Dodgers end Braves season with 7th-inning rally

Media Reports

ATLANTA — For six innings Wednesday night, Tyler Mahle gave the Braves every reason to believe their season would continue.

Then came the seventh inning, two walks and the one hit Los Angeles had been waiting for throughout the National League Division Series.

Andy Pages lined a two-run single with the bases loaded, breaking a 1-1 tie and sending the Dodgers to a 4-1 victory in Game 4 at Truist Park. Los Angeles won the best-of-five series 3-1 and advanced to the National League Championship Series for the third consecutive season.

For Atlanta, the loss ended a season that included 94 victories, the National League East championship and a wild-card series victory over Philadelphia. But the Braves’ hopes of extending that run ended with an offense that could not take advantage of five walks or provide Mahle with enough support.

Atlanta managed only two hits and scored its lone run without driving it home.

Michael Harris II opened the bottom of the first with a single, stole second and advanced to third when catcher Will Smith’s throw sailed into center field. Harris then broke for home on a Tyler Glasnow wild pitch and scored ahead of the return throw, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.

Los Angeles answered with its own combination of speed and an Atlanta mistake in the second.

Shohei Ohtani walked, stole second and advanced to third on an errant throw. He scored when shortstop Mauricio Dubón failed to handle Max Muncy’s popup in shallow left field, tying the game.

From there, Mahle settled in and matched Glasnow through the middle innings.

The Braves right-hander held one of baseball’s deepest lineups to three hits over 6 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs—only one earned—walked one and struck out four. His streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run against Los Angeles reached 22 before the Dodgers finally broke through.

Glasnow was far less efficient, walking five and throwing only 44 of his 78 pitches for strikes. Yet Atlanta could not make those free passes hurt. None of the five batters he walked scored, and the Braves stranded two runners when Alex Vesia retired Matt Olson to finish the fifth.

Atlanta mounted another threat in the sixth when Mike Yastrzemski doubled. But Kyle Tucker made a falling catch in right field to rob Dubón and preserve the tie.

The game—and Atlanta’s season—turned an inning later.

Teoscar Hernández singled to open the seventh, ending Mahle’s night. Didier Fuentes entered and eventually walked pinch-hitter Josue De Paula and Tucker, loading the bases. Manager Walt Weiss called on Robert Suarez, but Pages greeted him with a single that scored Hernández and pinch-runner Tommy Edman.

It was the Dodgers’ first hit with a runner in scoring position in the series after opening 0-for-14. It could not have come at a worse time for Atlanta.

Max Muncy added a solo home run against Raisel Iglesias in the ninth, his third homer of the series and the 19th of his postseason career.

Edgardo Henriquez earned the victory with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Tanner Scott worked the eighth, and Edwin Díaz retired the Braves in the ninth to earn his second save of the series.

The Dodgers held Atlanta to eight runs over four games. After returning home with the series tied following a gutsy bullpen victory in Los Angeles, the Braves scored only once in each of their two games at Truist Park.

Atlanta’s season still represented a significant rebound. The Braves reclaimed the NL East, eliminated the Phillies and won their first winner-take-all postseason game since 1996.

But against the two-time defending World Series champions, the margin was thin and the missed opportunities were costly.

Mahle gave the Braves the start they needed Wednesday.

The runs never came with it.