ATLANTA -- A battle of aces began with a quiet moment of mutual respect between Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Chris Sale, who tipped their caps to one another before a pitch was thrown in Game 3 of the NL Division Series.
With the series lead on the line, the Dodgers and the Braves both handed the ball to their best arm. And while Sale dominated much of the conversation leading into the tilt -- from how well-positioned Atlanta was with its ace on the mound to how L.A. would adjust just over a month removed from being shut out by him -- it was Yamamoto who stood tall at the end of the night, the latest entry in his growing collection of stellar postseason performances.
Yamamoto set a postseason career high with 10 strikeouts while twirling seven innings of one-run ball in a 3-1 victory over the Braves on Tuesday night at Truist Park, putting the Dodgers one win away from advancing to the NL Championship Series for the third straight year.
"We played tonight like an elimination game," manager Dave Roberts said.
Had the Dodgers' season been on the line, Yamamoto would have been exactly who they wanted on the mound. Instead, he helped put the Braves' season on the brink.
By taking a 2-1 lead in the NLDS, the Dodgers are in good historical company at this stage of their bid for the fifth three-peat in World Series history. In all best-of-five postseason series that have been tied 1-1, the team that wins Game 3 has gone on to win the series 48 of 67 times (72%). In Division Series with the current 2-2-1 format, teams leading 2-1 heading into Game 4 on the road have won the series 26 of 37 times (70%), with 20 of those clinching victories coming in Game 4.
The last time the Dodgers and Braves met in the regular season, Yamamoto gave up just one run -- a leadoff homer -- but was outdueled by Sale, who went the distance in a shutout. This time around, L.A.'s bats were able to grind out Sale and Yamamoto was able to build off his strong finish from the last time he saw Atlanta.
"I was able to carry that feel into today's game," he said through interpreter Yoshihiro Sonoda.
Making his first postseason appearance since closing out Game 7 of last year's World Series, Yamamoto picked up right where he left off. With his signature splitter working early, he carved through Atlanta's order, retiring 12 of the first 14 batters he faced.
The Braves gave Yamamoto some trouble in the fifth inning, loading the bases with one out and scratching a run across on a Drake Baldwin groundout to first base. But aside from that frame, Yamamoto looked squarely in control.
“He was attacking us and putting the ball where he wanted to put it," Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies said. "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.”
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 Shohei Ohtani (2025 NLCS Game 4) and Hiroki Kuroda (2012 ALCS Game 2).
The Dodgers have won 10 of the 11 postseason games that Yamamoto has pitched in. Long before his MLB debut in 2024, he built a reputation as a big-game pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball and for Samurai Japan. Pitching in his third postseason, Yamamoto's teammates believe that he has already established himself as a top playoff performer at this level.
"He's becoming one of the best pitchers in this stage," said Miguel Rojas, who exited with lower back pain in the eighth inning. "Obviously he hasn't won a Cy Young here or hasn't been the best pitcher in the league, but we feel like every time he takes the mound, he's the best pitcher for us. … And I know he will do whatever to help us out."
That might include pitching in relief like he did last World Series or on less than his usual five days' rest, which Yamamoto said he would be open to doing this postseason if needed. That may not be necessary in the NLDS, especially if the Dodgers are able to take care of business in Game 4.
But as they continue to forge their path back toward the World Series, the Dodgers know that their ace will be ready whenever they need him.