Arlington, Texas • Austin Riley led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking homer that sparked a four-run outburst, and the Atlanta Braves opened their first National League Championship Series since 2001 with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.
Riley greeted reliever Blake Treinen with a 448-foot drive to left-center, drawing a loud reaction and some tomahawk chops from the first fans allowed to attend a major league game this season.
“I didn’t feel my legs when I was running around the bases, so it was a good feeling,” the 23-year-old Riley said.
The Braves weren’t done after Riley’s homer gave them a 2-1 lead and made him the youngest player with a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of a postseason game or later since Atlanta star Chipper Jones in 1995.
“That’s a pretty good 9-hole hitter we’ve got,” teammate Freddie Freeman said. “We believe in every single guy and Austin was the guy tonight.”
Ronald Acuna Jr. followed with a double and scored on a single by Marcell Ozuna that chased Treinen before Ozzie Albies' two-run homer off Jake McGee.
“It’s what these guys do. I’ve said we’re like an NBA game, you don’t want to leave because a lot of things don’t happen until the last third,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “They’ve been like that for a few years now. ... These guys never quit, they keep grinding at-bats and doing their thing, and it’s a pretty neat trait for a ballclub to have.”
In a matchup of teams that ranked 1-2 in the majors during the regular season for both runs and homers, and in the first NLCS opener since 2007 with both teams undefeated in the postseason, the Braves had another impressive pitching performance even without a shutout.
Will Smith, the third Braves pitcher, worked a perfect eighth before Mark Melancon closed it out. Atlanta has allowed a total of six runs while winning all six of its playoff games.
Before the ninth, the only runs had been a pair of solo homers. Freeman went deep for Atlanta in the first and Kike Hernandez led off the Dodgers fifth with a homer.
Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday night, with Braves rookie Ian Anderson set to face three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.
It was the first time since March 12, the day spring training was suspended because of the coronavirus, there were fans in the stands for an MLB game.
All 10,700 tickets available to the general public were sold, in addition to another 800 or so utilized by the league and teams. That was about 28% of the 40,518 capacity at the new Texas Rangers ballpark where the retractable roof was open for the first NLCS game played at a neutral site.
The Braves had the bases loaded in the eighth after reliever Dustin May hit pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval with a pitch. Victor Gonzalez came on and struck out pinch-hitter Charlie Culberson, punctuating the inning-ending out with an emphatic fist pump on the way back to the dugout.
Dodgers starter Walker Buehler pitched past the fourth inning for the first time in his three playoff series openers this fall, while apparently now dealing with blisters on both his middle and index fingers and with his seemingly tight pants trending on Twitter.
Buehler struck out seven in his five-plus innings, joining Hall of Famer pitcher Randy Johnson as the only ones with at least seven strikeouts in nine consecutive postseason starts — coming in the first nine for Buehler. He also walked five, a career high.
“I feel like I’ve been decently successful,” Buehler said. “I don’t want to walk guys. We’re trying to keep runs off the board. I can go deeper. I can be better.”
Max Fried had nine strikeouts and two walks while allowing one run over six innings in his start, two years after pitching in relief for the Braves in every game of the 2018 NL Division Series when they lost to Los Angeles in four games.
The left-hander was born in Santa Monica, went to high school in Los Angeles and was the seventh overall pick by the San Diego Padres in 2012, two years before he got traded to Atlanta.
There were chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” when Freeman homered in the top of the first — a 429-foot solo shot to right that landed among fans well beyond the roped-off first five rows closest to the field. It was his first homer this postseason.
While the Braves had the five walks against Buehler, they didn’t have another hit until consecutive singles opening the sixth that chased the starter. Busdar Graterol got out of the jam with a popout, strikeout and comebacker.
Hernandez got his first start this postseason with the Braves starting a lefty, and tied the game 1-1 when he pulled a homer to left leading off the fifth. Hernandez, 0 for 6 in the playoffs until then, was the first player to homer on a curveball by Fried since Bryce Harper on Sept. 10, 2019.
Fried induced 14 swings and misses, his second-most in any game this season — including his 11 starts in the regular season when he was 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: LF Adam Duvall left in the middle of his at-bat in the second inning because of an oblique issue. Duvall was in obvious pain after fouling off a pitch, then had his hand on his left side.
“I don’t expect the outcome to be good. He popped it,” Snitker said.
Cristian Pache took over with a 1-2 count and drew a walk.
SHORT HOPS
It was the fourth time both teams entered Game 1 of the NLCS without a postseason loss. That’s happened three times in the ALCS, all in the past 11 years. ... With starters Buehler and Fried both 26, it was only the seventh league championship series opener with two pitchers 26 and younger.
UP NEXT
Anderson has thrown 11 2/3 scoreless innings with 17 strikeouts in his two playoff starts. Kershaw, the ace lefty from nearby Dallas, has 19 strikeouts in his two starts this postseason — both wins. He pitched eight scoreless innings against Atlanta in the NLDS two years ago.