Yoshinobu Yamamoto outshines Chris Sale as Dodgers take NLDS lead over Braves

ATLANTA –– Two superstar pitchers were on the mound.Two teams’ seasons were essentially hanging in the balance.And in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, an all-time, old-fashioned, heavyweight October pitchers’ duel came down to two no-doubt, home run swings.With an 3-1 win on Tuesday night that represented a monumental step in their pursuit of a third-straight World Series, the Dodgers and Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the best of Chris Sale and the Atlanta Braves.Sale gave up a pair of home runs in the top of the fourth inning, with Kiké Hernández launching a two-run blast to left and Freddie Freeman belting a solo shot to right-center. Yamamoto made the lead stand up, spinning seven spectacular innings of one-run ball in his latest playoff gem.And now, the Dodgers hold a two-games-to-one lead in this best-of-five series, needing just one more victory to advance with Tyler Glasnow lined up for Game 4 and Tarik Skubal on deck for a Game 5, if it gets there.“We know we’re in for a battle,” veteran Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said pregame.Once again, as they’ve done so often in October over the last couple years, the Dodgers were unfazed by the challenge.The night before Game 3’s titanic pitching clash, Dodgers hitting coach Aaron Bates laid out the situation succinctly.To go deep in the playoffs, he said, “you’re gonna have to beat some really good pitchers … You’re gonna have to face an ace.”That, of course, applied to both teams, with Yamamoto making his 2026 postseason debut after a 14-9, 2.53 ERA regular season.Still, the left-handed Sale represented a unique challenge for the two-time defending champions, entering Tuesday off the back of a career-best 2.16 ERA this year (even better than his 2024 Cy Young campaign), two clutch performances in last week’s wild-card round, and a five-hit shutout of the Dodgers the last time he faced them in August.Thus, the Dodgers made adjustments.Hernández and Rojas were drawn into the ...