Monday night was a brutal one for the Yankees as multiple defensive miscues and missed chances at the plate cost them Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rays. Now, they’ll have to return home and win twice just to get the series back to Tropicana Field for a decisive Game 5. At least in Yankee Fan Land, morale is low. The team, though, got Tuesday off for the travel day to go back to the Bronx, and hopefully they used it to get in a new mindset ahead of Wednesday’s Game 3.
However, the playoff still rolled
on Tuesday, with both NL series in action. Let’s take a look at what went down on the other side of the bracket.
National League Division Series Game 3
Los Angeles Dodgers 3, Atlanta Braves 1
(Dodgers lead series 2-1)
The Dodgers snatched home-field advantage back in Game 3, thanks to a strong outing from Yoshinobu Yamamoto to outduel Atlanta ace Chris Sale, who succumbed to more playoff heroics from Enrique Hernández.
The marquee pitching matchup between Yamamoto and Sale mostly delivered. For LA, Yamamoto went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, while striking out 10. The difference between him and Sale came down to one inning where the Dodgers’ offense struck.
With the game still scoreless in the top of the fourth, Sale allowed a leadoff single to Andy Pages. While Sale got the next out, Hernández came up with another big playoff moment, homering to give the Dodgers the lead. Freddie Freeman hit a solo shot a couple batters later to add on to LA’s lead. The former Braves fan favorite had been robbed of a shot to left by Mauricio Dúbon earlier, but this one was out of reach of anyone in uniform.
The Braves got on the board themselves in the fifth when a run scored on a Drake Baldwin groundout. The issue with that was that Atlanta had the bases loaded with only one out, but that single run on the grounder ended up being the only one they scored from that spot — against Yamamoto or the Dodgers’ bullpen. Much-maligned relief signing Edwin Díaz nailed down the save for LA, which can advance to its fifth NLCS this decade with a win today behind Tyler Glasnow or on Friday with Tarik Skubal. The defending champs are now in excellent shape.
San Diego Padres 4, Milwaukee Brewers 3
(Brewers lead series 2-1)
Needing a win at Petco to keep their season alive, the Padres staved off elimination, albeit in a very close game that went down to the final at-bat.
The Padres jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but the Brewers clawed back those runs over the fourth and fifth inning to even things back up. However, San Diego answered back themselves, with Jake Cronenworth hitting a go-ahead homer in the bottom of the fifth. Then in the sixth, a costly error from Cooper Pratt — whose speed had helped Milwaukee tie the game up earlier — not only kept the third out from being recorded, but allowed Xander Bogaerts to race home, having started the play at second base.
Throughout the game, the Brewers had plenty of chances. They ended up outhitting San Diego 11 to six. However for the game, Milwaukee left 11 runners on base. Some of those came in the ninth as well.
In the late stages, the Padres turned to ace Michael King out of the bullpen, with Mason Miller on paternity leave and Adrian Morejon’s shoulder barking. He got through the eighth without much issue, but then walked two batters in the ninth, setting up Milwaukee with one last chance. However, King induced a game-ending double play out of Christian Yelich, allowing the Padres to keep the series alive. San Diego will try to do it again tonight to send the series back to Wisconsin for a winner-take-all Game 5.
