EditorsNote: Updates with quotes
The Los Angeles Dodgers set a postseason single-inning scoring record Wednesday night, erupting for 11 runs in the top of the first en route to a 15-3 thrashing of the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series in Arlington, Texas.
Max Muncy smacked a grand slam, Joc Pederson had a three-run homer and Edwin Rios chipped in with a solo shot as the Dodgers sent 14 batters to the plate in the record-breaking explosion that led to their first win in the best-of-seven after two defeats.
"We know who we are over here. We're a really good team," Muncy said. "We kinda lost our footing those first two games. But we weren't worried about anything, and tonight we showed what we can do."
Game 4 is scheduled for Thursday night.
Riding the momentum of a four-run ninth inning in an 8-7 loss in Game 2, the Dodgers picked up right where they left off against Braves right-hander Kyle Wright (1-1), taking advantage of a break to start the line moving.
"It was a carryover (from Game 2). We did a good job of battling toward the end of that game last night," said Cody Bellinger afterward. "We needed some momentum and we got it in the ninth inning. We tried to carry it on to today. Mookie [Betts] and [Corey] Seager did a good job leading things off and we kinda rolled on from there."
Betts hit Wright's first pitch on the ground to third baseman Johan Camargo, whose long throw was deemed by first base umpire Dan Iassogna to have been in time for a game-opening out.
The Dodgers challenged the call, however, and were rewarded with a reversal that saved them what turned out to be a critical out.
Seager doubled home Betts on the next pitch before Wright retired the next two batters, which would have ended a scoreless inning without the call reversal.
Instead, Will Smith doubled in a run, Cody Bellinger walked and Pederson made it 5-0 with his homer.
Rios went back-to-back for 6-0 before two walks, an RBI single by Seager, a hit batsman and Muncy's grand slam off reliever Grant Dayton completed the 11-run stunner.
"That was a lot of fun. That was real cool to watch," Seager said. "That was something that doesn't happen very often. To be able to do that in a big situation like tonight was really nice."
The 11 runs were one more than the previous record for a playoff game, set four times, most recently by the St. Louis Cardinals, also in the first inning against the Braves in Game 5 of last year's NL Division Series.
The 15 total runs were the most in a postseason game since the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 16-1 in Game 3 of the American League Division Series in 2018. They were the most ever scored by the Dodgers in the postseason, topping the 13 Los Angeles put on the Braves in Game 3 of the 2013 NLDS, and the most ever allowed by the Braves, who had given up 13 on three previous occasions.
It was a disastrous start for Wright, who pledged to be ready to help the Braves later in the series.
""I want to learn from it," Wright said. "I only threw 30 pitches. I'll be ready in any role, any opportunity, whatever I can do to help the team. I'll be ready tomorrow. I want to get back out there."
Bellinger added a solo homer in the second inning and an RBI single in a three-run third that completed the Dodgers' scoring. Seager had a solo shot in the third.
Left-hander Julio Urias (3-0) worked five innings for the win, allowing one run -- a solo homer by Cristian Pache leading off the third -- and three hits. He walked two and struck out five.
Wright was charged with seven runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning. He walked two and did not strike out anyone.
--Field Level Media
