LOS ANGELES – Cody Bellinger smashed a three-run homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 on Tuesday while the Houston Astros recovered to score a series-levelling 9-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Bellinger’s monster eighth-inning home run off Atlanta reliever Luke Jackson turned a 5-2 deficit into a 5-5 tie game just as the Dodgers appeared to be sliding towards a third straight defeat in their National League Championship Series.
Chris Taylor singled to keep the inning alive before Mookie Betts drove in a run-scoring double to put the Dodgers ahead at 6-5 heading into the ninth, allowing closer Kenley Jansen to lock down the win.
After Atlanta stunned the Dodgers with walk-off victories in the opening two games of the best-of-seven series, Tuesday’s game three at Dodger Stadium had acquired must-win status for the reigning World Series champions.
But until Bellinger’s homer, the Dodgers looked to be heading for defeat after a fitful display from starting pitcher Walker Buehler and a spluttering offensive performance.
“Man, pure elation, joy -- it’s just hard to imagine a bigger hit that I can remember,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Bellinger’s game-changing homer.
“We were dead in the water. You could see it,” Roberts added. “It just flipped everything. We needed that kind of shot in the arm.”
The Dodgers’ victory left Atlanta 2-1 ahead in the series, with games four and five in Los Angeles scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday before two final games in Atlanta.
“Right now, any win is huge, but the way we won tonight shows we’re still fighting,” said Dodgers leadoff hitter Betts, paying tribute to team-mate Bellinger.
“He’s been huge. This is the Belli we know. Throughout the season he’s battled some injuries, but now he’s ready to go,” Betts said.
The Dodgers had taken the lead in the first inning with a two-run homer from Corey Seager.
But with Buehler looking vulnerable, the Braves poured it on with a flurry of scoring in the fourth inning to take a 4-2 lead, before Adam Duvall’s single scored Ozzie Albies to make it 5-2 in the top of the fifth.
Braves manager Brian Snitker backed his team to recover from the shattering loss.
“They will be fine, they will be ready to play,” Snitker said.
“They’re going to prepare as always. We have lost tough games before and bounced back and done really good things.”
In Boston, 2017 World Series champions Houston erupted with eight runs in the final two innings to defeat the Red Sox in game four at Fenway Park.
Boston had looked to be closing in on a 3-1 American League Championship Series lead after Xander Bogaerts’ two-run homer put them 2-1 up in the first inning.
The Sox preserved that lead until the eighth inning, when Jose Altuve tied it up at 2-2 with a home run.
Altuve’s homer opened the floodgates, with Jason Castro driving in a run for Carlos Correa in the ninth.
Michael Brantley then emptied the bases with a three-run triple to make it 6-2 before Yordan Alvarez, Correa and Kyle Tucker extended the Astros’ lead to 9-2.