Yoshinobu Yamamoto strikes out 10, out-duels Chris Sale as Dodgers take NLDS Game 3

Yoshinobu Yamamoto continued his postseason dominance with seven strong innings and the Dodgers homered twice in their best showing against Chris Sale this season, beating the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Tuesday night in Game 3 of the National League Division Series at Truist Park.

Los Angeles leads the best-of-5 series, two games to one.

Yamamoto only allowed two singles in the first four innings, one of which was a bunt that he was quick to field, but lost his footing when trying to throw to first base, one of three plays in Game 3 in which a Dodgers fielder slipped on the Truist Field turf.

Trouble came for Yamamoto in the fifth inning, with two single to open the frame followed by a one-out, four-pitch walk to pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez, in just his 14th major league plate appearance on the season. One ground out to first base brought in a run but another grounder ended the inning with only one run in, and the Dodgers still leading.

He needed only 98 pitches to finish off seven innings, with just that one run across, and tied a season high with 10 strikeouts, done three times during the regular season .

Ten strikeouts are a new postseason career high for Yamamoto, who authored the 20th double-digit strikeout game in Dodgers postseason history , and the first since Shohei Ohtani in Game 4 of the 2025 NLCS.

Yamamoto's last five postseason appearances have been on the road, and he's won all five of them. In the four starts, Yamamoto lasted at least six innings and allowed exactly one run in all four games. There was a rather famous eight-out, championship-clinching scoreless relief appearance on zero days rest last November as well. In those five games Yamamoto has allowed four total runs in 33 2/3 innings, with 32 strikeouts against only four walks.

Sale, even at age 37, is a tough customer to face, and his first six outs were all strikeouts, looking very much like the ace that allowed three runs in 16 innings in two regular season starts against the Dodgers this year. But in between those six strikeouts the Dodgers had two hits, plus another reached on an error.

Two more hits came in the third inning, plus a catcher's interference, but the Dodgers stranded the bases loaded. That meant six left on base in what was still a scoreless game to that point, but there were encouraging signs, including Sale needing 62 pitches to get through the first three frames. Freddie Freeman, who homered in Game 2 , hit a ball the other way with enough distance to get over the left field wall, but Mauricio Dubón robbed him of a two-run home run with a fantastic catch .

The Dodgers started to get the fruits of their labor in the fourth inning, which began with Andy Pages singling for his first hit of the postseason. Kiké Hernández, making his first start of the playoffs, deposited a changeup into the left field seats for the first two runs on the game.

Two batters after Hernández's 12th postseason home run for the Dodgers — and his 17th career postseason shot — Freeman left no doubt this time around, taking Sale out, well over the wall in right field for a three-run inning.

Finally getting runs across underscored the work already put in by the Dodgers in making Sale work, and that paid off further when his night was done after five innings and 93 pitches.

Ohtani batted fifth in Game 3 , the first time in his three years with the Dodgers he's batted anywhere but first or second. Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani hitting that low — which spaced out lefties Freeman, Ohtani, and Kyle Tucker with two batters in between them — was more of a one-time deployment because he was facing left-hander Chris Sale.

"I don't think it's a pressure thing. I do think it's something where he wants to do more," Roberts said earlier Tuesday. "But in that same breath, I do think that there's going to be a couple big spots today where he's going to be at-bat."

Sure enough, Ohtani's first two trips to the plate came with two runners on base. He chased badly on a strikeout in the first inning, but reached on catcher's inference in the third. Ohtani didn't bat again with any one on base, but those four total runners on with him at the plate were his most in a game since August 28. Ohtani did walk in the eighth inning, but was stranded.

Miguel Rojas started for a second straight game against a left-handed starter, and was hitless in three at-bats. While batting in the eighth inning, Rojas felt something on a swing and left the game in the middle of the plate appearance with lower back pain, the Dodgers announced during the game. Rojas also had one of the aforementioned slips on the west Truist Park turf, loosing his footing in making the final out of the fifth inning on a ground out.

Tommy Edman completed the at-bat and popped out, then remained in the game at second base.

Home runs : Kiké Hernández (1), Freddie Freeman (2)

WP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (1-0) : 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 10 strikeouts

LP — Chris Sale (0-1) : 5 IP, 7 hits, 3 runs, 7 strikeouts

The Dodgers try to close out the series with Tyler Glasnow on the mound on Wednesday night in Game 4 ( 3:08 p.m. PT, FS1 ), while right-hander Tyler Mahle goes for the Braves.