ATLANTA -- After three scoreless innings of tight pitching at Truist Park, the Dodgers broke NLDS Game 3 open with a pair of fourth-inning home runs against Braves ace Chris Sale, securing a 3-1 victory and a 2-1 series lead on Tuesday night.
The two-homer frame marks only the second time in Sale’s postseason career that he has allowed multiple home runs in a start -- the other was Game 1 of the 2017 ALDS. He had not allowed two homers in a single inning since April 1, 2023, when Sale was with the Red Sox.
Kiké Hernández provided the initial spark, crushing a 406-foot two-run shot to left field to break the scoreless tie and put Los Angeles on the board.
"My mentality was to grind out an at-bat, get a good pitch to hit, and if not, just be patient,” Hernández said. “He doubled up on the changeup. So he showed me where the changeup was going to start for a ball, and then the next pitch my eyes recognized, it popped. I'm lucky that I put a good swing on it."
Starting for the first time in weeks against a Cy Young contender isn’t an easy assignment, but Hernández took it in stride -- not without adding a little humor, of course.
"I didn't know when it was going to happen, but the one thing that I knew was that I was going to be ready whenever Doc put my name in the lineup or needed me to pinch-hit," Hernández chuckled. "Obviously, it would have been nice to get a little bit of a warmup before Sale, but I'm just glad that I'm talking here about something positive and not something negative."
Just two batters after Hernández broke the ice, Freddie Freeman delivered a dose of sweet-swinging revenge. After having a potential home run robbed by left fielder Mauricio Dubón in the third inning, Freeman made sure there was no doubt on his next trip to the plate, launching a solo shot deep into right-center field to extend the lead to 3-0.
"Just a sinker in, I got to it. Try and see strikes," Freeman said.
Both home runs provided individual milestones in the October record books. For Hernández, the blast marked his first home run of the 2026 postseason and the 17th of his career. Hernández, who has played in 94 postseason games with the Dodgers, is the only player in MLB history to have at least 10.0% of his career homers (regular season and postseason) come in the postseason (min. 100 total homers).
"That's probably something that, once I'm done playing, I'm going to look back and be really proud of my career because of how I find myself each and every year in October,” he said.
"I wish there was a recipe for that so we can all take it from him," Freeman joked. "He's incredible. He shows up when you need him. He hasn't had a start in a while and he goes out there and does what he did. ... He's a Swiss Army knife, and he's ready to go at all times."
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts echoed that sentiment, emphasizing the spark Hernández brings to the dugout when the lights are brightest.
"He's a big-time player," Roberts said. "We needed a little bit of that Kiké dust. He's always prepared and he loves moments like this. ... Having him in the lineup in the postseason just adds that extra sort of urgency, that kind of grit that you need."
For Freeman, his solo shot was his second of the 2026 postseason and the 18th of his playoff career, tying him with seven others (including teammate Max Muncy) for 10th on the all-time postseason home run list.
The pair of big flies also extended a historic postseason trend for Los Angeles: All 10 of the Dodgers' runs scored so far this postseason have come via the home run, marking the longest streak to start a postseason in MLB history. While the Dodgers have yet to record a hit with a runner in scoring position this October, both players dismissed any concern over how the runs cross the plate against elite pitching.
"Postseason is very hard to string three, four hits along in the playoffs," Freeman noted. "The pitching is great. Every team is really, really good ... So if you can get a guy on and hit the home run, then so be it. Because who cares how you win the game as long as you win the game."
Hernández agreed, putting a bow on the night with a pragmatic view of October baseball.
"If we win, who cares? We've got to find ways to score," Hernández said. "The whole point of this game is to score runs. The fact that we've done it via the long ball is just what's happening at the moment, but as long as we win games, I don't really care."