Jeff Birney
The Dodgers bested the Atlanta Braves Monday night in Game 4 of the NLDS, sending the Tribe packing and putting the Dodgers back in the NLCS for the 3rd year in a row. The Dodger’s hitting depth once again proved to make all the difference, with Manny Machado showing once again why he was the biggest trade-deadline score for L.A. in recent history.
Machado’s first inning double put the Dodgers on the board. Clutch hitting from another late-season trade – David Freese – gave the Dodgers the go-ahead in the sixth after the Braves managed a pair, while it was Machado, yet again, who opened the game up. A 3-run shot in the seventh brought the Dodgers up 6-2, a lead that they held for the win.
Kenta Maeda wriggled out of a little late-inning drama, as Ender Inciarte and Charlie Culberson both singled on 2-outs to bring up Lucas Duda. Duda absolutely crushed a ball to right that went just foul. Maeda managed to get Duda to fly out to end the inning.
Closer Kenley Jansen looked like himself in the ninth, retiring the side with a groundout and two K’s.
The Dodgers head to Milwaukee Friday to face the Brewers for the NLCS to fight for a return to the World Series.
This year marks 30 years since the last L.A. championship.
