“We did what we had to do to force a Game 7,” Justin Turner said.
They sure did.
Seager homered again, Buehler pitched six scoreless innings and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Saturday to send the NL Championship Series to a winner-take-all finale.
Los Angeles avoided elimination for the second time in less than 24 hours, staying alive in its pursuit of a third pennant in four years. It hasn’t won a championship since 1988.
“I’m still sort of recovering from this one, but already thinking about Game 7,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s what you live for.”
Turner also homered for Los Angeles, and Jansen threw a six-pitch ninth for his 18th career post-season save.
The NL West and East champions play again Sunday night, with the potential for two rookie starters in a Game 7 for the first time in big league history.
Roberts was keeping his options open for his starting pitcher while the Braves plan to go with rookie right-hander Ian Anderson, who has thrown 15 2/3 scoreless innings in his three post-season starts. Tony Gonsolin and three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw are among the possibilities for Los Angeles.
“Shoot, we’ll go out there and let ‘er fly. A Game 7 is another baseball game,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “You have to treat it as such.”
The Braves were hoping to celebrate Snitker’s 65th birthday Saturday with the franchise’s first World Series berth since 1999. But Max Fried took his first loss all year, working into the seventh inning after surrendering three runs during a rocky first.
Buehler, using Stan’s Rodeo Ointment to deal with bothersome blisters, threw 65 of his 89 pitches for strikes. He allowed seven hits while striking out six without a walk.
After Atlanta loaded the bases with three singles in a row to start the top of second _ the last hit by his Vanderbilt roommate Dansby Swanson _ the right-hander really brought the heat, with 10 consecutive fastballs to get out of the jam.
Austin Riley struck out on a 98.7 mph pitch before Nick Markakis took a called third strike on 99.7 mph. Cristian Pache, the 21-year-old rookie who had an RBI in each of his first four NLCS starts, was retired on an inning-ending groundout.
“His mound presence is just unbelievable,” Turner said.
Buehler said he has never felt that calm in a game, especially a situation like that. He credited catcher Austin Barnes _ and past experiences.
“I’ve failed in those moments. I’ve been through it and I’ve been good after it, but that failure doesn’t really scare me anymore,” Buehler said. “The more times you go through things like that, your heartbeat kind of changes and can slow down.”
It was a much different result than Buehler’s post-season debut two years ago in Game 3 of the NL Division Series, when the Braves also loaded the bases against him in the second inning. After a walk drove in a run, Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a grand slam on the next pitch.
Fried, who struck out five and walked four in 6 2/3 innings, allowed only two homers in his 11 starts while going 7-0 during the regular season. But the Dodgers went deep twice in three pitches in the first.
Seager pulled a towering shot to right on a 73-mph curveball, and Turner connected on a 93-mph sinker that went 418 feet to straightaway centre. Max Muncy walked and scored after back-to-back singles by Will Smith and Cody Bellinger.
“I came out in a game like this and kind of put us behind the eight-ball real quick.” Fried said. “To me, that’s unacceptable.”
Seager, who homered twice in Game 4 on Friday night, has NLCS records with five homers and 11 RBIs, and still a game to play. His six homers overall are already a Dodgers post-season record.
Mookie Betts, the 2018 AL MVP and first-year Dodger, made a leaping catch against the right field wall to end the fifth. While it wouldn’t have been a homer, it robbed Marcell Ozuna of extra bases, and the Braves a likely run.
Betts let out a emphatic shout while pumping both fists, then celebrated with Bellinger while Buehler held his right arm high in the air.
With Buehler out of the game, Nick Markakis greeted Blake Treinen with triple to right leading off off the seventh and came home on a one-out double by Ronald Acuna Jr.
But the Dodgers’ bullpen closed it out from there, with Jansen finishing the victory in an encouraging performance heading into Game 7.
It was Jansen’s first save chance in five appearances since closing out the Dodgers’ first playoff win this season in the wild-card round. He struck out the side on 12 pitches in Friday night’s 7-3 win.
“Two huge outings, not only for us, but him personally, you can just see the confidence he has on the mound attacking guys,” Turner said. “That’s the Kenley Jansen I and all of us in there all know and love.”
STRANGE PLAY
Ozzie Albies hit a slow chopper down the first-base line in the Braves sixth that was fielded by Muncy, who then made the tag before the ball popped out. Albies thought he was out and never touched first base. Muncy tossed the ball to Buehler, who tagged the runner already heading back to the Atlanta dugout.
GAME 7s
The Dodgers are playing in a Game 7 for the third time in four years. They won 5-1 at Milwaukee in the deciding game of the 2018 NLCS, after losing 5-1 at home to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. Atlanta hasn’t played in a Game 7 since its 15-0 win over St. Louis in the 1996 NLCS.
SHORT HOPS
The 14 homers by Los Angeles are tied for the most in an NLCS, and two behind the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays for the most in any LCS. … Only once before have the Dodgers won three consecutive potential elimination games to take a series. That was in the best-of-five NL Division Series in 1981. They won the World Series that year.
UP NEXT
Braves: Anderson needed 85 pitches to get through four innings in Game 2, when he allowed only one hit with five strikeouts. But he walked five batters in a game Atlanta held on to win 8-7.
Dodgers: Gonsolin’s post-season debut starting Game 2 came after Kershaw was scratched because of back spasms. Gonsolin struck out seven but allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings. Kershaw pitched Game 4 on Thursday.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: and
