8 top moments from Sunday's Braves-Dodgers NLDS Game 3
The Dodgers and Braves split the first two games of the NLDS in Atlanta. With the Dodgers stealing home-field advantage away, it would now be on them to hold serve in Los Angeles.
Could young Braves pitcher Julio Teheran shut down the Dodger offense? Would Yasiel Puig do anything to annoy Brian McCann? Does Tommy Lasorda listen to Kendrick Lamar?
It's @kendricklamar ! Always nice to see an LA native supporting our boys in blue. pic.twitter.com/5CIvJq08mX
- Tommy Lasorda (@TommyLasorda) October 7, 2013
Let's go to the GIFs:
Hanley Ramirez looked ready to go before the game, trying to get manager Don Mattingly to join him for a little boogie:
Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu wasn't as relaxed as Ramirez, however, and started the game out with inconsistent stuff. He gave up a one-out double to Braves outfielder Jason Heyward, who was later brought home on a line drive from Evan Gattis. That wouldn't be the only damage done by the Braves in the first inning -- Chris Johnson singled to center field, plating Gattis and bringing the score to 2-0.
Puig got things going for the home side in the bottom of the second inning on a line-drive single, and he was rather happy about it:
Puig's single kicked the offense into high gear -- with two of the next three batters reaching safely -- and Puig himself being brought home on a Ryu sacrifice fly.
Then, with two men on base, Carl Crawford decided one particular baseball didn't deserve to stay in the game:
That home run gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead over the Braves.
Atlanta got two runs back in the top of the third, but the 4-4 tie was short lived. Hanley Ramirez led off the bottom of the inning with a double, and Adrian Gonzalez cleared the table after him:
Puig followed that with some heads-up baserunning:
Skip Schumaker singled Puig home, and the Dodgers were up again, 6-4.
Then, in the bottom of the fourth, Dodger Stadium caught on fire (metaphorically, of course). Ramirez got an RBI triple. Puig brought Ramirez home on a single. And then, with Puig still at first, third baseman Juan Uribe decided the score should be 10-4:
Everything else was epilogue -- Adrian Gonzalez ripped a foul ball out of the air like a boss:
Carl Crawford caught a foul ball over the wall like a boss:
The Dodgers had another big inning in the eighth, like proverbial bosses:
A franchise RECORD, 13 runs after Yasiel Puig's RBI single.
- Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 7, 2013
And despite a small ninth-inning rally from the Braves, the Dodgers finished off Game 3 with a final score of 13-6, bringing the series to 2-1 in their favor. A possible NLDS-deciding Game 4 starts on Monday night.