The Dodgers are headed back to the National League Championship Series for the third straight year, and they punched that ticket the hard way, beating the Braves in four games in the NL Division Series.
Los Angeles now waits to see whether it will open the next round on the road against the Milwaukee Brewers or at home against the San Diego Padres. That series is set to begin Sunday, Oct. 11.
Dave Roberts also moved into a new spot in the postseason record book. With the win, he now owns 72 career playoff victories, good for sole possession of second place all time. He entered Game 4 tied with Tony La Russa at 71 and trails Joe Torre’s 84.
The Dodgers’ October run keeps stacking up, too. They are 14-5 on the road across the last three postseasons and have won 10 of their last 11 road games. Since the start of the 2024 NLDS, they’ve gone 27-10 in 37 postseason games and have won eight straight playoff series.
They are also eight wins from something no NL club has ever done: three consecutive World Series titles. No MLB team has pulled that off since the Yankees from 1998-2000. The only other teams to do it were the Oakland Athletics from 1972-74 and the Yankees in two other stretches, 1936-39 and 1949-53.
Game 4 turned on Andy Pages.
Pages entered the postseason carrying a brutal track record, then opened October 0-for-7. Roberts never wavered, saying, “For us to win the World Series this year, we’re gonna need him to be an active part of our team,” and Pages started to answer in Game 3 with a 2-for-4 night. He kept it going in Game 4, where his two-hit performance featured the swing that broke things open.
The Dodgers had already tied the game at 1-1 when Teoscar Hernández singled, Josue De Paula walked and Kyle Tucker walked to load the bases with two outs. Pages then lined a two-run single to give Los Angeles a 3-1 lead. It was the Dodgers’ first hit of the postseason with runners in scoring position, after they had gone 0-for-15 in the series and scored 10 of their first 11 runs on home runs.
Shohei Ohtani helped set up the Dodgers’ first run in a different way. He walked to lead off the second inning, stole second, advanced to third on a bad throw and then scored when Max Muncy lifted a shallow fly that Mauricio Dubón dropped. That gave Los Angeles its first run of the playoffs that did not come on a homer.
Muncy later added insurance with a solo shot in the ninth, his 19th career postseason home run.
On the mound, the two Tylers had very different nights.
The Dodgers started Tyler Glasnow, while the Braves countered with Tyler Mahle. Glasnow battled his command all game, walking five and lasting just 4.2 innings, but he limited the damage to one run and one hit. That lone run came after Michael Harris opened with a single, stole second and scored when Glasnow spiked a curveball in the dirt.
Glasnow left after walking two more hitters in the fifth, but Alex Vesia came in and stranded both runners.
Mahle was sharper for most of his outing. He gave up only two hits and one walk through six innings, but returned for the seventh and allowed the one-out single to Hernández that ended his night. That run was charged to Mahle, who finished with 6.1 innings, two runs allowed, one earned, four strikeouts and one walk.
From there, the Dodgers’ bullpen finished the job, and Edwin Díaz picked up his second save in as many days to send Los Angeles on to the next round.
In Other News...
Braves May Have Exposed A Costly Dodgers NLDS Problem
Miguel Rojas exited Game 3 of the 2026 NLDS after fouling a pitch off himself in the eighth inning and feeling low back pain, a development the Dodgers confirmed on their official social media. The stopgap infielder had already appeared to be working through something earlier in the night, with his back first bothering him after he fielded a ground ball in the fifth inning.
For a Dodgers club trying to navigate October with as little disruption as possible, the timing is the real concern. If Rojas cannot continue in the series, Los Angeles may be forced to make a postseason roster change, a move that would test the teams infield depth at a point when every available defender matters even more. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Miguel Rojas Problem In The NLDS
Miguel Rojas night ended early in the Dodgers National League Division Series game against the Braves after he fouled off a pitch and started showing signs of discomfort with a low back injury. Tommy Edman came on as a pinch hitter in his place, leaving Los Angeles to sort through an immediate issue at a spot where Rojas has helped steady things throughout the postseason run.
The bigger concern now is what this means for the rest of the series, because the Dodgers do not yet know how available Rojas will be moving forward. Any lingering limitation could force roster and lineup adjustments at a critical point, and for a team trying to keep its infield options intact in October, even a short-term absence would matter. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Roberts Made One Dodgers Gamble Look Brilliant In Game 3
Dave Roberts spent Game 3 pushing the right buttons, and the Dodgers benefited from nearly every one of them. He shuffled the batting order and got Kike Hernandez into a spot where he could make an impact, then watched Hernandez deliver a key two-run homer that helped set the tone. It was the kind of lineup tweak that can look minor before first pitch and inspired once the game starts bending your way.
Roberts also managed the night with a steady hand on the mound, letting Yoshinobu Yamamoto work seven innings before turning to Tanner Scott and Edwin Diaz to close the door. The sequencing mattered as much as the names themselves, giving Los Angeles a cleaner path through the late innings and underscoring how much this team can gain when its manager is willing to be aggressive at the right moments. [Read more 🡒]