most in franchise history and were the third most in National League history, so obviously, this team can put up some numbers. There was a light atmosphere in the clubhouse before Game 3, Muncy added, which didn’t surprise him.
“We know who we are over here,” Muncy said. “We’re a really good team. We kind of lost our footing these first two games, but like I said, we all know who we are. We weren’t worried about anything, and tonight we went out and showed what we can do.”
The Braves can put up numbers, too, and were second in the National League with 5.8 runs per game — it wasn’t necessarily a lack of scoring that did the Braves in this time, since the game was nearly over before it started. Braves starter Kyle Wright gave up seven runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning, and after that, Grant Dayton gave up eight runs in two innings, putting the Braves in a 15-run hole.
This was the highest-scoring postseason game in Dodgers history (the Dodgers have been around for quite some time, since 1884).
They’ll have to build on this in games to come, of course, if they want to win the series, since they’re still down 2-1. The Braves having already deployed their best starting options with Max Fried and Ian Anderson may make that easier. Meanwhile, the Dodgers will get Clayton Kershaw back for Game 4 on Thursday, Roberts confirmed, after Kershaw was scratched from Game 2 with back spasms.
Wearing through the Braves' bullpen is another plus, Seager pointed out.
“We were taking quality at-bats all night, even when we got up people were grinding out pitches,” Seager said. “We made them throw a lot of pitches tonight, and that’s what you’re looking for in a long series like this. You want to get to guys as much as possible, and we did that tonight. But tomorrow’s a different day, and you’ve got to come out and do it again.”
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