Dodgers 3, Braves 1: Yamamoto's 10 Strikeouts Took Game 3

They tipped caps. Then Yamamoto took the night.

October 6, 2026 - Atlanta - Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Chris Sale tipped their caps before a pitch was thrown, the MLB recap said. The Los Angeles Dodgers still needed two balls over the wall in the fourth. Enrique Hernández hit a fly to left with Andy Pages already on. Freddie Freeman hit a fly to right-center one out later. 3-0. Yamamoto made those three runs last.

The Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in National League Division Series Game 3 and lead the series 2-1. Seven innings. Four hits. One earned run. One walk. Ten strikeouts. 98 pitches, 62 strikes. The Associated Press recap on ESPN called it the matchup Atlanta wanted with extra rest for Sale. Yamamoto left with the lead and a 2-1 series.

Clear. 75 degrees. Wind 6 mph, left to right. First pitch 6:11 p.m. ET. Attendance 42,420. The game lasted 2 hours, 56 minutes. Dave Roberts told MLB.com the club played it like an elimination game. Atlanta is the one that has to survive Wednesday.

Sale stranded six. The fourth did not strand anyone.

Los Angeles put traffic on Sale early and did not cash it. Mookie Betts singled in the first. Teoscar Hernández reached on Ha-Seong Kim's fielding error. Shohei Ohtani struck out with two on. The Associated Press said Roberts had dropped Ohtani to fifth because he was 3-for-15 against Sale in his career, including 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a 1-0 loss here on Aug. 26. Roberts wanted him up with runners on. The first inning was that at-bat. Sale won it.

The third loaded the bases without a homer. Betts singled. Will Smith singled. Ohtani reached on catcher's interference by Drake Baldwin. Miguel Rojas lined out to right. Sale had stranded six through three, the AP recap said. Then Pages singled to open the fourth. Kyle Tucker lined out. Enrique Hernández did not.

The fly to left scored Pages. Betts grounded out. Freeman pulled his 18th career postseason homer to right field, the AP recap said, after Mauricio Dubón had robbed him of one in the third with a leaping catch over the left-field wall. Freeman would not be denied an inning later. 3-0. Sale's night was five innings: seven hits, three earned, no walks, seven strikeouts, 95 pitches, 62 strikes. He is 0-1. The extra rest did not move the fourth.

Ohtani went 0-for-2 with a walk, a strikeout, and the catcher's interference. He flew out to Dubón in left in the fifth. He walked to lead off the eighth against Brent Suter. The lineup change put him in traffic. It did not put him on the scoreboard.

Twelve of 14, then a bases-loaded groundout.

Yamamoto retired 12 of the first 14, the MLB recap said. The splitter was in early. Ozzie Albies told MLB.com he was attacking and putting the ball where he wanted. "When you do that, sometimes you're gonna make the hitters look not good. So, he did so today. I mean, it was really rough."

The fifth was the only inning that scored. Dubón lined a single to left. Lane Thomas lined another to left. Austin Riley popped out on the infield fly rule. Rowdy Tellez walked as a pinch-hitter. Bases loaded, one out. Baldwin grounded to Freeman at first. Dubón scored. Thomas went to third. Brewer Hicklen, running for Tellez, went to second. Ronald Acuña Jr. grounded to Rojas. Inning over. 3-1. Yamamoto had allowed the run and still had the lead.

He finished the sixth and seventh. Albies flew out. Michael Harris II grounded out. Dubón popped out. The MLB recap said Yamamoto became the first Dodger with a postseason start of at least seven innings, 10 strikeouts, and one or fewer runs allowed since Blake Snell in Game 1 of the 2025 NL Wild Card Series. He is the third Japanese-born pitcher to reach double-digit strikeouts in a postseason game, joining Ohtani (2025 NLCS Game 4) and Hiroki Kuroda (2012 ALCS Game 2). Los Angeles has won 10 of the 11 postseason games he has pitched in, that wrap said.

"I was able to carry that feel into today's game," Yamamoto said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda, per MLB.com. The last time he faced Atlanta, Sale threw a complete-game shutout. Tuesday, Sale lasted five and Yamamoto lasted seven.

Scott for the eighth. Díaz for Albies on second.

Tanner Scott threw a scoreless eighth: no hits, one walk, two strikeouts, 19 pitches, a hold. Rojas left during an at-bat in the top of the eighth with lower back pain, the AP recap said, and Tommy Edman replaced him. Ohtani had already walked. Edman popped out. Pages forced a runner. Tucker popped out.

Edwin Díaz came out for the ninth. Albies doubled off the right-center wall. Harris grounded him to third. Dubón fouled out to Tucker in right. Mike Yastrzemski grounded to Betts. Save number 1 as a Dodger in October, 19 pitches, one hit. The MLB recap noted it was not a given a month ago. It was given on Tuesday.

Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee, Suter, and Raisel Iglesias kept Los Angeles from adding on after Sale. Iglesias struck out two in a clean ninth. Atlanta had five hits. Los Angeles had eight. Atlanta made two errors. Kim's first-inning misplay and Baldwin's catcher's interference never scored. The homers did.

Rojas told MLB.com Yamamoto is becoming one of the best pitchers on this stage. "We feel like every time he takes the mound, he's the best pitcher for us." Yamamoto said he would be open to pitching on shorter rest or in relief if needed. Roberts may not need that in this series if Wednesday goes the same way.

Glasnow at Truist. Atlanta has to steal one.

Game 4 is Wednesday night in Atlanta. ESPN listed Tyler Glasnow against Tyler Mahle. Mahle told the AP an abdominal pull is now a "non-issue" after seven innings in a Wild Card loss to Philadelphia. The MLB recap said teams that win Game 3 of a best-of-five tied 1-1 have won the series 48 of 67 times (72%). In the current 2-2-1 Division Series format, clubs leading 2-1 heading into a road Game 4 have won 26 of 37 (70%), with 20 of those clinchers coming in Game 4.

Los Angeles is one win from a third straight NLCS. Atlanta scored once on a groundout with the bases loaded. Sale was the plan. Yamamoto was the night.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Los Angeles at 8 team fantasy points on a 3-1. Yamamoto had 28 pitching FP. Freeman had 6 hitting FP. Enrique Hernández had 5. Atlanta sat at -2. Those numbers are the duel: a win, three runs, one against, 10 strikeouts in seven innings, and two homers in the fourth.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

Marketplace

*Sources: MLB.com schedule; MLB Gameday wrap; ESPN scoreboard; ESPN box score; ESPN recap; AthX Engine scoring applied to verified box stats. Information only; not financial advice.*