Denied by Dubón! LF robs ex-Brave Freeman (before Freddie gets his revenge)

ATLANTA -- Chris Sale didn't need a whole lot of help through two innings on Tuesday night -- but when he finally did, Mauricio Dubón was there.

After Sale recorded each of his first six outs via strikeout in the Braves' 3-1 loss in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Dodgers, Dubón notched the first defensive out in style.

With a runner on first and nobody out in the top of the third, former Braves superstar Freddie Freeman ripped a drive toward deep left field that came off his bat at 101.3 mph. Dubón tracked it to the wall, then timed his leap perfectly to make the grab right in front of a group of Dodgers relievers who were preparing for the ball to splash down in the visitors' bullpen.

Dubón's grab likely robbed a potential two-run homer, but at the very least, it saved an extra-base hit -- and almost certainly a run or two in the inning.

At the plate, Dubón finished 1-for-4 with a run scored.

The Dodgers went on to load the bases courtesy of Will Smith's two-out single and Shohei Ohtani reaching on catcher's interference, but Sale escaped unscathed by getting Miguel Rojas to line out to right field.

Prior to even needing his defense, Sale joined Mike Hampton (2003 NLDS Game 2) as the only Braves pitchers to record each of their first six outs via strikeout in a postseason game.

Freeman got a bit of revenge in his next at-bat, going yard with authority to right-center field for his 18th career postseason homer and giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead.