Eddie Rosario's Walk-Off Single Lifts Braves Past Dodgers in NLCS Game 2

The reigning champions are on the ropes.

The Atlanta Braves defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 in Sunday's Game 2 of the National League Championship Series at Truist Park. Eddie Rosario played the role of hero with the game-winning single off Kenley Jansen in the bottom of the ninth and gave his team a 2-0 lead in the series.

Corey Seager and Chris Taylor impressed even in defeat for the Dodgers, who must win four of the next five to keep their hopes of a repeat title alive.

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Notable Player Stats

• Eddie Rosario, LF, ATL: 4-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 R
• Joc Pederson, RF, ATL: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
• Austin Riley, 3B, ATL: 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
• Corey Seager, SS, LAD: 1-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB
• Chris Taylor, 3B, LAD: 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Max Scherzer, P, LAD: 4.1 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 4 H, 1 BB

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Late-Inning Collapse Costs Dodgers

There aren't many pitchers in baseball history who are better to turn to when facing an early hole in a playoff series than Max Scherzer.

After all, the three-time Cy Young winner has been lights out for the Dodgers ever since they traded for him in July and allowed a grand total of two combined runs in his first two playoff starts this year. He also closed out the Division Series win over the San Francisco Giants out of the bullpen.

Scherzer was unhittable for stretches out of the gates, but the Braves made him pay in the fourth when he walked Austin Riley and left a breaking ball out over the plate against Joc Pederson. The slugger who had two home runs and five RBI in just seven at-bats during the Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers continued his torrent pace with a game-tying blast to right field.

That not only flipped the momentum, it helped set the stage for Scherzer's exit after just two batters in the fifth.

It looked like that was a problem for Atlanta when Alex Vesia, Joe Kelly and Blake Treinen combined to throw scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but Julio Urias, who is typically a starter, was not up for the task in the eighth and gave up Los Angeles' 4-2 lead on an RBI single from Ozzie Albies and an RBI double from Riley.

Urias was only the start of the problems for the visitors.

Brusdar Graterol gave up a single to start the ninth and got to two outs with a runner on second before turning it over to the normally dominant Jansen. However, Rosario smoked a ball up the middle that just got through the shift to end the game and the Dodgers' chances of stealing home-field advantage.

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Braves Bullpen Does Enough to Win

How Atlanta's pitching holds up against the Dodgers' loaded lineup is a primary storyline of this series, and manager Brian Snitker told reporters he went with Ian Anderson on Sunday so Charlie Morton could get some extra rest after pitching on short rest in the Division Series against the Brewers.

There will likely be a bullpen game at some point as well, so the pressure was on Anderson to preserve that group as well as possible before the series heads to Los Angeles.

Things did not get off to an ideal start for the right-hander when Mookie Betts singled and Seager took him deep as the first two batters of the game. Anderson also walked two during that rough first inning and was well on his way to an early exit.

To his credit, he battled through two scoreless innings after the brutal start but still handed the ball to the bullpen with the majority of the game remaining.

While Jesse Chavez, A.J. Minter and Jacob Webb did their part to keep the Dodgers off the board, asking the bullpen to go six scoreless innings against this group was too much. Los Angeles broke through for two runs in the seventh—both of which were charged to Tyler Matzek—when Taylor delivered with a clutch hit up the middle with the bases loaded.

It was another notable moment for Taylor, who also hit the game-winning homer in the Wild Card Game win over the St. Louis Cardinals.

To the bullpen's credit, Chris Martin and Will Smith combined for six straight outs in the eighth and ninth inning to give their offense a chance to win even after falling behind.       

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What's Next?

The series shifts to Los Angeles for Tuesday's Game 3.