It took until the seventh inning of the fourth game of the National League Division Series for the Dodgers to get their first hit with a runner in scoring position. But Andy Pages made it count, with a two-run single to break a tie in a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park, clinching the NLCS to send the Dodgers to their third National League Championship Series in a row.
The winning rally started with a single by Teoscar Hernández, just minutes after crashing into the
left field wall on a Braves double in the previous half-inning. That ended the night for Tyler Mahle, who continued to have the Dodgers number, once again pitching into the seventh.
In came Game 2 Braves hero Didier Fuentes, whose second batter faced was fellow 21-year-old pinch-hitter Josue De Paula, only 24 days his senior. De Paula, in just his second postseason plate appearance, walked, then was removed for pinch-runner Tommy Edman. Kyle Tucker also walked to load the bases, setting up Pages — the Dodgers RBI leader this season — to single home a pair.
After going hitless in his first two games this series, Pages had two hits in Game 3 and two more in Game 4, equaling his total for the entire postseason in 2025. The hit also snapped an 0-for-14 skid by the Dodgers with runners in scoring position to start this series.
The first of those runs snapped a string of 22 straight innings by Mahle against the Dodgers without allowing an earned run, dating all the way back to 2022.
Edgardo Henriquez, who entered with one out in the sixth inning and stranded a runner on second, followed with a scoreless seventh inning to bookend the Dodgers rally, and earned the win.
Just like in Game 3, Tanner Scott pitched a scoreless eighth and Edwin Díaz closed out the win in the ninth, giving the Dodgers the planned back end of their bullpen that hadn’t really been fully intact since early April.
Dodgers pitchers allowed eight total runs in the four-game series.
Max power
Max Muncy added some insurance with a solo home run in the ninth inning, extending his Dodgers career postseason record with now 19 home runs. Muncy also homered in Games 1 and 2 of this series, matching his most prolific postseason series with the long ball. He also hit three home runs in the 2019 NLDS against the Washington Nationals.
Sloppy start
Both teams exchanged mistakes for each other’s first run, including an errant throw into center field on a stolen base attempt from each side. Michael Harris II got a great jump from third base on a wild pitch by Tyler Glasnow that didn’t get too far from home plate in the first inning, catching the Dodgers flat-footed. In the top of the second, Shohei Ohtani walked, stole second and went to third on the bad throw, then scored when a Max Muncy popup into short left field was biffed by shortstop Mauricio Dubón.
Glasnow improved a bit as the game progressed, and didn’t allow another hit after Harris led off the game with a single. But, like Blake Snell in Game 2, Glasnow on Wednesday walked five batters, including two in the fifth inning — a leadoff free pass to Austin Riley after getting ahead 0-2, and a two-out, four-pitch walk to Ronald Acuña Jr. to end Glasnow’s night early.
The Dodgers right-hander struck out five with those five walks in his 4 2/3 innings, and like Snell limited the damage to only one run. Alex Vesia helped, inducing a groundout to second base to end the fifth inning with those two Glasnow walks left stranded on base, and the game still tied.
Glasnow threw 78 pitches, 44 for strikes.
Not so free passes
None of Glasnow’s five walks in Game 4 scored, and none of the 18 Braves who walked in the NLDS have touched home plate. But there have still been costs to that Dodgers wildness. For one, the Dodgers had to turn to its bullpen much earlier than hoped in two of the four games.
Also, two of Snell’s walks in the first inning of Game 2, pushing Acuña to third base, which allowed him to score on an infield single. In Game 3, the pinch-hit walk by Rowdy Tellez pushed Dubón to third base, which allowed him to score on a groundout. So the walks have been costly, even if not as much as perhaps they should have been.
NLDS Game 4 particulars
Home run: Max Muncy (3)
WP — Edgardo Henriquez (1-0): 1 2/3 IP, 1 hit
LP — Tyler Mahle (0-1): 6 1/3 IP, 3 hits, 2 runs (1 earned), 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
Sv — Edwin Díaz (2): 1 IP, 1 strikeout
Up next
The Dodgers move on to a third consecutive National League Championship Series, and eighth in the last 11 years, beginning Sunday night (time TBD, Fox Sports) either in Milwaukee against the Brewers or at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles against the Padres.
