ATLANTA – A couple of clutch hits from breakout bat Austin Riley got the underdog Atlanta Braves off to a quick start to the NL championship series.
Blake Treinen knocked out Freddie Freeman to open the ninth before releasing Ozzie Albies’ bloop single to midfield. Albies stole in second and Riley followed with his line drive into the left corner of the field.
“That was my way of thinking – put something into play and see what happens,” said Riley after delivering the first walk-off hit of his career.
The 24-year-old thug spread his arms in celebration as he circled first base before being bullied by teammates in a happy crush that carried into flat midfield.
“This is what you dream of as a little kid,” said Riley.
Albies told first base coach Eric Young Sr. that he would take off to steal the second so it could get into goal position.
“I would know [Riley] would do the job, “said Albies.
“As soon as he met him, I ran away. I started screaming, screaming all the way to home plate. “
Riley also homered in the fourth. The third baseman set career highs across the board for NL East champion Atlanta in his third major league season that year, hitting 0.303 with 33 homers, 107 RBIs and a 0.898 OPS in 160 games, making the league leader was.
“He has come a long way in a short time I feel. Last year, too, I believe he didn’t have all of these tools. He can hit you in so many ways now, and he always had that power, but now he puts together such good bats, ”said Trea Turner, Dodgers infielder.
“He’s a polished hitter and hats off because I think he’s got to a point where he’s a really good player and there’s a reason the fans are singing MVP for him.”
Riley’s big game was especially important as Brave’s first baseman beat Freddie Freeman four times against four different Los Angeles pitchers after having only one four strikeout game in the regular season.
Atlanta’s manager Brian Snitker said Riley has proven he can take on that leadership role.
“I think this kid definitely took the next step forward,” said Snitker.
The teams meet for the second time in a row in the NL Championship Series. The Dodgers bounced back from a 3-1 deficit to win last year’s playoff in seven games before winning the World Series as well.
Game 2 is Sunday night in Atlanta before the series moves to Los Angeles.
The Wildcard Dodgers missed a scoring chance in the top of the ninth. Will Smith had two outs before leaving Chris Taylor. Pinch-hitter Cody Bellinger hit a soft single on right field, but Taylor was caught and substituted in a rounddown between second and third place that began with right fielder Joc Pederson’s throw to shortstop Dansby Swanson.
“I thought if he’d kept going he might have a chance at third place,” said Riley. “But that was a great game from Dansby. To get out of this inning alone was huge. “
Corey Knebel worked one inning as the Dodgers opener in a bullpen game and then gave up a run. Eddie Rosario started with one single, stole the second, advanced to third with Albies’ groundout, and faced Knebel’s wild pitch against Riley.
The Dodgers, who won 18 games more than Atlanta in the regular season, even made it to the second with AJ Pollock’s double-out and Taylor’s RBI single.
Will Smith’s homer in the fourth, his third of the postseason, put the Dodgers 2-1 ahead. Riley’s two-out homer against Tony Gonsolin in the fourth game was tied.
The Dodgers outperformed the Braves by 10-6 but left the base in each of the first seven innings except the fourth runner. Los Angeles Hitters were 1 for 8 with runners in the points position.
“We prevented runs all night. So we didn’t win the game because we didn’t prevent runs, ”said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “We just didn’t get the hits when we needed them.”
No Braves pitcher had a perfect inning until eighth when Luke Jackson got three straight outs.
Justin Turner, who was 2 for 24 in the Dodgers’ first two postseason rounds, had one hit. Albert Pujols was held on three groundouts without a hit before coming out on the ninth.
Braves starter Max Fried gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings. He tossed 23 hits in a row, the most in a postseason game in 20 years.
, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I don’t know if Max really felt that way tonight,” said Snitker. “Max just kept going.”
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