Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Yoshinobu Yamamoto

ATLANTA — Yoshinobu Yamamoto struck out 10 in seven innings and Kiké Hernández and Freddie Freeman hit solo home runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night, taking a 2-1 lead in the National League Division Series.

Chris Sale started for Atlanta on regular rest after manager Walt Weiss held him out of Game 2. "At the end of the day, we want full-strength Chris Sale," Weiss said before the series reached Truist Park. "Not sure you're getting the best version of him pitching [Sunday]. We're certain we will pitching him Game 3." Sale got the ball. He did not get the win.

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The Dodgers scored both of their decisive runs in the fourth. Hernández homered. Freeman followed with a solo shot. Los Angeles led 3-0. Atlanta's only run came in the fifth, a rally that made it 3-1 and did not get closer until the ninth. Mauricio Dubón robbed a home run in the third. Mookie Betts ended the game with a play in the ninth after the Braves put the tying run in motion and could not bring it home.

Yamamoto, the Dodgers' World Series MVP a year ago, worked seven scoreless-looking innings against a lineup that had already taken a game in this series. Ten strikeouts in a playoff start is the outing Weiss had hoped to get from his own ace. Sale had shut out these Dodgers at Truist Park on Aug. 27, a complete game with 11 strikeouts, with Yamamoto the losing pitcher. Tuesday was the rematch. The homers were the difference.

The series had been tied 1-1 coming in. Atlanta won Game 2, 3-2, with a bullpen game after Weiss chose rest over Sale on short turn. That decision put the former Cy Young winner in front of a home crowd for the first game at Truist. It also put him opposite the pitcher he had beaten six weeks earlier. Holding an ace is only a win if the ace wins. Sale did not.

Hernández and Freeman did the damage with one swing each. A 3-0 lead built on solo shots is a small cushion against a Braves lineup that had already shown it could score late. The fifth-inning run proved the point. The ninth threatened to prove it again. Betts' final play closed it. Dubón's robbery in the third had already taken a run off the board the other way. Defense, not a big inning, decided a game the starters controlled.

Los Angeles leads the series 2-1. A win in Game 4 would put the Dodgers one victory from the Championship Series. A Braves win sends it back to Los Angeles tied. Sale's night is spent. Yamamoto's seven innings and 10 strikeouts are the start Atlanta did not match, in the park where he had lost to Sale in August. The score was 3-1. The lead belongs to the visitors.

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