A single by Mookie Betts (the original out call was overturned) and a double from Corey Seager gave Los Angeles a quick 1-0 lead. That was only the tip of the iceberg. By the time the top of the first inning was over (it took 32 minutes), the Dodgers had done what no team has ever done in the postseason: score 11 runs in one inning.
After the single and double, Atlanta got a couple of groundouts, so the Dodgers had a man on third and two outs. The rest of the inning unfolded as follows: double, walk, home run (Joc Pederson), home run (Edwin Ríos), walk, pitching change, walk, single, hit by pitch, grand slam (Max Muncy), K.
The Dodgers set a postseason franchise record for runs in their 15-3 win over Atlanta. (They scored 13 in Game 2 of the 1956 World Series and Game 3 of the 2013 NLDS.) And they are remain the only team to not have lost three straight games in 2020.
The previous postseason record for runs in one inning was 10, which has been done four times, most recently last year by the Cardinals against Atlanta, also in the first inning (!). Atlanta is the first team to allow multiple 10-run innings in postseason history.
11 - Dodgers, 2020 NLCS Game 3, first inning, against Atlanta
10 - Cardinals, 2019 NLDS Game 5, first inning, against Atlanta
10 - Angels, 2002 ALCS Game 5, seventh inning, against Twins
10 - Tigers, 1968 World Series Game 6, third inning, against Cardinals
10 - Athletics, 1929 World Series Game 4, seventh inning, against Cubs
This was Atlanta's first loss in the postseason, after seven wins. They lead the NLCS 2-1. Game 4 is tomorrow night at 8:00 PM ET.
The Dodgers' previous high for runs in a postseason inning had been seven, in the 2019 NLDS against the Nationals. It was the first 11+-run inning in "Los Angeles" Dodgers history. The "Brooklyn" Dodgers scored 13 runs in the eighth inning of a 20-7 win over the Redlegs on August 8, 1954. (From 1953-58, the Reds changed their name to Redlegs so no one would think they were communists.)
The Dodgers became the first team in postseason history to hit three home runs in the first inning of a game. Los Angeles' five home runs set a franchise postseason record. (The all-time record is six, by the Cubs in 2015 NLDS Game 3.)
The Dodgers also set an all-time postseason record with 18 total bases in one inning. ... The Dodgers' five extra-base hits tied the all-time postseason record for most in an inning. ... Max Muncy's four first-inning RBIs tied the record for one player in an NLCS inning. ... All nine Dodgers batters had at least one hit by the third inning. Four batters had at least two and Corey Seager had three.
The Dodgers' 15 runs came in the first three innings (11-1-3), the most runs after three innings by a team in any postseason game. (When the Cardinals scored 10 in the first inning against Atlanta last year, they also confined their scoring to the first three innings (10-1-2)!)
The Dodgers' margin of victory (12 runs) was the most in franchise postseason history. In the pennant-clinching Game 4 of the 1974 NLCS against the Pirates, Los Angeles won by 11 runs (12-1).
Atlanta starter Kyle Wright (0.2-5-7-2-0, 28) is the fifth pitcher in postseason history to record fewer than three outs and allow six or more runs. Wright became the first starting pitcher in postseason history to allow at least seven runs without finishing the first inning.
Atlanta's starting pitchers allowed five runs in 38.2 innings (116 outs) in the team's first seven postseason games. Wright allowed seven runs while recording only two outs.
Drawing a dividing line before the seventh inning of Game 2, Atlanta's pitching staff's runs allowed:
First 64 IP: 6 runs allowed
Next 6 IP: 22 runs allowed
Grant Dayton relieved Wright and gave up eight runs in two innings, becoming the fourth reliever in postseason history to give up as many as eight runs, and the first since Jay Witasick of the Yankees in Game 6 of the 2001 World Series against the Diamondbacks (Arizona won 15-3).
The only other team in postseason history to have multiple pitchers allow at least seven earned runs was Cleveland, who lost to the Red Sox 23-7 in Game 4 of the 1999 ALDS. Starter Bartolo Colon (seven runs) and reliever Steve Reed (eight) were the punching bags, as Boston set postseason records for runs and run differential.
In the ALCS, the Astros beat the Rays 4-3 to avoid a sweep. Randy Arozarena of the Rays hit his fifth home run of the postseason. Tampa Bay leads 3-1 with Game 5 tomorrow at 5 PM ET.
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