Dodgers Win NLDS Game 3 in Atlanta as All 10 Postseason Runs Come on Homers

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 in National League Division Series Game 3 on Tuesday night at Truist Park, getting all three runs on two fourth-inning home runs off Braves starter Chris Sale. The result also extended an unusual postseason pattern: according to MLB, all 10 of the Dodgers’ runs in the 2026 playoffs have come on home runs, the longest such streak to begin a postseason in major league history.

The teams entered Game 3 tied 1-1 after splitting the first two games in Los Angeles. The Dodgers’ win broke that deadlock and gave them the series lead in the first game of the matchup played in Atlanta.

The game was scoreless through three innings before Los Angeles broke through in the top of the fourth. Enrique Hernández hit a 406-foot, two-run homer to left field off Sale, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead.

Two batters later, Freddie Freeman added a solo shot to right-center, also off Sale, pushing the lead to 3-0. That was all the Dodgers would need in a game in which they finished with eight hits and no errors, while Atlanta had four hits and two errors, according to the CBS Sports box score.

Freeman’s home run carried extra context after what happened an inning earlier. In the third, Braves left fielder Mauricio Dubón robbed Freeman of a potential home run. Freeman then went deep in his next plate appearance, according to MLB’s game recap.

Atlanta scored its only run in the sixth inning. There was no further scoring.

The home run barrage remained the central theme for Los Angeles. MLB said the Dodgers have now scored all 10 of their runs this postseason via the long ball, setting a record for the longest all-homer scoring streak to open a postseason. The two fourth-inning shots also made it only the second time in Sale’s postseason career that he allowed multiple home runs in a start, according to MLB. Sale entered the postseason after a standout regular season in which MLB season materials listed him at 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA and roughly 200 strikeouts.

Hernández’s homer was his first of the 2026 postseason and the 17th postseason home run of his career, according to MLB. Freeman’s shot was his second of this postseason and the 18th postseason homer of his career, tying him with seven others for 10th on the all-time postseason home run list.