Riley HR ignites big Braves 9th in 5-1 NLCS win over Dodgers

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Austin Riley led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking homer that sparked a four-run outburst, and the Atlanta Braves opened their first National League Championship Series since 2001 with a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night.

Riley, the No. 9 batter in the Braves lineup, hit a 448-drive to left-center off Blake Treinen, who had just entered the game, drawing a loud reaction and some tomahawk-chop chants from the first fans allowed to attend a major league game this season.

The Braves weren't done after Riley's homer made it 2-1. Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a double and scored on a single by Marcell Ozuna that chased Treinen before Ozzie Albies' two-run homer off Jake McGee.

In a matchup of teams that ranked 1-2 in the majors during the regular season for both runs and homers, and in the first NLCS opener since 2007 with both teams undefeated in the postseason, the Braves had another impressive pitching performance even without a shutout.

Will Smith, the third Braves pitcher, worked a perfect eighth before Mark Melancon closed it out. Atlanta has allowed a total of six runs while winning all six of its playoff games.

Before the ninth, the only runs had been a pair of solo homers. Freddie Freeman went deep for Atlanta in the first and Kiké Hernández led off the Dodgers fifth with a homer.

Game 2 is Tuesday night, with Braves rookie Ian Anderson set to face three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.

It was the first time since March 12, the day spring training was suspended because of the coronavirus, there were fans in the stands for an MLB game.

All 10,700 tickets available to the general public were sold, in addition to another 800 or so utilized by the league and teams. That was about 28% of the 40,518...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Riley-HR-ignites-big-Braves-9th-in-5-1-NLCS-win-15642803.php